The Cleaning Blog
The Cleaning Blog is the most helpful carpet cleaning blog out there! We publish multiple entries per month to keep you up to date on the carpet cleaning industry and our expert advice!
How Much Do Uncleaned Air Ducts Contribute to Indoor Air Pollution?
There are so many things that contribute to indoor air pollution, but one of the most overlooked is uncleaned air ducts. You might not realize that when you allow your air ducts and filters to go unchecked, it can lead to dust, debris, pet hair, and other particulate matter clogging up the system. This not only affects your health by making breathing more difficult (due to increased allergens) but also contributes to less efficient heating or cooling in your home.
Keep reading to find out more the importance of duct cleaning and just how much it can affect your indoor air quality.
How Much Do Uncleaned Air Ducts Contribute to Indoor Air Pollution?
The straightforward answer is that uncleaned air ducts do contribute significantly to indoor air pollution.
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) even states that indoor air quality is one of the most common environmental health risks and can be caused by a variety of different factors, including:
- Unclean ducts
- Poor ventilation
- Humidity control issues
- Lack of insulation or sealing in your home.
Given what your home ventilation system does for you, it’s easy to see how important it is for these systems to be maintained. It keeps the air in your house clean and breathable.
Uncleaned Air Ducts Introduce Pollutants from Outside
In addition, uncleaned ducts allow pollutants from the outside into our homes where they can be easily inhaled. This is especially true in the summer months when windows are typically open, and you can’t keep all of your air ducts closed.
Uncleaned Air Ducts are Sources of Contaminants
Material from air ducts can also contribute to the air quality of your home by releasing chemicals, such as formaldehyde. In addition, dust and other contaminants from uncleaned ducts may spread allergens throughout a family or office space.
To maintain healthy indoor air conditions in your house, it is crucial to clean your ducts and filters regularly. This can significantly reduce the number of contaminants that you breathe in as well as help to improve air quality throughout your home or office space.
Other Health Impacts of Uncleaned Air Ducts
It’s vital to understand that leaving your air ducts uncleaned can introduce a wide range of adverse health impacts to your home.
Asthma
If you have Asthma, it’s crucial to know that your indoor air quality matters significantly. Not only can uncleaned air ducts contribute to indoor air pollution, but they also increase the risk of Asthma.
In addition, Asthma can be triggered by allergens or irritants like dust mites, pollen, and mold spores too. When dust or dirt particles are not filtered out of your air system, they can make their way into your lungs, causing inflammation that makes it difficult for you to breathe normally.
Sinus Problems
With uncleaned air ducts, it’s no surprise that your sinuses may become inflamed. If left untreated, sinus issues could lead to more serious respiratory conditions like pneumonia.
Eye Irritations
If your eye has been irritated often, your uncleaned air ducts could be the culprit. Dust particles in the air increase your risk of contracting an eye infection.
Mold and Mildew
Dirty air ducts also contribute to the formation of mold and mildew. Mold spores are common in uncleaned ventilation systems, which can cause allergic reactions like hives or skin rashes and increase your risk for respiratory infections.
Conclusion
When ducts are left uncleaned, they can have a negative impact on indoor air quality and increase the risk of illness or infection. Remember to clean out your air ducts regularly to reduce the presence of pollutants in your indoor environment. In addition, cleaning your air ducts will also help keep your energy bills low by increasing the efficiency of your heating and cooling systems.
Call us today to get your air ducts cleaned so that you can have clean indoor air again!
Signs You Need Your Air Ducts Cleaned
If you didn’t know your air ducts need cleaning until now, that’s normal. Not many people understand the importance of air duct cleaning in Daytona Beach until their house starts to smell or they try many other expensive fixes.
Before your house starts smelling bad, there are a few ways to know that your air ducts need to be cleaned. So save yourself some money, and an unpleasant-smelling house, by looking out for the signs below.
Signs Your Air Ducts Need To Be Cleaned
-
Dust
This is an easy warning sign to brush off, but if your house is always dusty despite regular cleaning, it could be one of the first signs that your air ducts need to be cleaned. Another more evident warning sign is if you notice a puff of dust when you turn on your HVAC system.
-
Mold
Any sign of mold should be a major warning sign that there’s a problem. Unfortunately, if you find mold in your air ducts, you’re going to be faced with a much bigger problem. Very rarely will mold stay in one place and if it’s already in your air ducts, you’ll have to search the rest of your house for mold.
If you’re fortunate enough that the mold is only in your air ducts, then you’ll spend much less to fix it. Of course, you’ll need to get a professional in to thoroughly clean and sanitize them, but it will stop the problem from growing.
-
Smell
Air ducts that need to be cleaned can smell bad. If you notice your house has a strange odor, but you can’t find the source of it, it could very well be your air ducts. One way to test this is by getting up close to the vent and sniffing. If you’d rather not, however, you can call a technician in to examine your air ducts as well.
