You already know that a home inspection is one of the most challenging but important steps in home buying. This step helps you determine your new property’s readiness to move in.

But do you know there might be something more challenging than home inspection?

What?

Fixing the concerns and issues that the inspector finds during their assessment.

You might often think this will be an inexpensive, easy, and quick task. Well, it’s not always like this.

A home inspector can identify so many things that might have issues. You might expect issues with your AC, foundation, structure, or other internal systems. But the list might not end here (or might not even include these issues). There’s something more you need to consider – residential environmental testing.

We will discuss home environmental testing, its importance, and what further steps can be taken after getting environmental testing.

What is Environmental Testing?

Your home’s examination doesn’t end on its physical structure. It goes beyond that, and this is what environmental testing ensures. Mainly, it looks for invisible hazards and toxicity within your home (and around the property).

If you think that isn’t what home inspection already covers, The answer is no. Home inspection is just the visual examination of your property. And even the poking and prodding during a residential inspection aren’t enough to determine the severity of issues like environmental testing.

During the process, the home environmental testing looks for different elements, such as:

Soil Contamination

Environmental testing includes soil tests that check the property’s surroundings for chemicals and organic pollutants.

This testing is helpful if your house has any chemical or industrial plant nearby.

Water Impurities

You don’t want health issues once you’ve moved into the property. But, you might be exposed to potential drinking hazards due to the impure water supply in your house.

Testing tap water then rules out this possibility. Professionals test the water for chemicals, fungus, heavy metals, mold, and other impurities.

Water testing becomes very important, especially if your residential water supply is from a well system.

Air Quality

Your house’s air quality might be at stake, and there’s a high chance you’re not aware of it. Here, several environmental factors are to blame. Different outdoor and indoor elements influence your air quality. It can cause several issues, such as smoke residue, mold due to water damage, dust mites, and chemicals from flooring and furniture.

Lead

Many homeowners are unaware of this potential threat within their houses, especially if built in the early 20^th century.

Such houses contain lead in the paint.

“But since the 20^th century, the walls have been painted several times.”

This doesn’t change anything, as it doesn’t prevent lead in the paint from causing issues. With time, you can expect lead to have its effects in the water, air, and even soil.

So, scheduling a residential environmental test is best if your potential house is relatively older.

The Importance of Environmental Testing

If you need to be aware of the improvements that need to be made to your home, then home environmental testing is essential.

This is the only way for you to get notified about the presence of hazards that won’t endanger you and your family. And, of course, if they’re left untouched for a long time, it can do major costly damage.

Besides the cost of fixing the issues, they may also experience another type of financial damage. It’s the cost of a large amount of medical debt if the issues are untreated and affect health.

For example, mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure, and its treatment cost can range from $10,000 to 50,000 (depending on your medical coverage).

Likewise, asthma and inflammation are two side effects of mold. And these are a couple of illnesses you’ll carry throughout your life.

Additionally, residential environmental testing can help you identify dust and allergens within your house if you’ve anyone in your family with severe allergies. And eventually, providing you peace of mind and relief.

What to Do After Environmental Testing?

We hope the testing results come out in your favor. If so, there’s still something you need to do. Keep an eye out for your home. And it is best to arrange for further testing so that you’re always ahead of the issues.

Meanwhile, what course of action you must take depends on your testing results to discover something.

For Asbestos

The actions to take if asbestos is discovered in your home mostly depend on the condition of the asbestos-containing items. For example,

is rare if the item is intact. In this case, keep an eye on the area because normal wear and tear can expose the area and demand repairs.

You may stop right this second if you’re thinking of DIY the repairs because you’ll increase the risk of exposure to the fibers once you disturb asbestos. Improper handling can create hazards that might not be there before.

State or local laws can sometimes require removal; however, removal is the most costly alternative and carries the most risk of fiber exposure. Therefore, it should be avoided if possible.

For Lead Paint

Painting over lead paint is a common method of handling it, but it’s crucial to be cautious. Never attempt to remove lead paint by sanding or scraping it off. Use an encapsulant instead, and then apply fresh paint over it.

After completing, you should wash your clothes and dispose of any materials you used, such as drop cloths used to paint over lead paint. Keep the area tidy and take care not to spread lead-contaminated dust.

After you’re done, you should keep an eye on the area to ensure the original paint is still covered, and you should keep kids and pets away from the area because they might ingest the paint and chip it.

For Mold

If mold is found, its removal then becomes necessary. Most mold grows due to leaks, which must be addressed to prevent future mold growth. Hiring a professional to perform the remediation is the best course of action.

After the testing is finished and you have a mold removal blueprint, you can choose a reputable remediation company to carry out the plan. Find out about their license, insurance, and qualifications. You should also find out how long they have been in business. You may even ask for references.

Conclusion

On the whole, residential environmental testing is an important step you should undertake in your home-buying process. This will benefit not only your pockets but also the health and safety of your loved ones.

Moreover, dealing with the issues found during testing is very important. You can’t just find the issue and let it be. It would be best to fix it before it becomes a severe headache.

We recommend hiring professionals to handle the issues later, too. This will maintain professionalism throughout your home-buying process… and help you know the issues better and avoid them for long.If you’re searching for any company to help you in this regard, then The Brickkicker is where you should head. You can contact us not only for hiring our experienced and trained professionals but also for further queries (if you have any) regarding the inspection or testing process.

Why Should You Get Residential Environmental Testing (and What to Do Later)