If you haven’t heard about radon or the dangers of it being in your house, now is the time to learn about it. Radon is gas that leaks from the earth into people’s homes. In most places, there isn’t enough of it to do any harm, but some areas have higher concentrations of it than others. It’s odorless, tasteless, and invisible—as well as the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers. If you want to test your home, check out our guide on how to prepare your home for a radon test.
DIY or Call It In
You can buy radon tests from laboratories that will allow you to run the test by yourself. You simply need to send the test back to the lab once it’s finished in order for it to be analyzed. You can also call an agency that specializes in radon testing to come and perform the test for you. After the allotted number of days, the technician will return to collect the test, and you’ll get the results not long afterward.
Maintain Closed-House Conditions
“Closed-house conditions” refer to keeping your home as airtight as possible without ruining your way of life. Make sure you keep all your windows and doors closed while the test is going on. The people you live with will need to cooperate while the test is in effect. This means explaining to them why you need to test for radon and what they must do to ensure the test is accurate.
Although maintaining closed-house conditions is important, it doesn’t need to affect your life too much. You can still enter and exit your house normally while preparing your home for a radon test; just don’t leave the door open longer than it takes to enter or exit. You can safely run your HVAC system as well as any radon mitigation technology you already have, such as radon mitigation fans, without interfering with the test.
Don’t Mess with the Device
Once the test has begun, you want to leave the testing device completely alone so that it can get an accurate reading. Don’t touch or move the device, and make sure you maintain your closed-house conditions the entire time the test is taking place. Once the test is over, you can open your house back up again if you so choose.