Have you ever considered radon testing for your home? Are you aware of the importance of radon testing for your home? Testing radon is one of the most important parts of home inspection. In fact, some home inspectors often do it as part of their routine process. However, it’s always better to do it yourself as there are plenty of useful resources and tools that will help you test radon without any professional help.
Table of Contents
Should You Consider Radon Testing Within Your Home Inspection Process?
What is Radon?
Radon is a radioactive gas produced from the decay of uranium and other components found beneath the soil. It is considered the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and has recorded 20,000 deaths per year.
Home inspection and radon testing
Is radon testing included in a home inspection service?
Definitely, you don’t want to buy a home that contains elevated levels of radioactive gas, which causes lung cancer. And testing your home is the only way to find out whether or not it has elevated levels of radon. Hence while inspecting your home you must plan for radon testing.
Why does it cost an additional fee for testing?
Why do you need to pay an additional fee for testing? Many home inspection services do not offer it as a part of the regular home examination process. In such scenarios, you need to pay additional fees to get your house radon tested.
Save your money, and test radon yourself!
You can save such additional costs and also have satisfactory testing done by opting for radon testing kits. There are useful solutions available that will help you test radon in an easy way.
Know if your home has a potential threat of radon
When you’re buying a new home, try to test the home before moving in. If you are planning to get it tested before moving in, hire a registered radon specialist, else do it yourself by using radon testers.
In case, you are hiring a technician for radon testing, he will visit your home for the end-to-end procedure. During the radon testing process, a radon test monitor will be installed in your basement for 48hrs, to collect the data. After the completion of 48hrs, a specialist will collect the test result and provide the report within a few hours. You will get a final and detailed report about the test with the necessary actions required.
DIY radon testing
Radon testing has become so easy these days. You can test your home for radon by yourself with the following steps provided by CDC.
- You can purchase a radon testing kit at an affordable price from any online store or hardware store near you. Alternatively, you can order it by going to the National Radon Program Service website.
- Set up the testing device in your basement to check the air for radon: Depending on the testing device used for testing, it may take days or months to finish the test.
Types of radon testing
There are two types of testing – short-term and long-term testing:
For short-term testing, you can purchase the radon testing kit. The DIY kit will either be charcoal or an alpha tracker. Charcoal testing absorbs the radon in the atmosphere for a specific time. The collected particles will be sent to the lab and converted to light to get the levels of radon present at your place. Alpha particle tracker uses a plastic film that collects the radon particles and is sent to the lab to track the radon level.
The instructions for DIY radon testing
- Keep all doors and windows of your house closed for 12 hours before testing and during the test.
- Place the DIY testing tool at the lowest level of your home. If you want to know the radon levels you breathe at your home, you need to place the testing tool in the basement or crawl Places.
- Place the testing device under the basement undisturbed for 24-48 hours as per the instruction given on the testing kit you have brought.
- After testing for radon is completed, remove the device from the basement and send it to the lab. Wait for some time for the lab to send the report back.
What to do if your home has a higher level of radon?
If your home tests at a 4.0 pCi/L or higher, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) recommends installing a radon mitigation system as a necessary precautionary measure before purchasing the house.
According to the EPA, there is no particular level of radon exposure that is safe. However, you must consider maintaining radon levels below 4 PCi/L in your home. In addition to this, the radon level can vary based on the different seasons. Since winters are the most vulnerable, it is better to purchase or order a good quality professional-grade testing kit suitable for your home and keep track of radon levels.
What if you do not get the home tested for radon level?
Testing for radon level is necessary. If you plan to buy a home, you must plan to have the test done else you will be exposed to the radioactive gas causing cancer. Also, you will miss the chance for the seller to pay for the installation of the radon mitigation system.
Some people think it is not necessary to have the test done. The truth is, if you are selling your house and it gets tested for a high level of radon, then it will be up to you to pay for the installation of the radon mitigation system.
As a precaution, not to mention that exposure to a high level of radon gas can cause damage to the tissue of the inner lining of the lungs and can increase the chance of developing lung cancer. So, do not think twice about getting your home radon tested.
If you are planning to invest in buying a home, have it tested for radon
When you are buying a home, radon testing should always be included in the home inspection process. Home inspection for radon testing is a part of the process to check and make sure that nothing is wrong when you and your family are moving in. If you do not get the test completed, you are missing a crucial part of the process. When you buy a new home, and you have no idea about the concentrated levels of radon, then you are harming yourself and your beloved ones. So, get it checked for levels of radon and learn to conduct the process by yourself.