Schedule A Radon Inspection For Your Home

Upper Cumberland homes are vulnerable to Radon, an invisible and odorless gas, that poses a risk for lung cancer.

Local Inspector Scott Hill said Radon exists in the air we breathe but the gas concentrates in homes. Hill said most homes are built to be weather resistant and because of this, we are vulnerable.

“That’s where the warm air rises inside the house and when that happens that sucks up the air from the crawl space and it accumulates in the house,” Hill said. “And because of the way the homes are built, it accumulates at a higher rate inside the home than it would outside the home.”

Hill said he has observed the Upper Cumberland region consistently shows higher radon readings compared to other areas. Hill said his best guess is factors such as building materials, ventilation, and foundation types in rural homes may contribute to the increased radon levels seen in the region.

“It’s kind of a fifty-fifty shot in my opinion, You’re either gonna have high radon or you’re not,” Hill said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a crawl space, if it’s a basement, or if it son a slap. I’ve found high Radon testing any type of home construction.”

Hill said checking for Radon is not included in a standard home inspection. Hill said the reason for this is that the process requires a special machine that takes forty-eight hours and has to be calibrated constantly. Hill said he recommends a separate Radon test every time a home inspection occurs.

“I don’t ever want to come across like I’m trying to scare somebody and being a pushy salesman,” Hill said. “But in all honesty, I think that with every home inspection, I would highly recommend it having tested for Radon, but at the same time, some people just aren’t that concerned about it.”

Hill said an area will have high Radon or not. Hill said the only thing you can do on your own is open your home. Hill said to imagine a gas cloud trapped outside vs inside, inside will be more potent than outside where the air is free.