If you live in the Albany area, chances are you have a full basement that is either finished or left unfinished. In our experience, especially when doing home inspections in Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa or Clifton Park, we do see the majority of homes having an active radon mitigation system.
Radon is prevalent with homes that have basements and it is important to regularly check or inspect for levels of radon to ensure you and your family are safe. This is especially important if you were planning on buying or selling a home. Do you want to be as knowledgeable as possible about the safety and security of the home in question.
Further, we have seen many home inspectors telling people if they don’t have a basement there is no need to test for radon. This is not accurate information at all. It is important to check all levels of the home for radon contamination. We have seen Holmes come back with levels of 8 pCi/Lwhich is over twice the EPA recommended level of 4.0 that is required to compete a real estate transaction.
That being said, if you have a read on mitigation system installed, you might think that you do not need to invest to test any further for radon. While this might be true, this still taking a significant risk.
It is always better to be safe than sorry, especially when you are attempting to buy or sell a home. An extra level of proactive effort will give you peace of mind knowing that the decision you are making is correct.
So what you can do is take a look at the radon pipe in your basement to ensure that the radon mitigation fan is working properly. This to actually fills with a liquid which gets offset by fan suction. If the fluid levels are offset you are in good shape. But if the levels are leaving you might have problems that need professional inspection.
If you live in the Albany area and are looking for a good home inspector to help you navigate the waters of buying or selling a home, please consider calling Bald Eagle Inspection Services today.