Radon GAs in Orange County (New York, Warwick: houses, to buy, contractors)

[monte4623]

I went to Warwick in OC this weekend to view some house and found out many houses there have elevated levels of radon that require a special vent sysytem. Is this in all of OC and is it reason to be concerned about moving there?

[Jason_Els]

Yes. The area, as you probably saw, sits on a huge pile of granite. There are some large cavern areas underneath the county and Exxon back in the day tried to buy most of the ridge land in West Milford and Warwick because of its large uranium supplys. We are in a hot spot for radon, make no mistake. The EPA ranks Orange and the surrounding area as a, "red zone," meaning the average indoor radon screening level is greater than 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter).

This does not mean that radon can't be controled by proper monitoring and venting. It most certainly can. Uranium is one the most common elements in the environment and properly monitored and addressed, it can be a non-issue in a modern home.

Here's the EPA zone map for New York:

[mom2gurls]

Well shoot..this is annoying..when purchasing again, do you just get a seperate test for radon then?

[MainelyNYer]

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

Well shoot..this is annoying..when purchasing again, do you just get a seperate test for radon then?

Yes make the test a contingency AND if the radon level is above acceptable then the seller should remediate the situation or deduct the cost $1-2k from the cost of the house. Insure you pick the test company. Also - I have heard of some contractors/sellers who will move the radon traps to upper floors - these must be in the basement to be accurate. And they must be sitting for approximately 2 days.

I have an abatement system here in my NY house and had on in my house in Maine. They are very effective and unobtrusive.

[mom2gurls]

A friend of ours in carmel had radon and they put these fan "thingies" under their house..I guess it worked,but anything toxic scares the bejeezus out of me now.

[monte4623]

Jason,

Thanks for the info.