Radon may not be something you have dealt with or encountered inside your home, but this does not mean it is not a problem in your home today. Radon is a high cause of lung cancer, and with the proper mitigation solutions in your home, you can prevent the dangers it poses to your household. Here are recommendations to test for and help you keep your home free of radon and the dangers it brings.
Test Your Home For Radon
When you are not sure if your home contains radon, the only way to find out is to complete a radon test. Radon is invisible and has no odor and is virtually impossible for you to determine if it is inside your home without completing a test. Radon is a naturally occurring gas that emits from the breakdown of some radioactive minerals in the ground, but you may not know if it is seeping into your home through its foundation.
One of the easiest ways to test your home for radon is to hire a radon inspection professional. They will install a test meter inside your home and check the results after the required amount of time, either short-term or long-term. You can also install your own radon test, which you can find online and in some home improvement stores.
The test needs to be placed inside your home at the lowest level that you live in, which does not include the crawlspace. The test should be in a place that is free of drafts and not directly under a heating vent, for example. This will allow you to find out the exact level of radon inside your home as it measures it during the testing time period.
The length of the test depends on if it is short-term, which will test the air anywhere from a few days to a few months. However, for a more overall level test, you will want to install a long-term test that measures your home's radon levels over a period of a year or more. If you have encountered radon in the past and installed mitigation, installing a long-term measurement gauge is a good way to make sure the radon levels do not become too high.
Install Mitigation
Once you have tested and found out you have dangerous levels of radon in your home, you will need to arrange for professional mitigation. This includes a ventilation system to remove the radon from your home's air and block its entrance into your home. Although you can always air out your home by opening windows and turning on interior fans, this is not a good solution for long-term management, and professional treatment is the best option.
Reach out to professionals in your area to get a residential radon test.