Essential Safety Checks To Do Before Buying A New Family Home
  When it comes to buying a new family home, there are many different things to think about. While the look of the property, how big it is, the location, and the price are all very important, it’s just as important to think about the safety aspect of any building you might be thinking of living in with your family. Your family’s health and wellbeing should always be a priority, so understanding what is safe and what isn’t when you’re buying a new home is vital. Read on to find out what some of the most important things are you should be looking for and asking about before you commit to buying a home.
Structural Integrity
One of the most important things you’ll want to check before signing on the dotted line and buying a house is that it is structurally sound. This means checking the foundations, walls, floors, and ceiling, as well as the general structural integrity of the home. You’ll need to look carefully for any signs of cracking or sagging, and if there is damp or mould this is a big sign that there could be a structural issue (potentially with the roof or perhaps the foundation).Â
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The best thing to do is to engage a professional surveyor to check everything for you, whether you see any possible signs of a problem yourself or not. In fact, in a lot of cases, this will be a condition of getting the mortgage you need. There are different levels of home survey you can pay for, so you’ll need to think carefully about which one suits your needs and your budget but that will also give you a report about the general safety of the structure of the property.Â
Electrical Systems And Wiring
Faulty electrical systems and bad or old wiring can pose a significant risk to anyone in a property. They could cause fires or they might mean that anyone using the electricity in a property could get shocks – these can be serious, and even life-threatening.Â
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To make sure your family would be safe in a property, make sure you check the wiring or, even better, engage an electrician to do this for you. Again, it will cost more money, but it’s well worth the cost to ensure that the home you want to buy for your family will keep them safe, not harm them in any way.
Some signs to look out for that will usually indicate there is an issue with the wiring and electrics include flickering lights, exposed wires, or the fact that the circuit breaker always trips. You won’t be able to notice some of these things before you move in, but as soon as you do, it’s wise to get an electrician to put everything right.
Radon Levels
One important but often overlooked safety element to think about when you’re buying a family home is radon levels. Radon is a colourless, odourless radioactive gas that can easily seep into properties through cracks in the foundation. Too much long-term exposure to radon can cause serious illnesses, including cancer (and specifically lung cancer as it is breathed in).Â
This is therefore something that you’ll want to check before buying a family home. You can get experts to help you or find radon test kits to use in your home. Ideally, these should be used not just before you move in, but every three months or so to ensure the radon levels have not increased.Â
Fire Safety
Making sure there are adequate fire safety measures in place is another job to do before you move into a home, although it’s not necessarily something that would stop you from making the purchase – it’s just something you’ll need to put right if there are issues.Â
For example, there might not be any smoke and heat detectors in the house or if there are, they might be quite old, or the batteries might not be working. This means that one of your first jobs when you move in would be to install new detectors or fix the old ones. You might also want to invest in some fire extinguishers and fire blankets.Â
Something that can be very important is to design a fire escape plan. Being in a new house can be confusing, and if there is a fire, it’s vital that everyone knows how to get out quickly and safely. Spending a little time working out the best exit route from all around the house is a good idea, and practicing those routes so that everyone understands is ideal.
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