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Natural Awakenings South Central Pennsylvania

Healthy Home Audit

Mar 26, 2018 07:01PM ● By Jocelyne Melton

An audit of the home, buildings and property twice a year, followed by maintenance steps, aids in keeping the indoor environment healthy for the whole family. Semi-annual audits are meant to identify potential hazards before they cause damage or a contamination to our surroundings. The goal of the audit is to create action steps for keeping a home dry, clean, safe, well-ventilated, pest-free, contaminant-free and well maintained.

Inspect the property surrounding the home and buildings, and then inspect the interiors. List the hazards or potential hazards, identify the actions necessary to address the hazards and design a plan to implement the needed steps to keep the home safe and hazard-free.

Hazards identified for the exterior of the home may be trip hazards, a damaged fence around the pool or evidence of pests. Some of these hazards can lead to more severe hazards, expensive repairs or a contaminated environment if not addressed. 

For example, the gutters may need to be cleaned and the downspout extensions may need to be reconnected and directed away from the basement. Doing so prevents rain water from saturating the ground around the basement walls and seeping into the concrete blocks.

Concrete blocks can act like sponges, sucking up water and creating a humid basement environment. A humid basement environment in turn creates an environment conducive to the growth of mold. By addressing potential hazards, these larger hazards and environmental contaminations are avoided. 

Jocelyne Melton is a certified indoor environmentalist, and the CEO and president of Baxter Group, Inc., located in Chambersburg, a provider of asbestos surveys and abatement, lead paint detection and stabilization, mold assessments and remediation, radon measurements and mitigation, HVAC duct cleaning, indoor environmental assessments and remediation, basement dewatering and renovations. For more information, call 717-263-7341 or visit BaxterGroupInc.com.