Have You Had Your Home Tested For Radon?
Radon is a leading cause of lung cancer. Radon is found in homes but it can be mitigated. It is a natural radioactive gas that one cannot smell, see or taste. I have sold homes without elevated levels of radon and homes with high levels of radon which had a mitigation system installed. One home may have radon while another home does not. How do you know if your house has radon? Test it!!
In Illinois when a home is on the market a seller is required to sign a disclosure pertaining to radon. The seller is required to disclose if they are: Aware of elevated levels of Radon, have a mitigation system or are not aware. That is all sellers are required to do – they do not need to test their home. In turn, when the home goes under contract the buyer has a choice if they would like to do a radon test or not – the cost is around $200.00 depending on the size of the home and if the house has a crawl and a basement. The test takes 48-72 hours and results are available as soon as the test is concluded.
As a Real Estate Professional when I am representing a buyer I always recommend this additional testing during the inspection period. Why? This is the buyer’s only opportunity to check if the home has a safety deficiency and if the test results show radon levels above 4 then the buyer may ask for the deficiency to be corrected. The seller will need to install a mitigation system to correct the deficiency or disclose the findings of the test on the radon disclosure to another potential buyer. I have found that most sellers install a mitigation system if the test results show an elevated level of radon. Once a mitigation system is put in place the home is no longer a health hazard. Also, as noted above one cannot smell, taste or see radon so when a seller hears he has elevated levels of radon they quickly want to resolve the problem for their own health too. The cost of a mitigation system varies in price depending on the size of the home. For further information on mitigating a home I suggest contacting VSI. I have referred many clients to them and all have been very happy and have peace of mind once the system is installed.
Did you recently move into a home and didn’t do a radon test? Have you lived in your home for a long time? No
worries. Radon Detection Specialists (the company which I suggest to all of my clients when they purchase a home and want to do a radon test) has a home kit that is available. This home kit is the perfect solution for those of you who have not had a radon test done on your home. The homeowner leaves the canister out for at least thirty days and then sends the canister to a lab for the results. The cost of each kit is $25.00- it includes one canister, a return label and the results for the test. I highly recommend the home kit – it may show that there is radon in your home (which will be an expense to mitigate) or it will give you peace of mind knowing that your home is RADON FREE. Either way I think that it’s important for all to find out.
Doing what we can to stay healthy is important!!!!
The above article, Testing For Radon Can Give Piece of Mind, was written by Noah Levy – a REALTOR assisting buyers and sellers with their Real Estate needs.
* Credit to Radon Detection Specialists for pictures.
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