6 things every homeowner should know about radon

Radon gas can be deadly if it accumulates in the home past a certain level. Here are some key things that everyone should know about this dangerous gas:

  • What it is: Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can be hazardous to humans at high levels. At lower levels, it's present in many everyday things you interact with often, from soil to air to water. 
  • How it can get into your home: Basically any place that gas or water can enter your home, radon can enter as well. The gas tends to seep in through the soil in crawl spaces, foundation cracks, pipes and drains. 
  • How common it is: About 15 percent of homes nationwide have elevated levels of the dangerous gas, including homes in regions of the country that are generally considered to be at lower risk for radon gas.
  • The symptoms: There are none. That is, until radon begins actually harming your health, you may not be aware that anything is happening. This is because it doesn't cause the headaches and lightheadedness that can come with other kinds of gas in your home. Eventually, through extended exposure, radon causes lung cancer. It is actually responsible for more lung cancer deaths than any cause other than smoking in the U.S.
  • How to test for it: Hire a radon testing professional to use a 48-hour radon test kit or an electronic continuous radon monitor to check your house for any sign of radon gas.
  • What to do if your home has elevated radon levels: Get in contact with a professional radon mitigation company immediately. Trying to deal with the gas yourself will only be counterproductive.

To protect your and your family's health and schedule a home test for radon, contact Alban Inspections today. 

Allergy symptoms in winter may be sign of mold in the home

There are many factors that can cause people with allergies to have continuing symptoms throughout the winter, from pet dander to dust mites. However, if you're taking measures to eliminate allergens in your home and still experiencing symptoms similar to allergies, you may be experiencing a reaction to something else. If you've looked around thoroughly and still can't see what might be causing the problem, there's a high probability it could be hidden mold.

According to physician Ann McClue, allergic reactions to mold can be difficult to diagnose during the traditional allergy season because the symptoms are often indistinguishable from those of hay fever. Common reactions to mold in the home can include coughing, sneezing, runny nose and watery eyes, exactly what allergy sufferers experience during hay fever season.

If you suspect your continuing allergic symptoms might be due to mold, you should contact a professional to help you deal with the problem. Also, contact your doctor to get tested for a mold allergy.

However, there are also a few common-sense steps you can take to limit your exposure to mold in your home throughout the day. Allowing any particularly damp areas in the house to dry out is crucial for preventing mold growth, so always remember to use the vent fan while showering or boiling water to allow the moisture to escape. Also, avoid installing any carpet in damp areas of the home, as it will trap moisture between the floor and the bottom of the carpet, creating a breeding ground for mold spores.

If you suspect your home may have a mold problem, contact Alban Inspections for a home inspection today. 

5 steps to prevent mold growth in winter

With all that extra moisture from melting snow and heavy rain worming its way into the crevices of your house, winter is prime mold season. Keeping mold from invading your house is extremely important for your and your family's health, as toxic mold spores have been shown to lead to debilitating symptoms like headaches, nausea and even cognitive effects like disorientation. This is doubly important if your family includes children or anyone with asthma. Here are some steps you can take to protect your home from invading spores this winter:

  • Check on your plumbing system. Make sure there are no leaks that could be causing moisture problems in the walls, and make sure the water flow to any damaged or nonfunctional appliances is turned off.
  • Heat the house. Briefly turning up the heat extra high can dry out moisture in the structure of the building. After the heat blast, open doors and windows or use a fan to get rid of any moist air.
  • Keep everything clean. Remove extra moisture and keep areas that are susceptible to excessive humidity, like bathrooms and basements, extra clean. 
  • Make sure the air circulation is good. Mold and mildew form especially easily in stagnant, humid air. Make sure to use an exhaust fan, if you have one, while showering, cooking or doing any activity that involves releasing a lot of water vapor into the air.
  • Use a dehumidifier: This one device can go a long way in making sure that mold doesn't have the favorable growing conditions it needs. Use it wherever moisture tends to accumulate in the house.

If you believe that you might have a problem with mold in your home, our professional home inspectors can help. Call Alban today for mold testing and inspection. 

New Maryland lead law requires inspection, registration of all properties built before 1978

Until recently, only rental units built before 1950 were required to be inspected and register with the Maryland Department of the Environment. However, motivated by growing evidence that remaining lead paint in houses built after 1950 was still causing new cases of childhood lead poisoning, the state passed a new law in 2012 that requires all rental properties built before 1978 to undergo the lead inspection and registration process. The deadline for registration is January 1, 2015, meaning that if you are the owner of a rental property that was constructed before 1978, you have about a month and a half to get it registered with the MDE.

