If you have ever tuned into “Today’s Homeowner,” you’ll be familiar with Danny Lipford, the friendly, drawling host of one of TV’s longest-running home improvement shows. Lipford is a contractor who demonstrates practical tips on how St. Cloud do-it-yourselfers might remodel outdated or rundown areas in their homes with little more than ambition, energy, and a few bucks. He makes it look fun and easy, which is undoubtedly why the program has been syndicated for a quarter of a century.

The show has a website, too, which last week published a valuable safety tip: “20 Ways to Reduce the Effects of Indoor Air Pollution in Your Home.”  It covered the topic from top to bottom: everything from what it is and what its health effects can be to what to do about them. It’s well worth reading—but one item in particular would have caught the eye of St. Cloud homeowners who have ever dealt with the issue of mold or its potentially costly removal.

Although most everyone thinks of mold primarily as a health-threatening aftereffect of flooding, item #2 of the 20 Ways tells us that the EPA has determined an official ‘safe range’ for indoor humidity levels. It is between 30%-50%—a range that “reduces mold growth.” Lest St. Cloud homeowners fret needlessly that their own property has become some kind of health-threatening mold nursery, the EPA recommends a solution: “Consider getting a moisture alarm.”

Although that is easier said than done since most readily available water sensors/alarms detect standing water rather than humidity, air monitors are available and can be relatively inexpensive. Most require homeowner attention (the simple act of pressing a button to activate a readout screen or send information to an included smartphone app), and most also measure other pollutants—the VOCs (airborne chemicals) that are the subjects of many of the other 20 Ways to Reduce…”. Since even a properly mold-treated home is reported to have had its appraisal value drop, keeping an eye on indoor humidity levels could have more than health-related value. Please feel free to call me for other St. Cloud residential real estate issues! 

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