-
Increasing Costs
Air ducts can collect a lot of dust, dirt, and even pet fur over time. After a while, if they aren’t cleaned out, they can become so dirty that they aren’t able to run as efficiently. It becomes more difficult to move air, and as such, your HVAC system has to use more energy, thus increasing your energy bill.
While it’s normal for your bill to increase or decrease a little bit depending on the season, it should stay relatively the same as the year before. If your bill is much higher than last year, though, it could be a sign that your air ducts need some help.
-
Clogged Air Filters
Switching out air filters occasionally is a normal part of owning an HVAC system. However, if you notice that they need to be switched out more and more because they get clogged quicker, you should consider it a sign to clean your air ducts.
Typically, you’ll want to replace air filters every few months. However, if you’re switching them roughly every week, there’s probably a lot of dirt in your air ducts that need to be taken care of.
-
Bad Airflow
Again, dirty air ducts won’t run as efficiently. While rising energy costs is one sign of lowered efficiency, another sign can be bad airflow. If you notice that certain rooms in your house have better or worse airflow than other rooms, you should contact a technician to come take a look at your air ducts.
-
Recent Construction or Renovation
If your home is newly built or you’ve recently finished a renovation project, you should clean your air ducts. Even if none of the other signs are present yet, construction work kicks up a lot of dust, and that dust is going to go right into your air ducts.
Rather than wait for other signs or problems to arise, getting your air ducts cleaned right after a project ensures that you aren’t waiting around for something to happen. You won’t have to worry about them, and you won’t be faced with any of the other problems mentioned above.
Conclusion
You don’t need to clean your air ducts every month, but you should ensure they get taken care of fairly regularly. Don’t try to clean them yourself, though, as this can harm your HVAC system and be dangerous for you. Instead, call our trusted professionals to do it, and you’ll be sure that the job is done well.
Does Cleaning Air Ducts Help with Allergies?
If you suffer from allergies, you probably already know the importance of keeping your carpet, curtains, and bedding clean. However, another component within the home is often forgotten about when it comes to allergies: your air ducts.
Did you know that your air ducts can accumulate mildew, pollen, dust, dander, mold, and more? As part of your HVAC system, you can be sure that your air ducts will be pushing out these harmful contaminants into your indoor air. Keep reading to understand how cleaning your air ducts can help with allergies so you know when to call our Orlando duct cleaners.
Understanding Allergies
Allergies occur when the body’s immune system overreacts to an allergen. This reaction can cause symptoms like sneezing, coughing, runny nose, and watery eyes. Allergens are substances that trigger this reaction in people who have allergies (these include pollen, dust mites, and pet dander).
While allergies are unpleasant to experience, they’re usually just temporary. But, unfortunately, some people do live with them year-round or have severe, persistent, or life-threatening symptoms.
How Do Allergens Enter the Air Ducts?
Air ducts take in and push out air, serving as a respiratory system of sorts for your HVAC system. Inevitably, dirt and dust can start to accumulate, and they can enter your airflow within your home.
Air filters do come in handy as they help to prevent dust from entering the air ducts. However, it is still vital to remember to clean or replace your filters so they can do an effective job.
If there are leaks in the air ducts, dust is also able to enter. Unfortunately, leaks within the system are rather difficult to discover. This is especially so if your air ducts are in the attic or, perhaps, your basement. Your air ducts could likely be accumulating and pulling in some dirt and dust each day without you realizing it.
How Does Cleaning Air Ducts Help with Allergies?
Quite simply, when your air ducts aren’t clean and working properly (or if they’re clogged), it can cause allergens to be released into your living space.
When you clean the air ducts in your home more often, you won’t have as many contaminants entering or circulating indoors. Air duct specialists also know how to seal your air ducts properly, preventing mold, dust, animal droppings, and more from seeping into your home’s air circulation.
It’s vital to understand that simple dusting and vacuuming can’t remove all the debris and contaminants within your HVAC system and air ducts. Here’s where professional cleaners like us come into the picture. We have specialized duct cleaners to effectively remove the contaminants and debris, leaving your home a much cleaner environment with lesser allergen triggers.
All in all, duct cleaning helps to remove dust, dirt, debris, and odors while improving air quality, potentially helping to relieve your allergies.
Ready to Schedule in A Professional Air Duct Cleaning?
If you’re still unsure, ask yourself these questions to work out if it’s time to clean your air ducts:
- Do you notice your house being constantly dusty, regardless of how often you clean?
- Is your house more than a decade old and its air ducts have never been cleaned?
- Do you suffer from allergies in your home no matter how much you’ve tried to clean your carpets, curtains, bedding, and more?
