I'm a teacher by nature and have taught middle school Science, so I've got to explain what radon is. It is a natural gas that comes from the inner layers of the earth. It is odorless and it is clear, which makes it very hard to detect. On the periodic table of elements,it is number 86. so it is considered a radioactive gas.
How do our homes get it? Radon is naturally released from the earth. If we have cracks in our walls or in the flooring, it can seep through that way. There are multiple other ways, but that's usually the main one.
How do I find out if I have radon and should I test for it? Let me answer this question by sharing a personal experience with you. Just a few years ago, my family and I had to make a rather quick move to Salt Lake City, Utah. We put our house up for sale with a REALTOR® and we received an offer on our house rather quickly. As part of the inspection contingency, the potential buyer wanted to do radon testing. When our agent told us that I'm like, “Are you kidding me? My house doesn't have radon. I’ve lived here for 14 years and nobody has ever been sick.” However, since it was well within the buyer’s inspection period, we followed through. The buyer had a professional company to do the testing. The testing device almost looked like a recording device on a tripod, but basically it was measuring the levels of radon in the air. The testing device had to stay in a room (usually on the lower level of the house) where the doors or windows will not be opening and closing continuously. The device has to stay there anywhere from three to five days depending on which kind of testing system it is. (Now it can be done even faster.) Then the testing company will come and pick it up to analyze the results.
That's what happened in our situation and we were surprised to find out that our radon levels were extremely high and it was recommended to immediately mitigate our house. Mitigation is where you hire a company that deals with radon on a day-to-day basis and they take at least one pipe and run it through an area of your house. The pipe goes from under your home, through an area of your home and vents out through the roof. There is a fluid level on the side of the pipe which you can monitor, and if it goes above a certain level, you will need to call the mitigation company. Many times the mitigation pipe can go into a garage or laundry room. The one that we got for that house was in the garage.
As soon as we got to Utah and found a house, we stated that we wanted to have radon testing as part of our inspection contingency. Just like we were surprised when our buyer wanted the test done, the owners of the house in Utah were like “No we don't have radon in our home.” However, low and behold, they found out that in fact….their home did have high levels of radon and needed to be mitigated. Therefore, we had to experience our second mitigation system and it was almost identical to the one that we had in when we lived in Knoxville.
Back to the question….. should I do radon testing if i am buying a house? Should I have that as one of inspections to be conducted as part of my inspection contingency? The answer is yes. If you don't want to hire a professional system or a professional company to come out and do the testing, you can get a free kit mailed to you (please note that it often takes 6-8 weeks to receive, so if you are house hunting now....I would go ahead and order it.)
You can click on this link: https://tdec.tn.gov/radon_online/scrtdechome.aspx and the state will actually mail you a free radon testing kit. You just have to let it sit for three to five days and then you will collect it in a special envelope that they send you. It is pre-posted and all you have to do is drop it off in the mail. I highly recommend that you test because there's no safe levels of radon. I would prefer for you to test whether you do it yourself or spend a few extra dollars at the beginning getting your house radon tested….just to have it for that peace of mind. Radon testing is not part of the normal inspection process, so you will need to find an inspector or inspection company who does this and there is usually an additional charge.
I mean we put smoke detectors in our house and we put carbon monoxide alarms in our house, so this is just another safety measure since you can't really put a radon alarm in your house. It never hurts to be safe than sorry because unfortunately radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer.
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