What you Need to Know about Radon Gas Before Renovating your Basement or Selling Your Home

Many homeowners plan winter renovations before spring, whether to enhance their own enjoyment of their homes, or to prepare to sell in the spring. Basements, which offer a host of possibilities for growing and active families, is often a top choice for updates. Renovating and finishing this subfloor area can significantly increase the size of the home, sometimes even doubling a building’s usable space, and such a project can substantially increase the building’s value. However, basements are prone to a few problems that homeowners should be aware of and test for before they begin renovation plans. One common issue in both new and old basements is radon gas.

Radon gas is a radioactive gas that is odorless, tasteless, and colorless that naturally rises up from the soil and rock in the ground beneath your home. The gas has a high decay rate and so when inhaled by humans, emits thousands of tiny particles that negatively impact the cellular linings of the lungs and causes or exacerbates lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses. In fact, radon gas is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, causing as many as 21,000 deaths every year. Young children and teenagers are the most susceptible, because their cells divide at a faster rate.

All homeowners and renters should be aware that radon gas can be found in any style home, new or old. Even if a neighbor is cleared of radon gas, your home may still be at risk. Thankfully, there are proven ways to both test for radon gas and reduce the amount of radon gas found in a home. Even if you have already completed a full basement refinishing, you can and should still test and fix a radon gas problem.

To begin, either purchase a home radon test kit at your local hardware store or contact an experienced company like Radon-Rid, LLC. Many store-bought test kits will require you to mail a sample to a lab and wait for your results. If the results say you are basement has a ‘safe level,’ you can proceed with your basement renovations or otherwise use your basement as an additional living space.

However, if your radon results show high gas levels, you should immediately contact a professional to get started with reducing and removing radon gas for a healthier and safer home and basement. This generally involves the following tasks:

• Using a radon grade sealant to seal up any cracks in the basement’s walls and walls.
• Installing an exhaust pipe and exhaust fan to vent out air from the basement.
• Installing similar high-grade ventilation in other places of your home that may be susceptible to radon gas leaks.

Radon-Rid, LLC Provides Testing and Remediation for Radon Gas

Radon-Rid, LLC offers complete radon testing, mitigation, and radon gas remediation services that include the above and other methods of finding and ridding homes and their basements of this noxious gas. For information or a free consultation, contact us at (610) 624-6585.

What is Radon? Are you at risk?

• Why test for Radon?
• Radon in your home.

What can you do?

• Learn More About Radon Levels in Your County
• Take a few minutes to browse our Get To Know Radon Online Presentation.
• When you are finished, be sure to tell a loved one about our testing programs offered in Berks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Montgomery & Philadelphia Counties.