The pandemic highlighted the importance of a safe and healthy home after the authorities issued the shelter-in-place orders. Due to this, people had to stay home to avoid catching the virus. They should only go out to shop for essentials.
The house should make the family feel safe and should not pose any health risk. Even after the situation has improved, keeping the home clean is still essential to ensure everyone stays healthy until everything goes back to normal. Here are some things that you can do to keep your home safe for your family.
Look Out for Hidden Health Hazards at Home
The first thing that you need to do is to check for unseen dangers lurking within the house. These unseen dangers can make members of the household sick. These health hazards are indoor air pollution caused by either biological pollutants or chemical pollutants.
Biological pollutants include molds, bacteria, pollen, dust mites, rodents, mosquitoes, and other pests. Dealing with these biological pollutants requires professionals to assess the situation and make recommendations on what they have to do.
You can get in touch with a mold remediation company to deal with molds. On the other hand, you should contact a reputable mosquito control company to deal with pests in the home. These professionals have the skills and equipment to deal with all types of pests that can infest the home. They can make the home safer for the family, especially the young ones.
When it comes to chemical pollutants, you will have to deal with carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, radon, and ozone. These pollutants are not easy to detect, which means you need to install special equipment to check for their presence.
Similar to biological pollutants, you should also contact professionals to deal with these pollutants. You may think about doing it yourself, but these professionals have the experience and tools to take care of these hidden health hazards to ensure your family stays safe inside your home.
Keep the Exterior and Yard Clean
Aside from these hidden health hazards, you also have to keep the house’s exterior clean. Keeping these areas clean requires fixing holes and cracks, removing standing water, and ensuring that trash is placed inside a sealed container.
This allows you to keep pests away from the house or not attract them to your home, especially if you have trees and shrubs in the yard. Trees and shrubs can serve as nesting places of pests that may consider invading your home if they find it appealing enough for them.
You should also keep the gutters and downspouts clean of debris. If the home was built before 1978, you should make sure to use safe work practices if you plan to renovate, remodel, or even repaint the structure. Cleaning the home every year is also a good idea, especially if you have small children living with you.
Making the Rooms Safe for the Family
To keep the different rooms in the home safe for the family, you should install a smoke alarm in each room. You should also test the alarms every month and replace their batteries annually. Carbon monoxide detectors are also useful near the bedrooms, and you should avoid smoking near the house.
Cleaning up clutter makes the home unappealing to pests. So, you should make sure to have a place for everything, including clothing, shoes, and toys. Testing for lead paint is essential for homes build constructed before 1978.
You may also want to replace the paint if you detect lead paint on any of the walls. But make sure to follow safe work practices when doing this.
Keep the Kitchen Safe and Clean
The kitchen is normally the place that attracts pests the most since it is where you prepare food. And during food preparation, you may end up with bits of food on the counter and the floor. These bits of food will attract pests. So, you should make sure to keep it clean to prevent this situation.
Cleaning the kitchen also reduces the risk of exposure to bacteria and allergens that may get mixed up in the food. So, you should keep your hands clean while preparing the food. You should also clean the counter and floor to make sure there are no food particles in these places. Additionally, you should make sure to store all ingredients in sealed containers to avoid attracting pests into the house.
Keeping the home clean is essential for the health and safety of the family in the middle of a pandemic.
