Environmental Safety Cost Guides

Indoor Air Quality

In the last several years, evidence has suggested that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air, thus, for many people the risks to health may be greater due to exposure to air pollution indoors than outdoors. If you notice allergy like symptoms or breathing problems that get better when you are away from your property, you should have your home tested. These tests will look for mold, asbestos, problems lurking n your duct work as well as any other general pollutants in your home. There are so called "do it yourself" kits, but you may want to heavily consider their use. While they are less expensive than hiring a professional, they may or may not give you all the needed results at an accurate level. Price ranges for a professional vary greatly - depending on the size of your home as well as what tests you'd like completed. Don't forget, you also might need to shell out some dollars to fix the issues found.

Toxic Lead

If you have children, lead in your home can cause serious long term health and behavior problems. Lead is a hazard to children under 6 years of age in particular. Lead can also harm a pregnant woman and her developing fetus. Most homes built before 1978 have some lead paint while homes built before 1960 have the most lead paint. Sanding, scraping or otherwise disturbing lead paint can release large amounts of toxic lead dust. Lead-based paint inspections are a surface-by-surface investigation to determine whether there is lead-based paint in the home and where it is located. An inspection may be particularly useful before renovation, repainting, or paint removal. The presence of lead-based paint in a home does not necessarily mean there is a lead-based paint hazard to occupants. To make sure, you may want a different testing approach - either a risk assessment or hazard screen. Either way, a professional method is needed and will be necessary if you decide to remove the toxic lead found in your home. The average cost of toxic lead abatement ranges from $5 to $20 per square foot - depending on the area in which you live. The cost is more if you need the lead removed from the outside of your home because there will need to be protective screening required.  Continue Reading