Don't turn your house into a cave: 2 things you shouldn't save on when building your home

In this material there will be no reasoning about the thickness of the walls, insulation, or about which solution to pour into the foundation in order to save money - M100 or M200. Let's talk about windows and ventilation. More precisely, about their effect on health. Andrey, a member of our portal, will share his experience in this matter.

From apartment to house

Before moving to our first private house, my wife and I lived in a one-room apartment. The apartment is not bad, but cramped, so we decided to settle in a house with a larger area, a courtyard, and the resulting opportunity to build a garage and a bathhouse.

We found a suitable housing for the budget - a wooden house with an area of ​​75 sq. meters. The building is old, but far from dilapidated. In the center of the house there is a stove with a gas nozzle; amenities (toilet, water) outside. Although the house is relatively large, there are few windows in it, and they are small. Previously, these were done to reduce heat loss.

We moved into this house in the spring. Within three months, water and sewerage were installed; the stove was demolished, a boiler room was attached to the house and a gas boiler was installed; the windows were changed to plastic ones in a circle. They brought beauty: walls in wallpaper, flooring in laminate, suspended ceilings, new furniture. In general, they made a major overhaul: aesthetically pleasing and soundly.

A spoon of tar

But, as always happens, there is a fly in the ointment in every barrel of honey. I didn't even think about ventilation then! He reasoned like this: people lived for years without her in wooden houses and we will live. Well, really, grandfather and father had about the same houses and everyone didn’t grieve! And why should I change something?

But the lack of normal ventilation and windows had an effect on the very first winter: the wife and son started to get sick - either coughing, then bronchitis, then pneumonia. The house is warm, but what's the catch? We thought they were getting cold at work and at school. They did not even know about the real problem.

So they lived for five years. During this time, the wife developed chronic bronchitis, and the son suffered from tonsillitis several times during the winter. I myself often began to catch cold: a little blew - immediately the tonsils swell or the throat becomes inflamed. Respiratory diseases began to haunt us constantly. In addition, headaches have become a frequent visitor to everyone, even a child. But we still persistently thought that it was either hereditary, or the climate and weakened immunity.

As a result, we said goodbye to this house

Gradually I began to notice that the house was somehow unpleasant for us. It seems to be a good modern renovation, cleanliness, but there is no comfort - satisfaction from housing. The windows are small and create an oppressive space. The air is stale: there is a lot of plastic in the house, especially in the kitchen, and for this reason there is a specific plastic smell in the rooms. All in all, a modern depressive cave.

Once we visited friends who bought half of the new cottage. Although their house was not renovated yet, it seemed to us so warm and cozy that we immediately decided to get rid of our home and buy the same one from our friends. The sale of the old one and the purchase of the new one were carried out in six months.

Result, conclusion and parting words

The cottage has large windows and ventilation according to all standards. AND... lo and behold - we stopped hurting literally right away! The mood improved, the cough was forgotten, the regular headaches were gone. After five years in the "cave" we seemed to start living anew.

And why it was so, I found out a little later. There are two reasons for this, but they lead to one consequence.

1. Small windows. There is a norm for optimal glazing of living quarters - this is ⅛ of the floor area. The living space must be exposed to sunlight, which kills viruses and bacteria. With a lack of ultraviolet radiation, the number of harmful microorganisms in a living room is simply off scale. From this and regular respiratory diseases. And not only respiratory: streptococci, for example, lead to serious kidney disease. And there is no need to argue that UV radiation does not pass through glass. It is impossible to get a tan through glass, and viruses and bacteria from the sun's rays, even through glass, are exterminated at once!
2. Lack of ventilation. Air exchange in the living space should be at least 30 cubic meters per hour per person. If the house has a lot of new "smelly" furniture, vinyl wallpaper, plastic siding and other delights of modern renovation, then 60 cubes can be used. Lack of fresh air leads to headaches and, as it is fashionable to say now, to depression. In simple words, the atmosphere of an eternal scandal begins to reign in the house. Someone thinks that this is age or just people get bored with each other. Not at all - sometimes we ourselves create conditions for ourselves, where, breathing in plastic, laminate and PVC ceilings, we receive migraines and prolonged depression with all the ensuing consequences as a reward.

If you're building or renovating a home, don't skimp on two things - ventilation and nice large windows. Many people believe that precious heat is escaping through glazing and ventilation and this leads to higher gas / light charges. Many more "smart people" consider recuperators a useless thing, for which marketers want to rip off a lot of money from us. You see, the efficiency of the recuperator does not correspond to the declared one! But is it worth it to seal every crack in the house, to make the windows smaller, and as a result, to earn a chronic sore?

You can often hear that a man lived and then bam - he suddenly died. I was not sick, neither drank nor smoked, and still left early into another world. But we do not know what this person has been breathing for the last ten years, what is the hygienic situation in his house and what specifically influenced the deterioration of his health. Perhaps he just saved on heating, tightly sealing all the cracks in the house... We can only guess.

Houses may look the same, but only the filling is different. I felt the influence of a house that does not "breathe" and does not "see". And so I decided to share my story.

Modern comfort is not only a good renovation, but also acceptable conditions for a person. Fresh air and sunlight is what gives us life, they must get into the house in the required quantities. Don't turn your house into a cave!

Do you agree with the opinion of the author or think differently? Write in the comments!

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