Environmental Protection Agency statistics suggest that around 24% of homes built between 1960 and 1978 contain lead paint, and those built between 1950 and 1960 have an 80% chance of containing the poisonous substance, according to a 2011 study by the MDE. Lead poisoning in children has been reduced by 98% in Maryland since the passage of the 1994 Lead Risk Reduction Act, which required rental properties built before 1950 to be registered, but over the past year, the decrease in cases has stagnated, likely due to the presence of lead paint in homes built after 1950. The MDE emphasizes that "childhood lead poisoning is a completely preventable disease", and the new law hopes to close the gap by eliminating all extant lead paint in rental units in Maryland. More than 250,000 units are expected to be registered under the law.

The only properties that are exempt from registration are those that have been issued a Lead Free or Limited Lead Free Certification by an accredited inspector. If you own a rental unit built before 1978, contact Alban Inspections today to schedule a lead paint inspection. We are qualified to provide a Lead Free Certification if your property meets state standards.

Tips for maintaining your private well

If your family draws water from a private well, you are probably concerned about maintaining the well correctly to prevent it from becoming contaminated with pollutants. Regular maintenance goes a long way to ensuring your family continues to drink clean, fresh water into the future. Here are some tips gathered from state environmental agencies on proper private well maintenance:

  • Check regularly to make sure there are no cracks or deformities in the casing or seal of your well. Replace any old or worn out seals immediately. Make sure there is no debris accumulated on the wellhead.
  • Disinfect the well thoroughly right after drilling it, then again any time a repair is completed or a bad sample is detected — essentially, anytime outside objects or water are introduced inside the well. Disinfecting can be done with ordinary bleach, but avoid scented bleach, as the scent is a contaminant. For a more detailed guide to disinfecting a well, refer to this fact sheet from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
  • Grade the ground surface around the well so that surface water is kept away.
  • Make sure to store any hazardous chemicals, such as paint, motor oil, pesticides and weed killer, at least 50 feet away from the well. 
  • Test water regularly for any signs of contamination.
  • Use backflow prevention devices on hoses and other outdoor water sources to keep polluted surface water from back-siphoning into the system.

Finally, once you have determined that your well is clean and functioning, make sure to conserve this precious resource for the future by being conscious and conservative in your water use. To have your well checked for safety by accredited inspectors, or to schedule a home inspection, call Alban Inspections at 800-822-7200.

Decline in Lead Poisoning Cases Stalls in Maryland

If your home was built between 1950 and 1978 in Maryland, an inspection for lead paint is not only mandated by law, it is critical to protect your family's health. Although lead poisoning cases have been becoming steadily rarer each year since the 90s, the Baltimore Sun reports that the number of affected children in Maryland has stayed the same since 2013, at approximately 2,600 cases across the state. Many of these cases are caused by remaining lead paint in homes built before 1978, when the use of lead paint was banned in new construction in Maryland, but after 1950, the cutoff year for government programs targeting lead paint in historic homes.

Lead poisoning is extremely damaging to children, resulting in deficiencies in IQ, growth, attention and energy level, as well as headaches, anemia and kidney damage. Recently, a local 17-year-old made headlines by winning a $2 million lawsuit against a rental company in Baltimore for failing to remove lead paint from his home, causing him serious brain damage and continuing cognitive deficiencies. While not all of us have the time and resources to file a lawsuit, anyone can follow these basic tips to protect their children from lead poisoning:

  • Have children wash their hands before eating. Lead poisoning is predominantly caused by ingestion of the paint itself.
  • Remove dust from the home regularly. Lead paint dust can also cause damage when inhaled.
  • Throw out toys and furniture painted before 1976.
  • Have your home inspected for lead paint by a qualified, accredited home inspection company. Alban Inspections offers lead paint inspections, risk assessments and lead free certifications at a competitive price. 
  • For more information about lead paint removal and your home, contact HUD at 800-RID-LEAD, or for general information, contact the National Lead Information Center at (800) 424-5323.

Report: China and India more energy-efficient than U.S.

Out of the 16 largest economies in the world, the United States languishes in 13th place for energy efficiency.

This is according to a new study conducted by the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). ACEEE assessed the world's 16 leading economies, accounting for roughly 81 percent of the planet's gross domestic product and 71 percent of its energy use, in 31 different areas surrounding political and procedural approaches to matters like fuel economy standards. Among Australia, Brazil, Canada and the 13 other nations, even India and China, two of the world's most prolific polluters, ranked higher than the U.S. at 11th and 4th place respectively. 

"There's really no excuse for the United States lagging behind other nations on energy efficiency," Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., told USA Today. "There's bipartisan common ground on this issue in Congress." 

The scoring system evaluated each nation's efficiency based on four categories: buildings, industry, transportation and national effort. One hundred points was the highest possible score. America scored less than 50 points, beating out only Mexico and Brazil.

While the report may generate surprise and even frustration from public officials like Rep. Welch, Congress has not passed a major energy bill since 2007. Furthermore, a bipartisan bill to boost energy efficiency collapsed in the Senate earlier this year. Consequently, with energy-efficient building codes now mandatory in Germany, and only Italy and the United Kingdom having managed to reach the 38.4 miles-per-gallon milestone for passenger vehicles, what progress the U.S. has made in energy efficiency failed to make a significant impact in the survey. 

