Homeowners are more health-conscious than ever before. Big improvements have been made in lowering the amount of toxic chemicals in the cleaning products we buy. The materials used in the construction of our homes have come under a lot of scrutiny as well. Research into the effects of outgassing chemicals from building materials like Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and synthetic carpets have resulted in a concerted push for improvements. HVAC systems and filters have optimized to remove more undesirable particulates than ever. Indoor air quality is improving overall for most people. There's one part of the home that's been totally ignored during this revolution: The garage. Very few homes are built with freestanding garages any longer, so the quality of the air in the garage is bound to affect the quality of the air in the house. One way that consumers can improve the air quality in their garage quickly and inexpensively is with a sliding garage screen door.
Garages are designed as a home for cars. Cars don't breathe, and ventilation is usually ignored. The overriding design parameters of a garage are security from the weather, and from intruders. This leads to a fortress vibe, and windows and vents are actively avoided. Because of the dangers of carbon monoxide entering the living areas of the house from the garage, it tends to be mostly sealed off.
Without proper ventilation, the air quality in a garage quickly gets bad, and stays that way. If there was a mesh screen entry door or an open window with a window screen in it, the garage might have a fighting chance for better air quality. Fire codes and security concerns make those things very rare, however.
Your car is not the only thing in your garage that produces noxious air. For a house built on a concrete slab, the garage is usually the only utility storage area available to the home's occupants. That means that household items like paint, insecticide, herbicide, fertilizer, and tools that contain gasoline like lawnmowers are stored in the garage. In an enclosed environment, the level of noxious fumes in the air can become quite high, and eventually makes its way into the rest of the house.
Garages could be much more useful if they had better ventilation and lighting. With a car parked outside, a garage can become a large, open area with a durable floor that could be used for activities that are too boisterous or messy for more formal rooms. Garages can be used as auxiliary open space during large parties if they have good ventilation. They're under a roof, so they can be used in all weather, too.
If you install a sliding garage screen door, you can make a big improvement in several areas. First, it offers a third alternative between having the overhead doors open or closed. With screen doors in the opening, you can keep out bugs while still enjoying good ventilation. Light passes through screen doors, so the ambiance in the garage is improved from its normal cave-like atmosphere. A sliding garage screen door also offers more security than you might think. Burglars like to work undetected, and will often use a closed garage as a staging area to break into the house. The increased visibility a screen offers makes your garage a less attractive target.
If you're able to use your garage for an extended living area, or simply turn it into a more useful utility area, it's like putting an addition on your house without having to build one. It would be fairly expensive to install ventilation equipment for your garage, because it has to be a stand-alone system from the rest of the house for safety reasons. That's why a sliding garage screen door can quickly pay for itself by increasing the usefulness of your home with a small outlay of cash.
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