By George Clements
Have you ever heard of someone having a radon test done at their home and wondered if it would be worth it for you to have one too? The more I learn about the issue the more I think it is a good idea to have a test done anywhere you will be living.
I recently had a long conversation about radon with one of my home inspectors who had just taken some pretty serious extended education classes on the subject. I had it in my head that homes with crawl spaces would be more at risk than homes on slabs, but he said that it is actually the opposite. I also thought that if one home in a subdivision did not test positive that the others probably wouldn’t either, but he said that it is more of a lot by lot basis. So if your neighbor doesn’t have radon it doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t either.
The EPA has a great website on radon that can be found at www.epa.gov/radon. One of the most interesting things there is that Greenville County, South Carolina, is the only county in the whole state that is considered a “Zone 1” or has the highest potential for having radon. Also interesting are some of the facts given. One fact is that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, which the EPA website says claims 20,000 lives annually.
So what can we do about radon? The good news is that homes built today in Greenville, SC, come with radon vents built in. If radon is found in a home, only a fan must be installed to keep it vented.
If radon is found in an older home, the whole vent has to be installed; this will take a little more work but it’s still not the end of the world. Also, if you are buying or selling a home, it pays to know what your rights are according to the contract. If you have any questions about radon in the home buying and selling process or if you would just like some names of trusted radon testers, shoot me an email at gclements@kw.com and I am always happy to help.
George Clements
gclements@kw.com
www.homestolive.in
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