About Your House

General Series

Measuring Humidity in Your Home
Is there condensation on the windows? Are there wet stains on the walls or ceilings? Is there static or sparks whenever you touch something? Diagnose humidity problems in your home.
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Combustion Gases in Your Home
Do you have a gas or oil fired furnace, boiler or water heater? What about a woodstove or fireplace? Take the necessary steps to keep combustion gases out of your home.
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Asbestos
What is asbestos? Why is it so useful? What problems can asbestos cause and what options does the homeowner have in dealing with them? Some vermiculite insulation has been identified by Health Canada to contain asbestos. Contact Health Canada for further information.
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Hydronic Radiant Floor Heating
Radiant floor heating systems are an increasingly popular heating option for homes, particularly in bathrooms and kitchens. These systems can be installed in new or existing homes and feature plastic or metal tubes laid within the floor, which carry hot water and disperse the heat through the floor surface.
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Urea-Formaldehyde Foam Insulatlon (UFFI)
What is UFFI? Why was it banned? Should you be concerned about UFFI? How do you know if your home has UFFI?
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After the Flood
Protect your health and prevent further damage to your home by following this step-by-step guide to restoring your home after a flood.
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Fighting Mold — The Homeowners' Guide
Mold can cause allergies or respiratory disease. Learn how to identify and eliminate mold from your home.
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Maintaining Your Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV)
For a clean and healthy living environment, review the seven steps to maintaining the Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV).
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Wood Heat Safety in an Emergency
Whether you often use a wood stove or a fireplace, or are coping with an emergency loss of electricity, learn how to safely use wood to heat your home.
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When You Must Leave Your House Due to a Prolonged Winter Power Outage
A series of practical tips to protect your home in case you are required to evacuate for more than 24 hours because of power failure.
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Helping Your Trees Survive Storm Damage
Practical pruning advice to restore the health and shape of trees damaged by ice or wind storms.
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Attic Venting, Attic Moisture and Ice Dams
How do you deal with a leak in the ceiling? How should an attic be properly vented? How do you eliminate ice dams? This fact sheet will answer these and other attic related questions.
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Soot Staining On Carpets
Does your carpet have permanent dark stains near baseboards, air registers or under doorways? Find out what causes soot staining and what you can do about it.
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Removing Ice On Roofs
Whether you have a sloped or flat roof, learn techniques that will help you deal with extensive roof icing or ice dam problems.
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The Importance of Bathroom and Kitchen Fans
Choosing the proper kitchen and bathroom fans is important for improving indoor air quality and maintaining ideal humidity levels.
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How to Read a Material Safety Data Sheet
Reading and understanding the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) provides product information about product hazards and the necessary safety precautions to follow when using it.
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Insulating Your House
Choose the right insulation to reduce the amount of energy you use and to make your home more comfortable.
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Log Homes
A list of questions and answers concerning the unique design and building considerations for log homes.
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Your Furnace Filter
To reduce exposure to airborne particles, choose the furnace filter that best suits your needs.
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Water-Saving Tips For Your Lawn And Garden
Often water is applied inefficiently, resulting in significant waste due to over watering, evaporation or run-off. Here are some general watering tips to avoid such waste.
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Backup Power For Your Home
The top ten tips in choosing the appropriate backup system to provide electricity to your home in the event of a prolonged power failure
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Carbon Monoxide
A list of questions and answers dealing with keeping Carbon Monoxide out of your home and to help you choose the right CO detector.
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Hiring a Contractor
How do you find the "right" contractor for you? What should go in a contract? What are liens, holdbacks and completion certificates? Make sure you get what you want and pay for when hiring a contractor.
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Sample Renovation Contract
A detailed written contract between you and the contractor you hire is essential to any renovation or home repair project, no matter its size.
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Choosing A Dehumidifier
Air that is too damp can cause condensation on windows, water damage to materials, mold and even wood rot. Choose the right dehumidifier to regulate the humidity in your home.
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Before You Start Your Renovation

This series will assist you in making informed decisions before you renovate. Each easy-to-read fact sheet helps you ask the key questions, reviews the available options and discusses the consequences if certain aspects of the renovation are overlooked.

