Buyers, Be Wary of When Buying Home to Remodel Homes Remodeling Remodels Green Home Improvement Energy Star Energy-Efficient Renovation House DFW Dallas Fort Worth North Texas

Homes filled with many fragrances: May be concealing mold or other reasons for poor indoor air quality.

Mostly carpeted floors: You will probably want to replace the carpeting with hard surface floors for purposes of good indoor air quality. Get some estimates before you buy.

Homes with fiberglass ductwork.

Low E insulated windows on the south: These windows will impede using the sun to warm the house in the winter. However, you probably can not tell if the windows are Low E are not if the sticker is missing.

Yards that are soggy or have standing water. You could be asking for future foundation problems or for future mold growth.

Gas appliances or furnaces: Gas appliances/furnaces can contribute to poor indoor air quality and with backdrafting, can even be dangerous. As solar energy becomes more common, electric cooking and heating will be cheaper or even almost free. Then you will probably want to replace your gas appliances so why buy them in the first place? If there are many mature trees, making solar collectors implausible, you might reconsider gas appliances--but only if you are certain they will not contribute to poor air quality. Incidentally, determining the carbon monoxide level of gas appliances requires a test performed by a professional. You can't see or smell carbon monoxide.

Homeowner restrictions that prevent roof mounted solar collectors or prevent those that face the street: You will almost certainly want solar collectors (preferably on the south side of your home) at some time. See Renewable Energy web.

Homeowner restrictions that prevent natural landscaping and vegetable gardens in the front: Maybe you think you would never have natural (Xeriscaped) landscaping or veggies growing in your front yard, but times are changing--water will become more and more expensive as will food, particularly disease-free and pesticide-free foods.

Outdoor living areas that are blocked from summertime breezes. Prevailing summer breezes that are from the south and southeast make for comfortable outdoor living in a Texas summer.

Large skylights: They are a significant source of heat and are relatively expensive to remove.

U-shaped courtyards with patios facing north or west. Breezes in DFW are most often from the south or southeast. If you are going to use that courtyard to enjoy being outdoors in the summer, you do not want the breezed blocked in North Texas.