Radon: What Your Realtor Wants You To Know
1. What is Radon?
Radon is a naturally occurring gas that's produced by the decay of uranium, thorium, and radium in soil and rocks. It can seep into homes through cracks in floors, walls, and foundations. Because it's both colorless and odorless, radon often goes undetected without specific testing.
Radon is measured in picocuries per liter (pCi/L) of air, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends action if radon levels in a home exceed 4.0 pCi/L. Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia have large areas with radon levels above this threshold due to their unique geology. (Check out this EPA Radon zones map)
Radon levels are often highest in the lowest part of a home or building–particularly in areas that are partly, or completely, underground. So around here, basements.
2. Potential Health Risks of Radon
Radon exposure is a significant health concern, as it is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States after smoking. Prolonged exposure to high radon levels increases the risk, even for non-smokers. The radioactive particles emitted by radon can damage lung tissue when inhaled over time.
In areas like Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, where radon levels are often higher than the national average, understanding and addressing radon exposure is critical to protecting your health and the health of your family. You can learn more here.
3. How to Detect Radon
Testing for radon is the only way to determine its presence in your home. Radon testing is straightforward and can be done in several ways:
Short-term tests: These are quick and inexpensive, typically taking 2-7 days to gather data. They provide an initial snapshot of radon levels in your home. These can be a great tool when inspecting a potential home you want to buy.
Long-term tests: Lasting 90 days or more, these tests offer a more accurate picture of your home's radon levels over time. (Radon levels naturally fluctuate, sometimes significantly, throughout the day, due to a wide variety of factors, including weather).
Ongoing testing: You can also buy testing instruments that provide constant real time measurements of radon levels and show multi-day averages.
You can purchase testing kits and instruments at many hardware stores like Lowes or Home Depot, as well as online retailers like Walmart, Amazon, etc. You can also hire a professional home inspector to test your home, which typically costs $150. Ask us for our home inspector recommendations!
4. Radon Mitigation
If testing reveals elevated radon levels, mitigation is essential. Here are some common radon reduction methods:
Sealing Cracks and Openings: While not sufficient alone, sealing gaps in your foundation can help reduce radon entry.
Improved Ventilation: Increasing airflow in crawl spaces and other areas can lower radon concentrations.
Soil Suction (Sub-Slab Depressurization): A fan and vent system are installed to draw radon from beneath the home and release it outdoors–thereby reducing the amount that gets into your home. This is by far the most common and reliable method for mitigating radon. These systems are often referred to as “active” radon mitigation systems, because they have an electric fan that actively sucks the gas out. That is contrasted with “passive” radon mitigation systems, which have the same vent pipes, but no fan system. While quite prevalent, passive systems are often not effective. Good news though, they can be very easily modified by adding a fan!
Professional radon mitigation services are highly recommended to ensure effectiveness. In the tri-state region, many certified specialists are familiar with the area's geology and can implement the most appropriate mitigation strategies. Not sure where to start? Shoot us a note. We work with radon mitigation companies all the time!
A Realtor’s Perspective
As realtors, here’s some things we want our clients to know:
- Around here, radon is everywhere. It’s not just a Charles Town thing, or a Jefferson County thing, or even just a West Virginia thing. It’s prevalent all around the central east coast.
- Radon can be very bad, but it doesn’t need to be scary. Testing is easy, and mitigation is usually quite affordable. We help clients with this issue all the time and have a list of contractors that can get you quotes.
- Don’t let anyone try to use radon to scare you into making a decision that hurts you–like overpaying, scuttling an otherwise solid deal, or souring buyer-seller relations.
- Radon can be a point of negotiation. Whether or not you can get the seller to pay for mitigation depends a LOT on the current market. That’s where it helps to have local experts working for you.
Questions? While we are not radon experts, we can connect you with the people who are and resources you can use to educate yourself. Contact us today to see how we can help your real estate and radon issues.