Nevertheless, the effort to conserve energy and embrace new approaches to renewable power continues.  If you live in the Maryland area and want to learn more about home energy efficiency or have an energy audit evaluate your household's power consumption needs, schedule an appointment with Alban Inspections!

3 creative ways to use solar energy

As energy efficiency grows in popularity across the nation, so do the debates on how green energy ought to be utilized. But while some solar power initiatives are still waiting on politicians, this renewable energy source is still widely available and applicable for every day use, even for people who either don't want to or just can't afford to slather their roofs with shimmering solar panels. 

Here are three less obvious ways of going solar in your home: 

Purchase a solar water heater: While these appliances can be carry a larger price tag upfront, they end up being cost-effective in the long run as you use only the sun and the glass panels on the device to generate the hot water you need . 

Try solar oven cooking: Through a combination of glass and reflective materials used to collect and trap the heat, solar ovens have the ability to cook food at up to 350 degrees without the use of fuel.  There are several versions of these appliances, fit for both outside and inside culinary fun. But a setback to be aware of is that some solar ovens need more time to warm up than conventional models.

Use Thermal Storage Tubes: These appliances are traditionally used in greenhouses and gardens but can also serve as a creative way to heat a room or open space in your home. If it fits within your budget, converting one of these devices to fit comfortably in almost any living space is a very doable procedure. 

With their promise of cheaper utility bills and a reduce environmental footprint, home energy efficiency remains a top priority for many homeowners. If you live in the Maryland area and are looking to have an energy audit evaluate your own power consumption needs, or to learn what adjustments you can make for a greener lifestyle, simply schedule an appointment with leading home inspection company Alban Inspections!

Be savvy about your home inspection

A quality home inspection is an invaluable investment that looks to spare you the unseen, and often significant, costs that can crop up only after you've taken the leap of purchasing a home. These can include issues such as mold, weak insulation and poor drainage — problems that you may not notice until you've already begun living in your new house. 

In the interest of alleviating some of the stress that may come with having an inspection done, and equipping you with a few tools to help verify that your inspector is a competent one, here are a few questions you can ask during an inspection to make sure that you're getting your money's worth: 

Are those gaps I see around the doors? – Uneven spaces and crevices in between a door and its frame are tiny details that may indicate a shifting foundation. 

Is the wiring overworked? – Wiring for a home is like the fuel injection system for a car. Just as you wouldn't put diesel in your sedan when it runs on unleaded, the wiring  in older houses  isn't always equipped to match up with the power demands of modern appliances like hair dryers or flat-screen televisions. Flickering lights and tripped circuits may signal a need to have an electrician reconfigure your potential home's power capabilities before bigger problems arrive. 

Why does this toilet shake? – A seemingly small hiccup in your bathroom's structure can lead to major water damage. An unsteady toilet can eventually crack the wax ring at its base and lead to water leakage with every flush, eventually rotting your floor. 

If you live in the Maryland area and need a reliable and professional home inspection company, Alban Inspections  can help! Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

Clayton Homes finds historic success in energy efficiency

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been laboring to find more ways for consumers to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Those efforts recently blended with the work of the Systems Building Research Alliance (SBRA) when the non-profit organization commissioned America's most prolific home builder, Clayton Homes, to construct three houses for a 15-month energy-performance test. The final results included one of the the Clayton Homes' houses becoming the only home in the nation to qualify for the DOE Challenge Home Program. 

"A DOE Zero Energy Ready Home is a high-performance home that is so energy efficient, that a renewable-energy system can offset all or most of its annual energy consumption," according to a DOE statement published by Business Wire which went on to say that the DOE's Builders Challenge Program "represents a whole new level of home performance." 

Southern Energy Homes, Inc. (SEhomes), a subsidiary of Clayton Homes, completed the three SBRA test houses at their home-building facility in Double Springs, Ala with each representing differing levels of energy efficiency. One home meets HUD thermal requirements, another complies with the standards of an Energy Star (r) qualified home and the third is the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home. 

"The SBRA testing process is a milestone in our industry's pursuit of the efficient use of energy," said Keith Holdbrooks, president of CMH Manufacturing, Inc., Clayton Homes' manufacturing division, according to Business Wire. "We are proud that Clayton Homes has the opportunity to demonstrate its leadership in innovation." 

Since 2008, the DOE's Builders Challenge Program has recognized hundreds of achievements in home-building energy efficiency which have led to millions of dollars in energy savings and more than 14,000 new energy-efficient homes. If you live in the Maryland area and want to learn about how efficient your home's energy output is through an energy audit, or more about home energy efficiency in general, just schedule an appointment with leading home inspection company Alban Inspections!