Why A Radon Test is a Good Idea

Posted by Dan Miller, REALTOR on Monday, June 26th, 2017 at 10:32pm.

It is odorless, colorless and has no taste, but radon is a naturally occurring gas that exists throughout Wisconsin, and its radioactive properties make it a health hazard. Fortunately, there are ways to detect it, and remove it from the air you breath.

Lindsay Mefford, of Madison Radon Testing, offers radon testing as part of a home inspection, or as an independently completed process. To do the test, a box (smaller than a shoe box) is temporarily installed in the lowest level of your home. It's installed in a way that prevents tampering. The box takes air samples every hour, and measures the radon content in each sample. After 48 hours, the box is collected, and the measurements are averaged. Madison area homes can fall into three categories. Either there is almost no radon, there is a moderate, but safe amount, or there is enough to merit mitigation. Testing is key to knowing the potential for radon in your home.

"Often people ask if a specific neighborhood has radon issues. This is not the right question. Each lot can have vastly different amounts of radon. Your next door neighbor may have almost none, while you may have levels high enough to require a radon mitigation system. You won't know this, unless you test for it," says Mefford.

Homes and other structures can create the possibility for greater radon exposure. It has to do with the way homes pull air and gases up from the ground below. A home's foundation can work as a vacuum, and pull higher concentrations of the gas into an enclosed space. It doesn't matter if your basement is exposed or not, the radon level should be measured, and, if it is high, a mitigation system should be installed to pull that gas out of the basement, and release it into the atmosphere above your home. 

Madison Radon Testing offers a truly independent test. They do not sell mitigation systems, so they have no incentive to give you anything but the actual measurement of radon detected in your home. This can be done at anytime, but is commonly done during a home sale. Several of our clients have worked with them, and benefited from their services. The tests are quick, easy, and provide peace of mind whether you are planning to remain in your home, or sell it to a new buyer.

This article is published courtesy of:
Dan Miller, REALTOR
Mad City Dream Homes & RE/MAX Preferred
1619 Monroe Street #1, Madison, WI, 53711

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