Radon Testing

I have run into this situation once again so I decided to re-run this post.My buyers finally found their dream home. The offer was accepted and now it was time for the home inspection. The young couple had picked a great inspector who was very knowledgeable and patient
with their questions. He was careful how he answered, not wanting to overwhelm them with too much technical information but at the same time alerting them to potential safety/maintenance issues.

Everything was moving along smoothly until it came time for the Radon testing. The listing agent kept putting her two cents in and kept talking like she was the ‘expert”. “This is a new home, it doesn’t have radon” she said. This was obviously upsetting my clients and annoying the inspector. Well, he finally had enough and told her to be quiet. I asked her to please go upstairs and wait while the inspector did his job. It was then that the inspector handed my clients a card that had all the information you ever wanted to know about Radon (what a clever idea) on it. There was information I didn’t even know about Radon. I thought it would be a good idea to just mention some of the highlights.
1.Just because your neighbor doesn’t have radon doesn’t mean you won’t. Just like a real estate transaction each home is unique and comes with its own issues.
2.Things change over time and just because your initial test (when you bought the house) showed no/ or low levels of Radon, you should re- test every few years. You absolutely should re-test if you make any major renovations or additions to your home.
3.You don’t need to hire a professional to test for radon (you absolutely need a professional if radon is found to mitigate the problem). The test kits you can get on-line or at the home improvement stores work just fine.

While Radon can be a serious problem for homeowners it is one that can be solved rather easily and won’t break the bank to fix. If you would like additional information regarding Radon just drop me a line and I would be happy to provide you with an information pamphlet.