When we think about home renovations, safety is generally not our first concern, unless it’s a repair project of course. However, making your home safer should always take precedence over decorative changes. That being said, one doesn’t have to clash with the other at all! Making safety a priority, here is a small but important list of steps that we should all take to make our homes safer for us and our families.
Security: Invest in Sturdy Doors, Windows and Locks
We are so used to gorgeous glass/ fiberglass and wood/composite doors these days that one has to wonder if someone does decide to break in, how will those even hold?
Invest in doors that are made from solid materials with high trauma resistance, such as thick sheet aluminum, hardwoods, and steel. Don’t worry about the décor as much while choosing metal, because they can be painted and worked on to fit any décor seamlessly.
Couple these strong doors (front and back) with deadbolts and a good home security system to ensure complete security for your home. On a side note, you may also want to invest in sturdy windows or even put well designed, sturdy grills on them, in case they are big enough to let intruders through.
Health: Water and Air Quality
There are primarily two factors that affect indoor health, which are of course air quality and drinking water safety. Depending on the climate and your available water supply, you will find the following precautions to be exceptionally useful for ensuring both.
Ventilation for Damp, Stale Air
Insulation is what keeps the heating and cooling expenses down, but during winter months, the trapped hot air can become unhealthy and malodorous with time. After a while, stale, damp environments become breeding grounds for germs and even mold.
Invest in a quality heat recovery system. These can ventilate the stale air, while transferring the heat from the stale air to incoming fresh air, in a singular and continuous motion.
Water Filtration
As compared to a third-world country, the United States has a much higher and safer standard of tap water, but that isn’t always true everywhere. In the very recent past, there have been multiple incidents of contaminated or infected water being circulated even in big cities such as Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Milwaukee.
These incidents do not take into account multiple others happening in the comparatively underdeveloped rural sections of the country.
Whether you live in the city, or in a remote part of the US mainland, a portable water filtration system is always going to provide you and your family with safer, cleaner drinking water. Visit the Discount Filters Store for a wide selection of filtered water pitchers, dispensers, cartridges, and large water filtration systems, at a discounted price.
Annual Checks
The last precautionary step to take here would be to get your house inspected for everything from mold to faulty electrical wirings and rusty plumbing systems, on an annual basis. Based on the location, climate, size of the house and other relevant factors, what is necessary and what isn’t will vary, but at least a few basic checks annually could prevent fire hazards or waterlogging accidents from happening.
Just like it is with storm shelters, we can’t predict mishaps, but we can prepare for them nonetheless, so take precautions before the dangers begin to affect the safety of your family.