There’s no doubt you probably seen commercials about radon when you’ve been at home watching TV at night. Perhaps you thought yourself well that’s great but there’s no way radon could be in my house. As safe as you think your house might be from radon, you might want to think again.
Radon has been identified by the US surgeon general’s office is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and accounts for nearly 20,000 lung cancer deaths on an annual basis. So even if you don’t know what radon is, it’s important not to take it lightly.
You might think your home is the safest place in the world but it’s been estimated that 1 in 3 U.S. homes in seven states have radon levels that are too high. In case you’re wondering, radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can’t be seen or smelled and it can wreak havoc on home.
If you’re wondering, what the heck can I do to test for radon in my home, know that there are many solutions. One of the easiest is to get testing kit from a local Home Improvement store for residential radon testing kits. Somewhere down the line you may find that you need the help of professional radon testing services the, especially if your home has radon levels are very high, but in most cases a radon test kit should do the job.
Radon test kits are typically found in two forms, short-term and long-term. Short-term kits test between 2 and 90 days and long-term kits test longer than 90 days. Within those two parameters there are many different kinds of tests you can buy depending on how you want to test in your home. You can use passive radon devices such as charcoal canisters which help absorb radon or you can use something like electret ion detectors, which uses a statically charged disk to test the potency of radon in your home.
When it comes to radon testing, know that there is no save number that you’re trying to reach to get your home back to healthy levels. Generally speaking, if testing shows a level of 4 or higher, then you need to act quickly and use professionals to help you with your problem. If in the event you do find your home’s radon levels are drastically High there are many steps you can take to resolve the issue and you should do so immediately.
The first thing you’re going to want to do is find a contractor. Lowering levels in the average home requires very specific knowledge and skill that only a radon mitigation contractor can take care of. You can easily contact state officials help you find a person who is licensed. Once you found a contractor, you’re going to want to have him or her make a plan for radon lowering. When it comes to radon, not all homes are the same and your contractor will have to make a workable plan based on the style of your house and other factors like whether your home has a basement. Once your contractor has developed a plan, they may install a radon mitigation system which helps keep radon acceptable levels and something you’ll have to check from time to time. Many of these systems help funnel radon, which is found in your foundational soil away from your pipes and other places that can seep inside, and into the air away from your home.
Radon is not something you want to take lightly and at the end of the day you can do a lot to keep your home safe as well as you and your family by testing for radon whether you use a professional to do it or you use any one of the test kits that are readily available at your local home improvement store.