Advance planning is the key to successful renovations. These fact sheets help you plan, assess, and avoid surprises. Achieve the results you want by doing your renovation right the first time.

a) Assessing the Renovation Project
Before renovating, it's important to assess your home's current condition to determine if there are significant problems that you must deal with before or during the renovation project.
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b) Renovating your Basement — Structural Issues and Soil Conditions
Renovating a basement can add value and extra living space to a home. Fixing foundation problems before renovating is essential to preserve the durability and structure of the house.
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c) Renovating Your Basement — Moisture Problems
Is there condensation on the basement windows? Are there white chalky stains on the foundation? Do the carpets smell musty? Creating a clean, dry and healthy living space is a critical first step.
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d) Renovating Your Kitchen
The kitchen is often the most used room in the house and kitchen renovations typically have the highest financial payback. Conduct a pre-renovation inspection and prioritize the most desirable features for your new kitchen.
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e) Renovating Your Bathroom
Bathroom renovations offer the second highest financial payback rate and are one of the most common home improvement projects. Use this fact sheet to check for problems before you renovate.
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f) Window and Door Renovations
Do you want more natural light in your living area? Are you concerned about security? Before repairing or replacing windows and doors, consider all of the factors outlined in this fact sheet.
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g) Repairing or Replacing Roof Finishes
Regular maintenance and periodic roof inspections will identify problems before they cause costly damage to your home. Learn about the key factors that will determine whether you should repair or replace your roof.
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h) Repairing or Replacing Exterior Wall Materials
Exterior finish materials must prevent rain and snow from penetrating the building and causing moisture damage. Repairing or replacing exterior wall finishes will protect and preserve the durability and structure of the home.
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i) Energy Efficient Upgrade — Mechanical Systems
Upgrading the heating, cooling and ventilation (HVAC) equipment is the best way to create a healthy, comfortable and less expensive home to operate. Before altering these, it is important to understand how the overall performance of the house will be affected.
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j) Energy Efficient Upgrade — The Building Envelope
The envelope, or outer layer, of your house separates living space from the outdoor elements. Improving it can result in a better insulated, more airtight home that is easier to heat.
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k) Assessing the Comfort and Safety of Your Home's Mechanical Systems
The heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are a vital part of your home. Ensure that your mechanical systems are operating safely and efficiently.
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l) Before you Start a New Addition
Before building an addition, clearly identify the features you need and inspect the current structure and mechanical systems to be sure they can support the new addition.
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Should You Get Your Heating Ducts Cleaned?
Should you get your heating ducts cleaned? Will clean ducts result in improved air quality? When is duct cleaning most appropriate? This fact sheet separates fact from fiction.
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Understanding and Dealing with Interactions Between Trees, Sensitive Clay Soils and Foundations
Is the size, type or siting of a tree affecting your foundation? Understanding the interactions between trees, soils and the foundation can help you avoid foundation shifting, cracks and other damage.
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Testing Airflow
This simple test uses an ordinary garbage bag to help you estimate airflow from your furnace registers, bathroom exhaust fan or clothes dryer exhaust.
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The Condominium Owners' Guide to Mold
Special advice for identifying and removing mold in a condo, and solving the problems that cause it.
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Your Septic System
A primer on the components, operation and proper maintenance of an in-ground septic tank and system.
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Replacing Your Furnace
This fact sheetprovides information for consumers who are replacing their existing furnace with a new one. It deals with fuel choice, furnace selection, and furnace sizing.
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Hiring a Home Inspector
One of the best ways to understand about a home's condition, habitability and safety is to hire a professional
home inspector.
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Buying a Toilet
Advice and tips on what to look for when buying a toilet.
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Canada's Construction System
The purpose of this document is to foster understanding of the elements of the system of construction and operation of buildings and houses in Canada.
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Understanding Window Terminology
This factsheet offers helpful guidance on buying the right type of window for your home. Terminology commonly used in the window industry is also presented in this factsheet
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Flooring Choices
A quick summary of the advantages, considerations, installation, maintenance, and costs to think about when choosing resilient, laminate, and wood flooring, as well as carpet and ceramic tile.
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Painting: Walls, Ceilings and Floors
This factsheet provides general information on: selecting paints, e.g. latex (water based) or alkyd (oil based); types of paint and paint finishes, e.g. low or high sheen, sealer, primer, melamine; estimating quantity of paint required; preparing for painting; and painting tips.
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Water Distillers
Everything you ever wanted to know about water distillers from how they work to how to install and maintain them.
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Water Softeners
Find out how a water softener works and obtain information on whether you should consider installing one.
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Home Maintenance Schedule
