ALL THE WAY HOME
by Liz Young
The Importance of Testing for Radon with Kelly Home Inspections
Recently, one of my clients put a SouthPark area condominium under contract and we hired Brad Kelly of Kelly Home Inspections to conduct a general inspection and radon test.? I asked Brad to tell us about radon and why it is important to test for it.
“Radon is a natural-occurring gas that is released from the ground. It is actually a bi-product of uranium broken down in the soil and it is considered radioactive. The EPA has determined that at certain levels, above 4.0 pCi/L (picocuries per liter), it can be hazardous to your health. Radon has been linked to lung cancer and lung/respiratory ailments. If you’ve ever known anyone who contracted lung cancer but never smoked or used tobacco products, the lung cancer could be due to living in an area, home, apartment or condo that had high radon levels.
There can be one house with no radon and directly beside it, the house next door can have high levels. This is due to what’s in the soil. Radon can pass through concrete and virtually any substance other than lead. Whether you’re in a condo, townhome or single family home, it’s important to test because we really just don’t know what’s going on in the ground under the house or building.” -Brad Kelly
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How do you test for radon?? Brad leaves a metal box the size of a shoebox in the home for 48 hours then comes back and picks it up. The box registers radon levels every hour for 48 hours then provides an average radon reading based on all of the hourly readings.? He will then read the radon levels and if they are over the EPA limit, we would ask the seller to install a radon mitigation system or the buyer can install it after closing.? A radon mitigation system has a fan that vents the radon gas out of the home and it very quickly brings the radon level down.
Most of my clients elect to conduct a radon test.? We have found radon in an uptown condo and a large, single family home with a basement, however, as our home inspector mentioned, radon can be found anywhere in the Carolinas.
For more information about radon, head to https://kellyhomeinspectionsnc.com/what-is-radon/. If you have any questions about radon or real estate, reach out at (704) 578-9513 or [email protected]. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more real estate news!