How to Conduct a DIY Air Quality Inspection at Home: Your Comprehensive Guide

Having clean, healthy indoor air is important for you and your family's health and comfort. While you may not be able to see or smell impurities in your home's air, they could be negatively impacting your health and home. Conducting your own DIY air quality inspection allows you to identify potential issues and take steps to improve your indoor air quality. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process step-by-step.

What is Indoor Air Quality and Why Does it Matter?

Indoor air quality refers to the cleanliness and safety of the air inside your home. Good indoor air quality means having minimal levels of pollutants, adequate ventilation to allow air flow, and reasonable temperature and humidity levels.

Poor indoor air quality can lead to various health issues. Common pollutants like dust, mold, chemicals from cleaners and furniture, pet dander, and outside particles getting inside can cause allergic reactions, asthma attacks, headaches, fatigue, and other problems if allowed to build up in your home's air.

Children, older adults, and those with existing respiratory conditions are most vulnerable to poor indoor air quality's effects. But it impacts everyone's comfort and wellbeing in their own home.

Conducting a DIY inspection allows you to identify potential indoor air quality issues so you can take action to improve it.

Preparing for Your Indoor Air Quality Inspection

Before diving into your inspection, some preparation will ensure the process goes smoothly:

Learn about common indoor air pollutants: Educate yourself on the most prevalent indoor air contaminants like mold, radon, VOCs (volatile organic compounds), carbon monoxide, dust mites, and more. Understanding what to look for will help you know if they are present in your home.

Obtain inspecting equipment: Having the right tools makes inspection easier. Useful items include a flashlight, small mirror, tape measure, moisture meter, camera, protective gear like gloves and mask, paper and pen for notes, and a ladder or step stool if needed.

Decide time and location: Choose a time when you can methodically inspect all areas of your home without interruption. Make sure young children and pets are occupied elsewhere during the process. Examine each room and location thoroughly.

Enlist help: Having an extra pair of hands and eyes helps cover more ground. Ask a family member or friend to assist with the inspection if possible.

Check filters and ventilation: Ensure ventilation systems are operating properly and change out air filters right before inspecting. Proper ventilation helps identify lingering pollutants versus those carried away by air flow.

Inspecting Your Home Room-by-Room

Conducting your air quality inspection room-by-room allows you to be thorough. Look, smell, and take notes in each part of your home.

Entryways

• Check entryway floors, walls, and ceilings for signs of dirt, moisture, or mold. Look for dust and pet dander buildup.

• Note if entryways feel drafty when exterior doors are closed. This can indicate air leaks.

• Measure humidity with a hygrometer. Ideal indoor humidity is 30-50%. Higher levels promote mold growth.

Living Spaces, Bedrooms, and Offices

• Scan walls, floors, furniture, and decor items for visible mold or mildew. Detect hidden mold behind furniture or carpet with a moisture meter.

• Remove and inspect furnace air filters. Dirty filters indicate problems.

• Note any pet dander layering surfaces. Pet dander harbors allergens.

• Look for dripping faucets or plumbing. Leaks increase moisture.

• See if books, electronics, and fabrics show damage from moisture exposure.

Kitchen

• Check under sinks for leaks, mold, or standing water.

• Inspect walls, floors, and counters thoroughly for mold. Kitchens harbor moisture.

• Note if you smell gas from appliances. This could indicate leaks.

• Make sure vents above stoves exhaust properly when turned on. Vent issues allow smoke and grease to linger.

• Is food protected from contaminants? Uncovered food can collect particles.

Bathrooms

• Look in cabinets, showers, and floors for mold and mildew. Feel for damp surfaces.

• Scan ceilings and walls for moisture damage or stains. This reveals plumbing issues.

• Do exhaust fans function properly when turned on? Poorly venting fans increase humidity.

• Smell near toilets for sewer gas odor, indicating cracked pipes.

Basement and Attic

• Check insulation. Discolored or dirty insulation likely harbors contaminants from pests, moisture, and more.

• Turn over insulation to check for signs of rodents like droppings and nesting. Rodents spread allergens.

• Look in dark corners for damp spots, standing water, or mold.

• Note musty odors. Basements and attics easily collect moisture.

• See if stored items are damaged by moisture exposure. This reveals humidity issues.

Garage

• Note if you smell exhaust when the garage door is closed. This signals vehicle exhaust entering home.

• Inspect floors and walls adjacent to the driveway for moisture or stains. This indicates foundation/concrete issues.

• Look for oil drips from vehicles, which contaminate air.

• Check for emissions labels on newer appliances and heaters. Non-compliant items release harmful gases.

Final Indoor Air Quality Inspection Steps

After thoroughly examining all areas of your home, finish up with these important steps:

• Review inspection notes and use them to create an indoor air quality improvement plan. Prioritize fixes starting with safety hazards.

• Further test suspect areas for specific problems. For example, use mold test kits in humid areas and carbon monoxide detectors near combustion appliances.

• Research and contact qualified professionals as needed. For issues like mold remediation or replacing ventilation systems, you will likely need to hire contractors.

• Make fixes and changes to improve air quality based on inspection findings. Common remedies include cleaning mold or pests, fixing moisture sources, improving ventilation, replacing filters, removing clutter holding dust and allergens, and more.

• Continue monitoring air quality even after addressing problems to ensure your repairs were effective and identify any new issues that pop up.

• Educate family members on avoiding behaviors that reduce indoor air quality like smoking indoors or using harsh chemicals. Maintaining good air quality requires vigilance.

Improve Your Indoor Air Quality Today

Breathing polluted indoor air daily can slowly take a toll on your family's health and comfort without you even realizing it. But a DIY air quality inspection puts the power in your hands to identify problems early and take action.

Following this comprehensive guide equips you to thoroughly inspect your home's air, find issues, and make improvements for cleaner indoor air quality. Don't wait - inspect and address air quality problems now so you can breathe easier knowing your home's air is safe.