In today’s economy, renovating your home can be much easier than purchasing a new home. To complete your renovation safely you should always remember that depending on when your home was built there may be a lot of unsafe building materials in your home. Some examples are asbestos floor tiles (typically 9″ tiles), asbestos pipe insulation, asbestos siding and lead paint. If you are doing the renovation yourself you should do a little homework online to help identify these dangers. If you are hiring a contractor you should make sure that they follow safe work practices. An example of safe work practices are those required by the EPA for all renovation contractors: https://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/library/lead/renovaterightbrochure.pdf Another useful resource is the following blog post by the Asbestos Cancer Victims’ Rights Campaign:  https://cancervictimsrights.org/safety-starts-with-me-home-improvement-and-diy-tips/

The bottom line is to create the beautiful home you want and deserve and at the same time to keep you and your family happy and healthy.