A standard home inspection will usually cover:
- Structure
- Plumbing
- Drainage
- Heating
- Cooling
- Electricity
But I Have More Concerns
But what about lead? Mold? Asbestos? Radon? Other issues are easy to overlook and unidentified in traditional home inspections. Many licensed home inspectors will perform additional tests such as mould or lead but only upon request. If you do not request these tests, issues in your future home may go unidentified.
Here are the four tests you must request before buying a home to ensure the safety and health of your family:
- Lead Inspection or Risk Assessment
- Mold Inspection
- Radon Testing
- Asbestos Testing
Before you read on, we have good news, all of these issues that could be present in your home can be fixed. At Complete Property Restoration, we’re committed to providing a safe, healthy home for you and your family. Whether it’s radon removal, water damage repair or asbestos removal, use a trusted professional, choose a company that is certified to properly remove and safely dispose of the toxic material.
Lead Inspection or Risk Assessment
To ensure yours and your family’s health, testing your home for lead is essential for preventing lead exposure or lead poisoning. Did you know that lead-based paint testing is mandatory in all homes built before 1978 during your standard home inspection? It is quite unlikely that your home has lead-based paint if it was built after 1978 but it’s still a very good idea to perform the test anyways. To test for lead in your home, you can either opt for an inspection or a risk assessment. An inspection is a surface-by-surface investigation to determine whether there is lead-based paint in a home. Lead-based paint inspections determine the presence of lead-based paint and are particularly helpful in determining whether lead-based paint is present prior to purchasing your home.
A risk assessment is an on-site investigation to determine the presence, type, severity, and location of lead-based paint hazards. This includes all lead hazards that could be present in paint, dust, and soil. The key to a risk assessment is that it provides suggested ways to control these risks.
It is so important to have a trusted professional perform your lead inspection or risk assessment. There are standards in place to ensure the work is done safely, reliably, and effectively.
Mold Testing
Surprisingly, mold testing is not a standard test performed during home inspections. Don’t worry too much, your licensed home inspector will keep an eye out for it, but since you cannot always see the full extent of a mold problem, it’s often overlooked. Mold can be found virtually anywhere and warm and humid conditions encourage growth. Over time, it will destroy the object on which it is growing. Mold is often well hidden to only expose it after the removal of moldy material begins. To avoid long term damage and to prevent health issues, you must eliminate the source which is causing the mold to grow and the materials which it has grown on.
Complete Property Restoration will remove mold, prevent cross-contamination, keeping you safe and prevent mold from returning.
Testing for Radon
Typically, your home inspection should include radon testing, however not all home inspectors will. The only way to tell if a home contains elevated levels of radon gas is to have a test performed by a licensed radon testing specialist. You won’t be able to see it, smell it or taste it. It’s a colourless odourless, tasteless gas that can be quite harmful if inhaled over a long period of time. The truth is, all homes have some amount of radon in it. The only question is how much radon you have. Identifying high levels of radon is should be a top priority during your home inspection. If your home inspector is not a licensed radon inspector, they may either contact a licensed company to bring them in during your home inspection or suggest an in-home radon test kit.
If the radon test shows high levels of radon gas, Complete Property Restoration is happy to help with all things radon testing and removal. We recommend installing a radon removal system before going through with the purchase of the home.
Asbestos Testing
It is essential that today’s homeowners know how to protect themselves and their families from asbestos. Asbestos is a naturally occurring substance that used to be found in everything from home insulation to window caulking. It wasn’t until the 1970s that people realized asbestos is highly toxic. Even after that, building materials that included asbestos were still being used. Asbestos is most commonly found in insulation but could also be lurking in paint, plaster, ductwork, and countless other areas. Leave the testing to the pros but be proactive about it. If it’s confirmed an area in your home contains asbestos, you have a few options. If the product is completely intact with no breaks, cracks, or tears, and there’s little risk of it being disturbed in the future, your contractor might suggest encapsulation. This means a special paint-like substance is put over the material to seal the asbestos fibres and stop them from escaping into the air. If the asbestos has been disturbed or you plan on remodelling your home, it’s essential to remove it. Asbestos removal is the only way to permanently protect your family from asbestos exposure in your home. Contact us during your home inspection for additional testing and removal assistance. Many licensed home inspectors will do the additional tests themselves.
It’s possible your home inspector will test for mould, lead, radon and asbestos but you can also request to specifically test these areas on top of your home inspection. Make sure you discuss any certain issues you’re particularly worried about during a pre-inspection meeting. If an inspector suspects there’s a mould, they may recommend a mould guy. If there seems to be a huge lead issue, they may recommend a lead expert. The important thing is to identify these issues early on.
These issues can be fixed prior to purchasing your home so you can confidently know your family is safe. Complete Property Restoration will be with you every step of the way through testing and removal. We’re committed to providing you a safe home for you and your family.