Thinking about renovating your home? You're not alone.
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The Master Builders Association of Australia estimates $8.8 billion a year will be spent on home renovations nationally over the next five years.
A new book, Nail Your Renovation Without Being Screwed aims to provide a guide on the do's and don'ts of home renovations.
Authors Steve Burke and Suzanne Burke own Amerex Renovations and Additions, a renovation company with more than 20 years of experience.
Mrs Burke said Australians have a love affair with home renovations.
"But do we all know what we are doing?" she said.
"What are the lurking hidden dangers that we need to look out for?"
Therefore, Mrs Burke offered Mercury readers tips regarding the "hidden dangers" in home renovations.
Deadly asbestos
Asbestos is a dangerous product that has been responsible for causing fatal lung diseases in many unfortunate people.
Thankfully, the mining and use of asbestos is now banned.
Unfortunately its use was widespread and many existing homes still have asbestos in place.
This poses a particular risk to home renovators. Sometimes these are young tradies and often they are the DIY homeowners. By undertaking renovations that disturb the deadly asbestos fibres, they are often unknowingly putting themselves at deadly risk.
Strict rules and regulations are now in place around the safe removal and disposal of asbestos from existing buildings. In addition, this must be done by an authorised person. Don't attempt to remove it yourself.
Dangers of drilling
When drilling into old walls, you may find crumbly mortar causing parts of the wall to simple crumble away.
A common mistake is drilling all the way through to the other side of the wall.
Electrical safety issues
Changing anything other than a light globe leaves you at real risk of electrocution, particularly in older homes that do not have safety cut-out switches installed.
Always get a licensed 'sparky' in to perform electrical work.
Unwanted encounters
Roof spaces often deliver unwanted encounters: wasp nests, poisoned rats left to rot, rat nests with large amounts of faeces or funnel-web spiders.
If you need to go into the roof space, proceed with caution.
Lead paint in older homes
Don't use heat-guns to strip back old painted woodwork, as you will be exposing yourself to lethal lead paint fumes.
Don't use the wood for your winter fire either.
Always wear shoes
Entering a renovation or construction zone without shoes or wearing flimsy footwear such as thongs is a recipe for disaster.
Stepping on a nail or a sharp off-cut of tin roof or timber can be nasty, and you may end up at the doctor getting a tetanus shot.
Buy yourself a pair of tradie work-boots and put these on every time you enter the construction area.
