Not selling or buying a house, and just want to check the radon levels in your home to ensure the air quality is safe for you and your family? Radon Defense has you covered! The EPA recommends that all houses be tested during the real estate transaction, well here at Radon Defense we recommend that EVERY HOME in the United States regardless of it is as a part of a real estate transaction or not. Our Radon Defense Measurement Technicians, have up-to-date certifications, follow strict guidelines on how the tests are set and ran, and can use two different types of testing your home.
Want to Know Your Home’s Radon Levels Right Away?
Since testing during the real estate transaction is a time sensitive situation, short-term radon gas testing is the only logical form of measurement. A short-term test must sit in the house or building for a minimum of 48 hours and can sit up to 90 days, under “closed conditions” starting 12 hours prior to the start of the test. These conditions include:
- All windows must be shut for the entire test beginning 12 hours prior to the start of the test
- Exterior doors should only be used for coming/going (not being propped open)
- Whole house exhaust fans or smaller fans near the test are to be turned off (HVAC system units may be running)
Short-term Radon testing give you the opportunity to know your home’s Radon Gas levels in just a few days, but they do not necessarily give you the year-round radon concentration average of your home. Research and Testing has shown that radon levels are at their highest during the colder months of the year, because of what Radon Professionals call, “The Stack Effect”. During the colder months, warm air is rising in larger amounts creating a vacuum like draft, bringing in more radon gas particles than when the vacuum is not present during the warmer months.
How Do You Find The Best Year Round Average?
Wanting to know the year-round Radon Concentration Average in your home? Radon Defense has a solution to that as well! Since the short-term test is only a small sample size of radon emissions collected, we can use a long-term test to get a larger sample. A long-term radon test must sit for a minimum of 91 days and can continue reading for up to one year in length. This is the most accurate method for radon testing. During a long-term test, there are no restrictions to what the homeowners can and cant do while living in the home (except for taking the testing device and putting it in the neighbors house for obvious reasons).
Give us a Call at Radon Defense to schedule your short or long term test!
703-688-3797