The Dangers in Your Home You Don't Know About

12/9/2019 (Permalink)

Your place of serenity could cause you a lot more stress than you might imagine.

Nancy Nord, the commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, once said, “The home is where people feel comfortable and secure, but constant awareness is the key to keeping families safe.” She phrased perfectly the balance of owning a home. Of course it’s where you feel safest, and yet it can pose unpredictable threats to you and your family’s safety. What kind of threats are most common though? Well, as professionals in restoration and experts on damage sourced from fire, water, storm, and mold, SERVPRO knows a lot about these potential hazards. We’re here to share what we’ve learned with you, to keep your home as safe as you dream it can be.

Each year, on average, 20 million visits to the hospital across the United States are due to accidents involving the home. From a fall to a fire, a burn to a break, there are a number of sources of danger we need to be more conscious of. In our time in the restoration field, we have seen it all. Danger can be as obvious as an unmaintained basement, with exposed pipes and electrical circuits that threaten children. It can also be as silent as mold, growing from a water leak in the walls, polluting our home’s air. While there are regulations to make sure our homes are as up-to-date as possible, what can you do if you don’t even know the issue is there?

Here’s a story from one of SERVPRO’s recent jobs on mold remediation, since it appears to us that mold can be one of the trickiest dangers to avoid.

A busy family, with the size and chaos of the Brady bunch, had no idea that black mold was growing in the wall of their home’s foyer. The reason why they had no idea something so dangerous was happening in their own home was because of the way it had started. See, the bathroom above the foyer didn’t indicate any damage inside it, leaving them to believe everything was normal. However, there was a crack in the foundation of the bathtub. That meant every time someone took a shower or bath, a subtle amount of water was dripping into the foundation, until eventually the drywall had become soggy enough for mold to move in. Drywall is one of the most common places for mold to grow, due to its high quantity of cellulose, which creates a great living environment for mold. 

By the time we were called, the black mold was visible. The family was nervous when we arrived because they had no idea how the mold had happened. When mold grows, we tend to believe its due to a lack of cleanliness or, at least, a lack of awareness. But it’s perfectly normal to have situations where water damage can be so subtle we only find out about it when the damage is severe. We had to remove the drywall, because once mold grows in drywall it cannot be repaired. We were also able to repair the break in the bathtub and use our dehumidifiers to clear remaining moisture out of the air.

Sometimes things are out of our control, even in our safest place to be. That’s why SERVPRO of East Dayton / Beavercreek spreads what we know about possible dangers in the home, to protect you and your family. If you’re ever in need of restoration for water, fire, mold, or storm damage, give us a call. Let’s keep your house safe.