How to Rid Your Home of Toxic Radon

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If you’ve been putting off testing your home for radon for months (or even years), it’s time to put it back on your to-do list. It’s one of those things that you know you should do but often gets pushed aside in favor of more interesting home projects where you immediately notice the difference, like hanging curtains or painting a room. But you’ll likely be able to enjoy your room and curtains more knowing you’re safe from radon. Here’s how to test for and get rid of radon, and how to protect yourself from it becoming a problem.

What is radon?

Radon is insidious. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , it is a colorless, odorless, invisible, naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by the decay of uranium in soil, rocks and water. From there, it can end up in the air we breathe, including the air in our homes, offices and schools.

But since we spend most of our time at home, there is concern about undetected radon in the places where we live. Elevated radon levels are not limited to one geographic region; gas can be found anywhere.

All of this is important because radon is harmful to your health. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that radon may cause thousands of deaths each year, and the Surgeon General says that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States after smoking.

How to test a house for radon

Fortunately, testing your home for radon is easy and relatively quick. You simply need to take an Accu-Star-certified short-term or long-term radon test online, at your local home improvement store, or directly from the company’s website.

Short-term test kits measure radon levels over two to seven days. If this is your first time testing for radon in your home, start with a short-term test so that it takes you less time to figure out if you have a radon problem. You can then choose a long-term testing kit that measures radon levels for at least 90 days.

On the Accu-Star website, tests range from $26 for a short-term kit to $35 for a long-term kit. You can also purchase discounted kits through the National Radon Program at Kansas State University , which costs $17 for a short-term kit and $27 for a long-term kit .

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How to get rid of radon in your home

If your radon test results show high levels of the gas in your home—anywhere above 4 picocuries per liter of air (pCI/L)—then it’s time to call a professional. Radon remediation is not a DIY job, so contact your state EPA office for a list of qualified mitigation contractors in your area.

A radon mitigation contractor can evaluate your home to determine what work will be needed to correct the problem, which will vary depending on your home’s foundation and where you live. They will also be able to make recommendations to prevent future problems, including repairing foundation cracks.

You should have your home re-inspected after any professional mitigation work has been carried out, and it is recommended to continually monitor the situation with a portable radon detector. Therse can also be purchased online; Airthing Corentium makes a device that can monitor your home for about 10 years, providing both short-term and long-term readings, and which you can get on Amazon .

How to prevent radon from becoming a problem

There are also things you can do yourself to protect your home (and the people living in it) from radon: Install passive radon controls. According to the EPA , you can:

  • Seal cracks in your basement and foundation to reduce radon leakage into your home.

  • Depending on the design of your home, you can use a fan system to force air into the basement from other parts of the house, increasing the air pressure enough to prevent radon from entering the house.

  • Install a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) , which constantly refreshes the air in your home with outside air to better ventilate your entire home.

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