Radon Contractor (Pittsburgh, Erie: sales, houses, buying)

[Ram8876]

Hi all,

I'm selling my house and just had the buyer's home inspection completed. The radon inspection show a level of 4.9pCi/l. The feds' maximum level is 4.0pCi/l. Obviously, as I would do in the situation, the buyers asked for a radon mitigation system to be installed. Here's what I would like to do: call in an experienced radon contractor; have them evaluate the house, and maybe retest for their own purposes; then make a recommendation on how to proceed to bring the levels below 4.0pCi/l. If the contractor says a venting system is needed, then that's what will get installed.

Does anyone know, or have experience with, an experience radon contractor?

Thanks for any help.

[stburr91]

I'm sorry but I can't help you with the information you are asking for, but... let this be a cautionary tale for everyone. Never let anyone do a radon test in your home, nothing good can come from it. It's now on record that this home has high radon levels, and it will have to be disclosed in a sales agreement. Radon mitigation is difficult, and does not eliminate the radon. Your home will become more difficult to sell, and the value has just dropped. Good luck selling your home now.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by stburr91

Never let anyone do a radon test in your home, nothing good can come from it. It's now on record that this home has high radon levels, and it will have to be disclosed in a sales agreement. Radon mitigation is difficult, and does not eliminate the radon. Your home will become more difficult to sell, and the value has just dropped. Good luck selling your home now.

Be sure to not take a reasonable step to lower the risk you or your family have of dying of cancer because it might affect the resale value of your house if the person buying it doesn't know to check or smokes enough that it doesn't matter? That seems a bit short-sighted.

[stburr91]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Be sure to not take a reasonable step to lower the risk you or your family have of dying of cancer because it might affect the resale value of your house if the person buying it doesn't know to check or smokes enough that it doesn't matter? That seems a bit short-sighted.

I'm not saying it's unreasonable to ask for a radon test as a buyer, but as a seller, there is nothing good that can come from the test.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by stburr91

I'm not saying it's unreasonable to ask for a radon test as a buyer, but as a seller, there is nothing good that can come from the test.

If reasonable buyers are going to ask, the seller might want to be prepared. But I was thinking more that somebody living in a house they already bought might want to know. You can't get rid of radon because it's in the ground, but mitigation does mitigate the risk.

[trackstar13]

Originally Posted by stburr91

I'm sorry but I can't help you with the information you are asking for, but... let this be a cautionary tale for everyone. Never let anyone do a radon test in your home, nothing good can come from it. It's now on record that this home has high radon levels, and it will have to be disclosed in a sales agreement. Radon mitigation is difficult, and does not eliminate the radon. Your home will become more difficult to sell, and the value has just dropped. Good luck selling your home now.

What silly comments, radon can be mitigated with relative ease and usually costs less than a few thousand dollars. Many times after radon is mitigated the home actually has lower radon levels than homes that do not have mitigation, regardless of their radon levels.

"Radon levels less than 4 pCi/L still pose a risk, and in many cases may be reduced."

Consumer's Guide to Radon Reduction | Radon | US Environmental Protection Agency

[trackstar13]

Ram8876

Relatively recently we had the radon mitigated in our house even though it was only 2.8 pCi/L because my wife is extra concerned about these types of things. We just picked somebody from the DEP list of certified contractors and we are in Erie so we went with someone locally. Our radon reading after the mitigation was 1.1 pCi/L and it was a pretty quick process. The link for the list is below and I would recommend contacting a few Pittsburgh area contractors and picking who works best for you. Personally, having learned a great deal about radon after dealing with it in a few houses now I would prefer to purchase a house with a radon mitigation system already in place. Especially in a place like PA where radon levels are relatively high.

https://www.dep.state.pa.us/brp/Rado...Mitigation.pdf

[Bong477]

Radon is easy to mitigate. Basically you put a fan in your basement. Its not super expensive either, should be less than 1k. I'll give you the name of the company that did ours when I get home from work.

The dangers of radon are probably way overblown. The science that supports the cancer risk is weak (to be generous). That said, despite my position that the radon testing industry is more about money than safety, we still had one installed to address our slightly elevated levels.

[Ram8876]

Originally Posted by Bong477

The dangers of radon are probably way overblown. The science that supports the cancer risk is weak (to be generous). That said, despite my position that the radon testing industry is more about money than safety, we still had one installed to address our slightly elevated levels.

While I hold the same opinion on the issue, I treat this like I treat asbestos: better safe than sorry.

When I bought the house 3 years ago, the radon level tested at 3.5 pCi/l. Since it is now shown as an issue, I am deciding to take care of it for the buyer so no one in the future has to worry about it.

I took a look at the DEP list and I'm going to contact some of them for pricing. Thanks

[SorryIMovedBack]

Previous discussion: //www.city-data.com/forum/pitts...-thoughts.html

Bureau of Radiation Protection--Radon Division

Interesting, since I didn't realize that part of PA is known for high levels.