Tag Archives: odor

General Safety Issues, Health Issues, Hearing Protection, Respiratory Safety

SIGNS OF A GAS LEAK (GUEST POST)

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Sent to us by Ryan Edun
People often worry about the dangers of having a natural gas furnace. While natural gas is affordable and burns clean, it can still produce deadly carbon monoxide if there is something wrong with the system. Carbon monoxide detectors will protect you from the danger, but it’s still wise to know what the warning signs are of a gas leak

Watch for the Odor
Natural gas has a unique odor. Often described as being comparable to rotten eggs, you can easily smell a gas leak. If you ever walk into your home and smell gas, you should call the gas company immediately for service. If you are unable to reach the gas company, then call the fire department because they can also help.

The Gentle Breeze
Gas leaking out of a line will have some pressure behind it. Look around the exterior of your home around the gas lines. Plants that are gently blowing like they are in a breeze could be directly under a leak.

Bubbling Puddles
If the ground is wet around buried gas lines, then the escaping gas can cause the moisture to bubble. Have your lines marked so you know the general direction lines move in underground. If you ever see puddles or ground moisture bubbling around the area of your buried gas lines, then you should call the gas company immediately.

Fading Plants
Gas will eventually dry out and kill off plants that are near an outdoor leak. Look for landscaping that suddenly struggles and dies with no visible cause. The culprit could be a gas leak steadily poisoning the plant.

Physical symptoms
It’s also important to know what physical symptoms you might suffer from if exposed to a gas leak. Understanding the warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning will help keep you and your family safe. Watch for these warning signs, and call for service immediately if you start seeing them.

Exhaustion and fatigue are a warning sign of serious poisoning. If you and the rest of your household find yourselves too tired to keep your eyes open in the middle of the day, you should get out of the house immediately and take in some fresh air.

Other serious warning problems include involuntary muscle twitching, difficult writing and assembling thoughts, spots in your vision and trouble hearing. There may be a high pitched noise sounding in your ears and a sensitivity to light. Chronic headaches are another warning sign you should heed.

While some gas leaks are serious and will cause a sudden onset of symptoms, other leaks are very minor. Low enough that you cannot detect them by simple odor, the symptoms can also set in slowly. If you notice new allergies, food sensitivities or just chronic unexplained headaches, then the problem could be lurking in the furnace. A cracked heat exchanger, defective parts or leaky connections could allow small levels of carbon monoxide to seep into the home. Over the long term, these small amounts are just as dangerous as the higher fatal levels.

You can avoid the drama of a gas leak by investing in regular maintenance. When your system is well cared for, you won’t have to worry as much about it leaking. With regular tune-ups, defective parts can be replaced before your system poses a threat to your family. You won’t have to worry about breakdowns, and you will hopefully avoid the danger of gas leaks and carbon monoxide poisoning.

General Safety Issues

HOW TO DO A BASIC SAFETY INSPECTION WHEN LOOKING AT A HOME (GUEST POST)

By Alan Brady.

When looking to buy a house,  you’ll always need to hire a professional inspector in order to obtain a mortgage. When you’re first out looking for a house to buy you’ll want to be aware of a few of the most important safety concerns that a house might have, and how you can find them, so that you don’t waste your time on a house that the inspector will later warn you away from anyway. Here are the most important things to check.

Outside

Before you enter the house, go and take a walk around the outside. Take note of any large trees that are close to the house. Massive root systems can lift up the ground under the foundation of the house and destabilize it. Additionally trees with large branches hanging over the house pose a risk. As the tree ages branches will grow larger and eventually die off, which can result in one falling onto and breaking through your roof. Also examine the exterior walls for any obvious cracks or mold.

Crawlspace

The crawlspace is a good litmus test for the general health of the house. Always ask to see it and bring a flashlight with you. You don’t need to crawl down there necessarily, just poke your head down and shine the light everywhere that you can see. Inhale and smell the air for anything strange. Everything should look dry and relatively unremarkable.

Living Room

If the floor is not carpeted it should be relatively easy to spot any warping or in the floor. Discoloration in on the walls, carpet, or ceiling, or bubbling and peeling paint mean that there is moisture in your walls and floor. This can mean mold, which is extremely hazardous, and even deadly to the young, old, and sickly. What it definitely means is that there is water damage to the home, probably meaning rotted wood, and eventual loss of structural integrity in the home, which is dangerous as well as extremely expensive to fix.

Kitchen and Laundry Rooms

Open all of the cupboards and check them for mold or strange smells. Turn on the water and give it a taste test to see if there is anything obviously wrong with it. Open the cabinet underneath the sink and check to make sure none of the pipes are leaking and that everything looks to be in good order.

Bathroom

Bathrooms are especially prone to molding and water damage. Turn on the water to make sure that everything drains properly. Turn on the fan to ensure that it works and moves a sufficient amount of air. Closely examine the toilet, the sink, the piping underneath the sink, and every nook, cranny, and corner that you can find.

General

An important rule of thumb is to go by your nose. Many of the problems that a house can have are related to decomposition, mold, or pests, all of which smell fairly unpleasant. Another thing to keep in mind is to open and close all of the doors that you come across. If any of them don’t open or close properly a part of the house may have shifted and the ground that it’s sitting on might be slowly moving.

Alan Brady is a real estate and financial enthusiast who loves to blog about personal finance, renting, home ownership and responsible practices for mortgage lawyers for attorneys.com.