Home Ventilation Should Balance Indoor Air Quality with Environmental Conditions In Western North Carolina, specific environmental conditions impact air quality, which can affect your family’s healthiness at home. These conditions – common to the southern Appalachians – include: Left unchecked, these environmental conditions can make your house – and its inhabitants – sick, complicating respiratory […]
Mold Growth Is Western North Carolina’s “Quiet Ecological Disaster” of Devastating Proportions
Consistently high dew points and weeks of warm temperatures result in a regional increase of indoor mold growth, worsening health conditions, and rising costs into the tens of millions. That’s why I think it’s fair to assert that Western North Carolina is in the middle of a quiet ecological disaster of devastating proportions. Right now, […]
WNC’s Older Homes Offer Charm, Craftsmanship – and Potential Healthiness Challenges
If you’re looking for charm and craftsmanship, our region’s older homes check all the boxes. From century-old log cabins sitting on a ridge to Craftsman cottages in streetcar neighborhoods, the southern Appalachian mountains have no lack of unique, one-of-a-kind homes. In fact, 40% of the United States’ 137 million homes were built before 1969, which […]
The $39 Mold Assessment: Too Good to Be True? Here’s what to ask.
In WNC, one regional “clean up” service currently advertises that they’ll come to your house and conduct a comprehensive inspection for mold and water damage. They’ll look at your crawl space, soil barrier condition, moisture readings, signs of standing water, plumbing leaks, sources of moisture or leaks. Then, they’ll hand over a summary of findings […]