If you’re looking to purchase a house, your real estate agent has most likely informed you how vital it is to have a buyer’s home inspection before closing the deal. But did you know that having a radon inspection is also a considerate idea? Measuring indoor radon levels can provide information about an essential part of a home’s air quality and will inform you whether your ideal property has a radon problem.
If it does, your agent can work with you to reduce the price to pay the radon mitigation expenditures. What if you already own a property but have never had it tested for radon? It is never too late to implement this critical health and safety precaution. It’s simple to buy a radon test kit at the hardware store. However, the best approach is to hire a professional home inspector who knows how to run radon tests. Here’s what you should know.
What is a Home Inspection?
A home inspection is a non-invasive visual examination of a property. Home inspections reveal significant defects in the property that an untrained eye can miss. Inspections paint the real picture of the true condition of the property.
A home inspector will assess your house and provide valuable insights into the property’s interior and exterior, electrical systems, and more. Specialty home inspections, like radon, mold, and asbestos, are also done. One such inspection is the radon inspection.
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What Exactly is Radon?
Radon is a colorless and odorless gas that naturally arises in the soil. Radon gas occurs when elements such as uranium and radium degrade in the rock and soil underneath your home. For those who can’t remember their high school chemistry lesson, uranium and radium are radioactive.
A common cause of lung cancer in the United States is radon gas. Radon isn’t a concern outside since it evaporates fast into the environment. It leaves only trace amounts of the air you breathe.
In contrast, if your house contains tight seals – as many modern homes are because of high-quality insulation and air sealing, you’re at risk. It can happen because radon may become trapped within and accumulate in dangerous amounts. Because radon is odorless and invisible, the only way to determine whether you have a problem is to have a radon inspection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) both advocate testing the radon level in your house for safety, even if you don’t reside in a high-risk region.
What is Radon Inspection?
A radon inspection gathers radon gas or radioactive particles for analysis.
This sample allows the inspector to calculate the overall level of radon in the air in your house. As radon gas rises from the earth, radon testing equipment should be installed on your lowest occupied floor: the first floor in most buildings, but the basement for most homes.