12 Things in Your Bathroom That Are Trying to Kill You
Navigating the Most Dangerous Place in Your Home!
Research tells us the most dangerous place in your home is the bathroom, so we decided to put together a list of the 12 most nefarious things in your bathroom that want to kill you… Seemed appropriate for Halloween!
1 Mold – Let's start with the obvious one… There are thousands of species but 12 basic types of mold. They love moist environments and can range from harmless to causing complete immune system and renal failure. There are some things you can do to get rid of mold yourself, but this is usually best left to the professionals at 3Rs Construction.
2 Slip and Fall – Bathrooms are considered the most dangerous room in the house mostly for slip and fall injury’s – most older bathroom floors do not have “skid resistant” flooring, meaning you are just one slip away from a broken hip or a cracked skull. Fortunately, there are lots of skid-resistant floorings available today and updated flooring makes your bathroom look great! If you need help installing one, give your trusted friends at 3Rs a call!
3 Another common place to slip and fall is getting in and out of the bathtub or shower. This happens to people of all ages, the floor is slippery, and you are standing on one foot, with no traction, and… leaning for a towel. Installing decorative grab bars that look like a towel bar or decorative trim can prevent a fall and they will look good while you're doing it.
4 Your medicine cabinet seems harmless enough, but it too is in on the plot to take you out. Left over prescription medicines are just one mix-up away from a call to poison control or a trip to the hospital. Replace your old medicine cabinet with a child safe version that is well lit and dispose those old prescriptions from the top shelf following your pharmacist’s recommendation.
5 Vanities are notorious for storing harsh cleaning chemicals, accidently mix the wrong ones together and its lights out for anyone in the room. Chemicals need to be stored in a well-lit and locked cabinet out of reach of children and overzealous cleaning fiends. If you need a safe cabinet call 3Rs Construction!
6 Toilets - If you are getting a little older or had any kind of surgery you know how hard it is to get up off the toilet and losing your balance is a huge risk. Decorative grab bars to help you balance can save you another trip to the hospital, "your guests will never know it's not just a place to put your phone while you go…"
7 Antibacterial soaps are suspect in the rise of super bugs. Bacteria is adapting to soaps and becoming invulnerable to it. Most hygienists agree a good washing with soap and water is more effective than a squirt and rinse of antibacterial soap with no risk of creating a zombie super apocalypse. An automatic liquid soap dispenser is a fun way to get people to use the soap!
8 While we are on the topic of Bacteria – the bathroom has the highest bacterial load of any room in the house. If you have a cut or a nick it is easy to get an infection.
9 Average lighting and poor ventilation allow the steam from your shower to set up all kinds of mayhem. Moist walls grow mold and condensation dripping from the ceiling will leave slippery spots where you least expect them. Installing an ultra-quiet fan with a humidistat will turn the fan on when you forget and vent that warm moist air outside where it can’t hurt you.
10 Water Heater Manufactures recommend setting your hot water supply at 140 degrees, and faucet manufactures have installed anti scald devices to minimize your risk of getting burned. The EPA takes it a step further recommending setting your supply at 120 degrees. That seems safe right? Well, here are the facts. 120 degrees for 8 min 1st degree burns / 2 more minutes at that temperature and you have earned a 3rd degree burn. At 140 degrees it’s even quicker… 3 seconds for a 1st degree and 5 seconds for a 3rd degree burn. Nothing fun about jumping for your life to get out of scalding water just to slip and fall, wrapped up in a slimy shower curtain with your face-plant onto the edge of the toilet. If you are really unlucky, your face will break the toilet flooding the bathroom and infecting all those new cuts you just got with germ filled toilet water.
11 Another hidden danger is inside the drain; your very own hair turns against you. Hair does not dissolve quickly and in catches soap, dirt, grime, scum, and anything else that goes down the sink. This makes an incredible sticky ball of goo that eventually backs up the drain and floods your home. It's not as bad as toilet water but it’s still pretty dang frustrating. Don’t run chemicals down your drain to dissolve the hair or you may create other, much worse problems. You should snake out your drains 3-4 times a year. Either way you will be calling 3Rs to clear the drains or to help you work with your insurance company to pump out your basement and replace your damaged stuff.
12 Let’s say you are smart and call 3Rs Construction to totally re-design your bathroom and eliminate all if these hazards. You can finally enjoy your new tranquille bathroom in peace, but there is one more thing waiting impatiently for you to slip up… It’s the rest of your family wanting in to take their turn…Don’t’ kid yourself, while they are waiting, they are plotting. Maybe it’s time to add a second bathroom just to be safe.
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