- Do you notice that you suffer from allergy symptoms mainly when the HVAC system is turned on?
If your answer to any of these questions is a yes, it’s time to consider cleaning your air ducts. Especially for people who are asthmatic or suffer from allergies, it’s better to take precautions and clean your air ducts regularly.
Conclusion
If you’re suffering from severe or persistent allergy symptoms, it’s time to look into cleaning your air ducts more often. Call us today to schedule a professional air duct cleaning to get back to clean and healthy air in your home again.
Early Warning Signs of Moisture Buildup Under Your Tile Floors and Walls
When looking at areas of potential concern in your home, you should always be wary of issues beneath the surface. It’s easy to spot something wrong when it is on the surface, but knowing the right signs of something occurring underneath and knowing when to call a tile cleaning company is also crucial
Dealing with moisture is one of the most vital aspects of home maintenance, and it can easily affect both your tile floors and even walls if you are not careful.
Early Warning Signs of Moisture Buildup Under Your Tile Floors
Moisture can build up whether you’ve just done a fresh floor installation or your flooring is old. Look out for these indications of moisture under your tile floors:
Loose Flooring Tiles
You would expect your flooring tiles to be secured and safe, but moisture can cause the opposite to happen. Excessive moisture can cause adhesive failure between the subfloor and the tiles, which results in looseness and the potential to shift. The weakened adhesive is dangerous. So if your tiles are shifting but there is no water or flooding on the surface, you should look at moisture buildup as a potential cause.
Musty Mold
If there’s consistent moisture buildup, you run the risk of mold developing. In this case, homeowners might start smelling the musty odor given off by the growth of mold. If your floors are kept dry and cleaned regularly, you shouldn’t smell that musty odor. If you do, it could be a sign of moisture under your tile floors.
Pest Invasion
Excess moisture is a problem by itself, but it can also invite other forms of trouble. Moisture might cause an increase in pests such as ants or termites.
Warping/Dipping
Water damage can be a big problem, and over a prolonged period, floors can warp or dip as the subfloor gets damaged by moisture. Having an uneven floor is not ideal and could point to moisture buildup underneath.
Early Warning Signs of Moisture Buildup Under Your Walls
Just like flooring, your walls are also vital parts of the home that can be prone to water damage. Here are some signs of moisture that you should be looking out for:
Dark Patches
One of the more apparent signs of water damage is dark patches appearing on walls. It is hard to miss, and if you spot such patches, you can be sure that water has somehow seeped into your walls. So be sure to keep an eye out for these patches, especially after heavy rainfall or storms.
Musty Odors
Similar to flooring, musty odors can be a sign of moisture issues in your walls. Again, there might not be visible damage, but the smell is unmistakable. This smell can be caused by mold or bacteria growth, and if it is not taken care of, you might be at the risk of further health hazards.
Peeling
Wallpaper and paint are also susceptible to the effects of water damage. Moisture can cause peeling and bubbling of both, so if you spot that, check for separation at the seams or where paint is flaking. You might spot a leak that needs to be rectified.
Warping
Walls can be warped if too much water is absorbed. If your walls are bending or curved, a water leak can be the cause of your issues. It is critical to get this sorted out, as structural damage could be next on the cards.
Related Content >> Professional tile cleaning services for any job!
Conclusion
Moisture buildup in either your floors or walls is problematic, but the sooner you can spot the issue developing, the better it will be when finding a fix. With our professional help, you can be saving yourself plenty of trouble in the future so give us a call today if you spot any of these moisture warning signs at home!
At Home Chemicals That Will Damage Your Tile and Grout
You don’t want to neglect your tiles and grout and only hire tiles cleaners in Port Orange when they look dirty and stained. By then, it’s harder to get them clean and sparkling once again, so instead, you should clean your tiles and grout periodically.
Tiles are well known for their durability but don’t just choose any chemical at home to clean them. Some chemicals can damage them, so keep reading to learn which at-home chemicals you should avoid before you get to scrubbing.
At-Home Chemicals That Will Damage Your Tile and Grout
Abrasive Cleaners
You might think that you should be using a cleaner that has something gritty to get the dirt out. Don’t do this, though—something with an abrasive texture will damage your tiles. That’s because you’ll scrape off the seal on your tile that will usually keep the dirt from getting into your tiles and the grout.
By using something abrasive, you’re making it easier for your tiles to be dirty in the long run.
Harsh Chemicals
Bleach seems to be the go-to cleaner for nearly everything, but don’t use bleach for your tiles. Likewise, don’t use lemon and vinegar either. All of these harsh chemicals can damage your tiles, not to mention that they might pose other problems for pets or other items in your home.
Colored Solutions
You might find a colored solution that doesn’t have many harsh chemicals in it, but you should still avoid anything that can color your grout. Grout is porous, after all, so it can absorb that coloring and look worse in the end.
