When buying or selling a home, you’ll have a lot on your plate. So many things to get in order and to organize. In all the rush and the haste, though, you could wind up forgetting certain things. One thing that often gets forgotten and that sort of flies under the radar is radon. Or, better yet, radon inspection.
This radioactive gas that can be present in soil can consequently enter your home, and expose you to a lot of health dangers. While it is naturally occurring, and while we’re constantly exposed to it through the air, the danger lies in being exposed to extensive amounts of the gas, and in long-term exposure as well. Thus, if you don’t do a proper radon inspection, chances are that you’ll jeopardize your own health and the well-being of everyone that will spend time in that property.
You may think that this gas is not that common. But, it is estimated that 1 in 5 homes has elevated levels of radon, which is a pretty big percentage if you think about it. Instead of simply assuming that the air in your home isn’t in danger and that it isn’t filled with this gas, what you should do is perform an inspection and basically test for it. It’s always much better to be safe than sorry.
What Is Radon Inspection?
I get you may be wondering whether you really need radon inspection, but before we answer that question, we need to make sure you understand what it is and what it basically entails. Basically, radon inspection is a procedure done by professionals and aimed at measuring the presence of this gas in the home, as well as mitigating it if high levels are detected. It is basically the only way to know if there are high levels of this gas in your home.
So, if you’ve been thinking of using some home kits to test for radon, you can forget about it. Without the proper equipment – equipment that professionals will have and use – this gas cannot be detected. And, you don’t want to waste your time buying the equipment yourself, and then probably not knowing how to use it, when you can hire professionals to have everything tested in no time.
Do You Need It?
But, do you really need to test for this gas? First off, the very fact that so many homes tend to have high levels of radon shows that testing is a must. Assuming your property doesn’t have such issues is wrong, because playing it safe is the right thing to do. You can’t detect the gas with your own senses, so performing the inspection is the only way to actually know if it’s there or not.
Read about its health effects: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/health-service-regulation/north-carolina-radon-program/health-impacts-radon
Since you can’t see or smell this gas, you may be exposed to it without even knowing it, which poses a great danger for your health. Among all the health issues it can cause, lung serious is the most serious one. Long-term exposure to it can, thus, be extremely dangerous, which is why the inspection is important, as it will prevent you from unknowingly breathing this gas in and thus jeopardizing your own well-being.
It may not be easy to detect, but it is quite easy for radon to slip through the cracks and holes in the foundation of your home. Once it reaches your home, it can get trapped there, and without performing the inspection, you won’t know whether you need mitigation services. Moving into a house that is filled with this gas is clearly dangerous, so it would be best for you to perform the inspection during the buying process. That is, before actually moving in.
If you’re buying a newer home, you may assume that there’s no need to test for radon. In other words, you may think that it occurs only in older houses and buildings, which is certainly wrong. This gas has been found in houses and buildings throughout the USA, regardless of when they have been built. Put simply, both old and new properties are in danger of radon, which gives you one more reason to perform the inspection the right way.
How to Get Your Home Tested?
Speaking of performing the inspection the right way, the next thing you’ll wonder, after realizing just how important this is, is how to actually get the home tested. You can read some more about it here, but this is the main thing to remember. Letting professionals handle this is the best thing to do, because you’re neither equipped nor skilled enough to perform the inspection yourself. So, if wondering how to get your home tested for radon, here’s your answer. Hire experts.
That is quite easy to say, but you could find yourself having some troubles in actually hiring the perfect professionals. How come? Well, you may not know how to actually find and hire the best company for this job, because you’ve never done it before, and you may be afraid to make the wrong moves and wind up hiring people that won’t really do a great job. The worst part is, you won’t even know if they’ve done a poor job, because you can’t detect the gas yourself.
This is why making sure you’re choosing the best possible company for this job is of utmost importance. Checking various ones out in more details, thoroughly researching them and even getting in touch with more firms so as to ask questions you may have and get your answers, is all of great importance. Without doing proper research, you won’t exactly be sure whether you’ve hired the best people for the job, which is why skipping the researching part and choosing randomly is not the best idea. Instead, you should check the experience levels, as well as the reputation, and remember to ask anything you want to know about the inspection process, and to check the costs of these services as well. Comparing all of those factors is how you’ll make the best choice.