What You Should Know About Radon When Buying a Home

If you’re in the process of buying a house, you need to ensure that it’s safe to inhabit or that you’ll be able to make it so. Enlisting the services of a home inspector will help you through the decision-making process. But what should you know about radon before buying a home? Learn more about radon in homes with this guide from Festa Radon.

Independent Radon Testing

Every home seller is advised to test their property for radon before putting it on the market. However, as the prospective buyer, you should have your own expert test the home as well. Don’t just take the seller at their word—verify their claims with your own data.

A professional radon tester can perform a short-term test, which takes 48 hours, or a long-term test, which takes 90 days. They’ll set up the test kit in the lowest livable space in the home and leave it to do its job. Once they receive the results, they’ll promptly send them to you.

Elevated Levels and EPA Recommendations

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that you install a radon mitigation system if your indoor radon levels exceed 4.0 pCi/L (picocuries per liter of air). But you should know that no level of radon is truly safe. Living in a home with just 2.0 pCi/L of radon can damage your lungs and even lead to cancer if you go several years without mitigating the gas.

If your indoor test results indicate elevated radon levels, you can choose not to buy the home, or you can make a plan to mitigate the radon yourself.

Real Estate and Radon Mitigation

The seller of your potential new home may have heard that having a radon mitigation system in place can boost the value of the property. As a buyer, make sure you ask them if they have a radon fan already installed in the home.

If they do have a radon fan in place, they’ll likely be proud to point it out to you. Should you choose to buy the home but are unsatisfied with the fan, you can install a radon mitigation fan replacement to vent radon out more powerfully.

Are you in the midst of buying a home? As you decide between properties, you should know this information about radon to help you narrow down your choices. Even if sellers say they’ve tested for radon and found no problems, it’s strongly encouraged that you verify their claims with testing of your own.