Too Much Water
This isn’t a chemical, but remember to limit the amount of water you’re using for your cleaning, especially when it comes to grout. Too much water can saturate the grout and cause it to lose its grip on the tiles. Especially if you have older flooring, you might end up with water underneath your tiles, causing mold or mildew to develop where you can’t even see.
This is another great reason not to use harsh chemicals: they’ll require lots of scrubbing with water, and too much water isn’t as helpful as you might think.
What to Avoid When Cleaning Your Tile and Grout
We’ve covered the types of cleaner to steer clear of, but there are other things to avoid when it comes to cleaning your tiles and grout. For a nice sparkle to your flooring, keep these in mind:
Don’t Do Too Much
Ultimately, you can clean your tiles just fine on your own, but don’t do anything that’s outside of what you’re capable of. For example, don’t use a steam cleaner if you don’t know how to use it properly. You might end up doing more damage to your flooring or even your cupboards if you expose them to excessive heat.
Not Cleaning and Protecting
Don’t allow stains to sit on your tiles as it will lead to discoloration. Instead, wipe and clean them off quickly. You can also protect your tiles from excess water or dirt by sealing them or using mats to collect any dirt.
No Routine Cleaning
Clean your tile flooring now and again. If you can clean once a week, that’s the best option, but every few weeks is better than never cleaning your tiles and letting them become discolored and dirty.
Related Content >> Only the best Kissimmee tile and grout cleaning!
Conclusion
Your tiles and grout are a long-term part of your home. You want to keep them looking clean and fresh for as long as possible. Be sure to avoid certain cleaners and cleaning methods, and clean your tiles regularly.
Can You Clean Air Ducts Yourself?
Clean air ducts are vital to your home’s air quality. While most people understand the importance of keeping their air ducts clean, some might assume that cleaning them is a simple process. They assume that all they have to do is get on top of the unit, grab some gloves, and wipe inside.
However, what you don’t know is that when it comes to your air ducts, there are risks involved with doing this on your own. In this article, we’ll help you understand why professional air duct cleaning in Orlando is essential.
Can You Clean Air Ducts Yourself? What are the Risks?
Ineffective Cleaning
For one, you could end up with a lot of dust and dirt in your air ducts, even after the cleaning. There are two types of filters: an intake filter that keeps the inside clean from outside particles like pollen; and another filter on top collects dust and dirt brought in from outside.
The first filter is what usually needs cleaning. However, when you clean your air ducts without removing this top layer of dust, all the flotsam collected by it will just end up back inside the unit again.
Duct Damage
You’ll also need to take into account that there are ducts in your house that lead outside. These ducts will always be open and won’t require a filter. However, if you clean the inside of those air ducts, all the dirt on top might end up coating the metal exterior and cause rusting or even permanent damage if it’s not cleaned off in time.
Some ducts have thin walls, which you might accidentally damage. In addition, a tiny hole in your air duct can affect the system’s airflow, leading to higher energy costs.
System Strain
Improper and subpar cleaning can eventually lead to system strain. Your air ducts will slowly suffer from the effects of wear and tear in the long run, causing the system to fail eventually.
Infection Risk
The dust inside your house can have a lot of bacteria and mold that might not be visible to you. They could make people who are sensitive or immunocompromised very sick when inhaled.
If you clean without proper protection, there’s a high risk that you’ll be exposed to these harmful particles.
Lack of the Right Tools and Equipment
You probably already have tools like a vacuum and brush on hand to help you but know that these can never clean your air ducts the way our professional equipment can. For example, the average vacuum hose can’t reach as far in as our specialized machine hose. Neither will your home vacuum have the same kind of power that our machines do.
Our tools and equipment can effectively remove dust, dander, dirt, and other types of air contaminants, so it’s best to leave it to us and get the job done right the first time.
Why Clean Your Air Ducts?
All these risks mentioned are valid reasons to leave the task of cleaning your air ducts for professionals. It’s not just a service – it is a worthwhile investment in keeping your home and family safe. In fact, there are many benefits that come with cleaning your air ducts regularly:
- You’ll be able to breathe cleaner and healthier air inside your own space;
- The risk of getting sick will decrease since you’re no longer exposed to harmful dust particles, which could lead to infections or illnesses;
- Your family members who suffer from allergies might find relief as their symptoms lessen over time because they aren’t constantly inhaling unhealthy air anymore.
Conclusion
Professional air duct cleaning is not just for your peace of mind – there are also important reasons why it’s vital to hire professional air duct cleaners if you want to keep your family safe and healthy. The risks of doing the job yourself can be enough reason to hire an expert as ineffective cleaning can lead to more severe consequences like system strain or even infection risk.