This factsheet provides a listing of the regular home maintenance tasks which should be done at various times throughout the year to protect the condition of your house.
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Water Filters
Consumer series of household water treatment options. Water filters are an inexpensive method of additional water treatment. Some filters can remove certain contaminants such as lead.
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Getting Your House Ready To Sell
Tips for homeowners who wish to get their house ready to sell.
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Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment
Describes the reverse osmosis water treatment process, and provides the pros and cons of using such a system.
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UV Water Treatment
Describes the ultra-violet light water treatment process, and the pros and cons of using such a system.
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Water Damage, Mold, and House Insurance
When homeowners have flooding damage due to a plumbing leak or a summer storm, this document will instruct them on how to deal with the insurance company and how to hire a restoration contractor.
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Buying a House with a Well and Septic System
Information on what to inspect and test if a property has a well and/or septic system. Includes checklists for potential buyers.
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Understanding Your New Home Sales Contract
This About Your House fact sheet provides information on some of the terms and provisions that you may find in a new home sales agreement to illustrate what a contract can cover and an explanation why.
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Selecting A New Home Builder
This About Your House factsheet provides information on how to find and what to look for and consider when searching for the right builder to build your new home.
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Get to Know Your Soil
This fact sheet provides practical tips on how to analyse soil so that you can select the plants that are suited to the soil you have on your property. Once you have determined the soil conditions, it provides tips on how to amend it, if needed.
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Low-Maintenance Lawns
Low-maintenance lawns help to reduce the time, costs, water, pesticides, fertilizer and energy used to maintain lawns. This fact sheet describes the benefits and provides practical tips on how to install and maintain low maintenance lawns, including species selection.
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Rain Gardens: Improve Stormwater Management in Your Yard
Rain gardens are landscaped areas designed to receive stormwater and allow it to infiltrate into the soil. This fact sheet describes the benefits and provides practical tips on how to install and maintain gardens.
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Avoiding Basement Flooding
Basement flooding leads to damage of the finishing material and possible growth of mold. This document reviews why basements flood and how to prevent floods from occurring.
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Fighting Asthma in Your Home
Practical tips to help people with asthma improve the indoor air quality of their home.
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Preventing Falls on Stairs
This fact sheet tells you about some of the ways you can reduce the risk of falling on or from residential stairs.
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The ABC's of Windows
This document will help consumers understand and select window performance levels with respect to airtightness, rain penetration and wind resistance appropriate for their climatic (and geographical) location and exposure conditions
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Efficient, Convenient Wood Heating
This is a short guide to the proper use of woodburning appliances in homes: what appliances to choose, how to operate them efficiently, what wood to burn, how to cut and store it, etc.
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What to Do After a Fire
Protect your health and prevent further damage to your home by following this detailed guide on the steps to restore your home after a fire.
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Photovoltaics (PVs)
Consumer information piece presenting information on solar electric (photovoltaic) systems for housing.
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A Tenant’s Guide to Mold
This guide provides tenants of apartment buildings or rental houses with information to understand why mold grows and what they can do if they find mold growing in their unit.
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Should you test the air in your home for mold?
Testing the air in their home or apartment for mold is usually the first thing many people ask for when they suspect the presence of mold or have discovered mold growth. This fact sheet explains why air testing is not recommended, why an investigation by a trained professional is more useful and what to do if testing is deemed necessary.
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How to reduce chemical contaminants in your home
This guide focuses on reducing exposure to chemical contaminants in the home, and will help you identify and avoid household products and materials which are sources of chemical contaminants.
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Lead in Older Homes
This About Your House describes where lead is found in older homes and who is at risk to lead exposure. It also describes procedures for testing lead in soil, water, paint, and dust.
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Renovating Your Basement for Livability
Planning on renovating your basement to add living space to your house? Find out about common problems that can be fixed, as part of the renovations, to make your basement a healthy living space.
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Accessible Housing by Design — Ramps
Ramps are ideal for people who are having difficulty negotiating stairs. Learn about ramp design, the different prefabricated and site-constructed ramp systems that are available, and other issues to consider before building a ramp for your home.
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Accessible Housing by Design — Appliances
Learn how to select appliances which can be easily used by people of differing ages and abilities.
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Garden Suites
With municipal approval, a garden suite is a self-contained unit, set on relative's property with an existing single family house. This publication provides introductory information on garden suites for seniors or persons with disabilities.
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These documents are available in HTML and Adobe Acrobat format (PDF version).
To read the Adobe Acrobat file, you will need the free Adobe Reader available from Adobe Systems Inc.