Being a homeowner, especially for the first time can be very exciting. Finally, you have a place to call your own. Gone are the days of giving your money to someone else for rent. After all, owning a home is part of the American Dream.

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It goes without saying that a lot of work and responsibility comes with being a homeowner. Tasks like indoor and outdoor maintenance are required in order to keep your house and yard in good shape. Being a homeowner can also be costly. Repairs like leaky pipes and roofs, broken appliances, and electrical issues can all add up so it's worth making sure you have some money set aside for repairs. As a matter of fact, there is one repair that Massachusetts homeowners have to deal with more often than others

What is the Most Common Home Repair in Massachusetts?

According to Roto-Rooter the most common home repair in Massachusetts is mold removal which is not the most common across the country. The most common home repair across the country (11 states) is a leaky faucet but for the Bay State, it's mold removal.

I haven't had to deal with mold removal at my home but I know a few people that have. It doesn't matter where you live in Massachusetts either, Worcester, Boston, Springfield, etc. mold does not discriminate.

Ways to Remove Mold Yourself from Your Massachusetts Home

If you don't want to hire a service to remove your mold there are ways you can perform mold removal yourself. According to Cambridge Sage, this is how you can remove mold from your home before calling a professional.

  • For protection during cleanup be sure to wear gloves, safety goggles, and an N95 respirator to avoid breathing in spores. Open nearby windows for better quality indoor air.
  • Locate the source of water feeding mold growth — a leaky pipe perhaps — and fix the issue. You may need to bring in HVAC or plumbing solutions to properly mitigate the source of the mold.
  • Use a brush to scrub mold off affected areas with commercial cleaning products, soap and water, or distilled bleach (8oz of bleach per gallon of water).
  • Porous materials like carpets or furniture may need to be discarded. If you wish to save high-value items damaged by mold, you should consult a restoration specialist.
  • Visible mold that has been removed may still leave a stain. Do not repaint any cleaned surfaces until they have fully dried.
  • Hire a mold remediation specialist in extreme cases, such as extensive water damage or black mold.

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To prepare yourself for a potential incident, always keep your vet's phone number handy, along with an after-hours clinic you can call in an emergency. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center also has a hotline you can call at (888) 426-4435 for advice.

Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you.

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Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

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