Life
6 Ways Your Home Might Be Trying To Kill You
Don't worry, this isn't some Halloween hangover in which your house has come to life and vowed to destroy you. Your home might be trying to kill you, but not in the B movie campy horror that sentence might first conjure up. But there are subtle forces at play inside your home that might be dangerous to your health. Things you never even thought of. Which is probably much spookier than your house suddenly sprouting arms and legs and uprooting to terrorize the city. (Maybe.) Before you start freaking out, rest assured that you can make your home safe and death-free; all you have to do is identify what might be dangerous within it.
If you're not a homeowner, that's mostly great news, as whoever owns the place you're renting is the one responsible for making it non-killy. Which means no extra expense to you once you've uncovered your homes murderous tendencies. If you're a homeowner, you might find yourself out of pocket after this process, but at least you wont be dead, right? So let's figure out how our home might be secretly plotting to kill us, and do something about it, because no one deserves a death by home.
1. Bad Electrics
Frayed and exposed cords are a great way to encourage electrocution. If there are any wires sticking out in your home or you have faulty sockets, get them fixed. Likewise, if you've had rodents around the place, you might want to have an electrician check out the place as well. Mice can chew through wires to cause dangerous short-circuiting.
2. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide is odorless, so you won't even notice the poisonous gas seeping through your home — and it can kill within a matter of minutes. It is emitted from ordinary, everyday appliances, like cars, gas stoves, fuel-powered tools, and malfunctioning furnaces. Don't freak out: all you need is a carbon monoxide detector, and most smoke detectors come equipped with those these days, so make sure yours does!
3. Corrosion On Your Balcony
If you live in a home with a balcony, have a builder or inspector check that it's up to standard. Wood rots, metal rusts: you want to find out if what you're perched on is safe before it collapses.
4. Mold
All buildings have mold hiding somewhere, but if too much builds up it can cause serious respiratory problems. Check damp areas and be aware of any mold coming through your walls, and be sure to get an expert's opinion if you find any. This is something you don't want to let get out of control!
5. Lead Paint
Houses built before 1978 may have lead paint on the walls, and accidentally inhaling or ingesting chips of this (which you might even not realizing is happening), could be fatal. When you move into a new apartment, demand that new coat of paint!
6. Toxic Wood
A lot of wood sealants and glues can evaporate at room temperature, causing you to breathe in carcinogenic air. Some pressed woods also emit formaldehyde which has been linked to various caners. Make sure your woods stains are water-based and that you're only bringing formaldehyde-free woods into your house, and you'll be fine.
