Home buyers guide to radon testing in Western Kentucky
Radon testing is simple and inexpensive. Radon testing is the only way to know whether your home has high levels of radon.
Home buyers guide to radon testing in Western Kentucky and Clarksville TN
Do you know about radon levels and should you have your home tested? We provide professional home inspection services for the Western Kentucky and Clarksville area. We offer thorough radon testing with our expert technicians ready to answer any concerns or questions you may have. Give us a call to speak to one of our qualified experts today to find out more about radon testing in your area.
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What is radon?
Radon is a cancer causing, radioactive gas that you cannot see, smell or taste. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the United States next to smoking and is thought to be the number one cause of lung cancer deaths in non-smokers. Buying a house in the Western Kentucky area means it is important to test your home for Radon and fix the problem as soon as possible. The Christian County is a Zone One county having higher than average radon levels. Most surrounding counties in this state are known to have a pCi/L reading of 4.0 and higher, which is why it is important that you test your home for radon levels.
Some studies have shown that radon levels can vary due to certain types of terrain.Kentucky’s terrain is a geology of sinkholes, underground streams, and caves where groundwater has dissolved the sedimentary rock. This dissolved rock is high in uranium and radioactive radon gas produced by these formations moves easily into houses and buildings as a dangerous and unwelcome guest. The only way to know for sure if you have high radon levels is to test your home!
How radon gets into your house
1. Cracks in solid floors
2. Construction joints
3. Cracks in walls
4. Gaps in suspended floors
5. Gaps around service pipes
6. Cavities inside walls
7. The water supply
What is radon testing?
Radon testing is simple and inexpensive, and fixing is affordable. The state radon program, the EPA and its partners urge you to fix your home when your test result shows four picocuries of radon per liter (4 pCi/L) of air, or higher. Because there is no known safe level of radon exposure, you should also consider fixing your home for a radon level between 2-4 pCi/L.
There are two ways to test your home for radon. The quickest way to test for radon in your home is with short-term tests.
Short-term radon testing
Depending on the device used for radon testing, short-term tests can remain in your home from two to 90 days. There are two groups of devices that are most common to use for short-term testing.The passive device group includes alpha track detectors, charcoal canisters, charcoal liquid scintillation detectors, and electret ion chambers. The active device group
consists of different types of continuous monitors.
Long-term radon testing
The long-term radon tests remain in your home for more than 90 days. Alpha track
and electret ion chamber detectors are commonly used for this type of testing. A long-term test result for radon is more likely to tell you your home’s yearly average radon level compared to a short-term test. When long-term test results are 4 pCi/L or higher, EPA recommends fixing the home.
It is important to know that there are easy solutions to radon problems in homes. As a home buyer you can ask for the previous years radon testing and if there are any radon devices installed in the home for detection purposes. In the Western Kentucky area, most homes can be fixed for about the same cost as other common home repairs. Radon testing is so easy you can test your home yourself or hire a qualified radon test company to do it all for you and offer solutions. Either approach takes only a small amount of time and effort and can potentially save you and your family’s life.
Resources:
EPA: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-05/documents/hmbuygud.pdf
Kentucky Geological Survey: https://www.uky.edu/KGS/radon/
Kentucky Radon Map: