Indoor Air Quality Is Tangible
I was asked to investigate an indoor air quality problem at a friends house this weekend. My survey included taking psychrometric readings both inside the house and out, making notes of any signs of water intrusion as well as an allergen survey.
What I discovered was interesting. There was some evidence of potential water intrusion on the roof and in the laundry room. I found some visible mold on some insulation, but without further testing, it is impossible to know the exact species of mold. Knowing this would be of great use to determine how long the structure has been wet.
Allergens pose a much greater threat than mold in this case because of the concentrations of allergens. The homeowners own two pets, a cat and a dog. The house is buttoned up extremely tight with new windows, no central forced-air HVAC system, no windows being opened and no air being circulated with the outside/inside. For lack of a better word, the air in the house is stagnant. For the purpose of proving that what I discovered is not hocus pocus, we opened several windows and doors and allowed the natural wind to blow air throughout the first floor of the home.
These little things made breathing far easier for the affected parties, myself included. I was breathing from an N100 respirator for approximately 1 hour while doing the indoor inspection and for the 30 minutes or so that I was in the home with the respirator off and the windows/doors open, I was exhibiting no symptoms of an allergic reaction. Upon closing the windows and doors, all affected parties, myself included began manifesting symptoms of an allergic reaction.
I advised the homeowner of what to do to improve things and my suggestions were taken very lightly. My suggestions included purchasing a HEPA vacuum (which they already own), purchasing several HEPA air filters, ventilating the house by opening up the doors and windows and installing box fans/window fans and having the carpets and upholstery professionally cleaned via hot water extraction.
In conclusion, the biggest problem with IAQ is not the fact that these situations can happen, but often times, its the people that are not willing to take corrective action to prevent them from becoming an even bigger problem.
It’s too easy for the one owner to shrug these things off because she’s always wanted one of those houses and she refuses to believe there’s anything majorly wrong with it because of that fact. There’s a lot of other things set in her mind as well, and she needs to stop with these ideas that there’s nothing wrong with the house and it’s perfectly fine, or that the problems that can’t be fixed so it doesn’t matter anyway.
What’s sad is that the entire family gets defensive when there’s something wrong instead of actually taking the things to heart. I’ve said things many times and she won’t listen to me. Someone comes in to test to show that I’m not being paranoid and my suspicions come back positive, and she still doesn’t care, as well as other family members thinking that it’s stupid and there’s nothing wrong.
It just makes me sad to think that this problem is slowly killing my mother and she won’t even listen to me or to someone who knows how to test for these things. This could more than likely fix her condition, but she doesn’t seem to care, and I don’t understand it. She’d rather not have “any seen problems with the house” than to fix the problems for her own health in the place she makes her home.
In my own home, I know that I have several issues going on that could affect indoor air quality. I am taking a proactive approach to ensure that they do not become further problems. Like my dishwasher, I discovered that it leaks a small quantity of water onto the floor during a cycle. While this may seem innocuous, that water can seep into the cabinetry, subfloor, structure, etc. and cause water damage and if the conditions are right, mold growth. I just stopped using the dishwasher until I can get it replaced (it’s very old and not worth repairing). Similarly, I’m currently trying to figure out how to set my kitchen up so that I can have my kitchen exhaust hood vent outside rather than filter the air and recirculate it within the kitchen. Doing so would result in a much lower humidity level while cooking and would help keep cooking odors at bay.
I had a similar issue with my refrigerator because it is equipped with a water dispenser/ice maker. I ended up shutting off the supply valve to the refrigerator that supplies the water. The reason being is that there is a compression fitting behind there and those are highly prone to failure. If I had a better way to secure it onto the supply line, it wouldn’t be as much of a potential problem.
I vacuum my carpets every week or so with a HEPA vacuum and I’m getting ready to borrow a professional hot-water extraction machine from my father to clean them thoroughly because they haven’t been cleaned since I moved in.
Prior to buying the house, a simple test revealed that I had elevated levels of radon in the basement. So I had it mitigated through the installation of an inline centrifugal fan on the back of the house that puts the foundation under negative air pressure. This results in the radon gas being extracted from the foundation before it seeps into the home and causes a problem.
I also have old double-pane windows whose seals are going and they are getting somewhat drafty. This can pose a problem from an energy-saving standpoint, but the fact of the matter is, there is actually air circulation going on between the indoor and the outdoor environment. This air exchange is good as it helps prevent the air inside from becoming stagnant.
In short, there are a number of simple things that you can do that will drastically improve your indoor air quality and most of the fixes are not even very expensive provided that you catch them early enough to mitigate any future damage.