Radon Gas...What You Need to Know!

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Real Estate

        Today what we're going to be talking about is radon gas. Things have really changed. A lot of people are saying to me, "What is this? What's it all about? What's going on?" So this is for sellers today.

            Okay, what is radon gas? So radon gas is a radioactive gas that comes from the uranium in the rocks and the soil underneath your homes. When it's in the air, it's fine. It dissipates. It's not going to hurt you. The Canadian Health Association, they were at 800 becquerels per cubic meter. They recently lowered that to 200 becquerels per cubic meter. So why is it important? Because they've now realized that it causes lung cancer. So you've ever talked to somebody and you say, "Oh, he's lived in that house for 25 years and never smoked, and now he's got lung cancer." Well, he may well have been on a large deposit of radon gas underneath his house.

            So what's this got to do with selling your house? Well, let me tell you. The test that the inspectors are doing out there is two to four days. They're not accurate. You need a 90-day test. You can get these tests; you can go to the Lung Association and get the test. You can go to Canadian Tire, you can go to Amazon. You need the 90-day test to get an accurate reading. And the best time to do it is the fall and the winter. So if you think you're going to be selling your house in the next six to 12 to 18 months, is it worth your while to go get this done? Absolutely. Because what's happening is on the short-term tests that they're doing, it might come in at 250 or 280 or even 300 but how accurate is that?

            The owners of the home have to keep their windows shut. There are all these little things that they have to note. Did that happen? Did they follow all the rules? 90-day test, you put it in your house, you can live a normal life, you can open your windows, you can do whatever you want. You can turn your HVAC on. Here's the thing, if it comes back over 200, it's automatically, we want a remediation. What's remediation? About $1,500? I myself use Radon Atlantic for that. You can use different companies or you can even install your own. But why be surprised over something like this? A $1,500 fix. They do their short term test and say, "Hey, we get 260." And we say, "Hey, wait a minute. No. I did a long-term test I got from the Lung Association and here's the actual reading of radon gas in my house."

        So radon gas, it is out there. Everybody's talking about it. Everybody's testing it. Don't be surprised. I am Brenda K with Halifax Home Selling Group, and thank you so much for visiting my blog. It's all about the info you need to know when you're buying or selling real estate in Nova Scotia. Cheers.