Colorado Homes – What About Radon?

I’ve always advised my clients, once they get a house under contract, to get a *radon test during the inspection period. If the radon level comes back high, they will have some choices to make, which I’ll discuss more fully later in this post.

Now, the test itself isn’t very expensive – most inspectors offer it for $100 to $150. The test equipment most local inspectors use must sit undisturbed in the house’s lowest habitable level (basement if there is one) for three days. Then the equipment is collected and returned to the office and immediate results are obtained. (People can get less expensive tests that must be mailed off for results. This may be an option for homeowners, but there isn’t time in the typical transaction to wait on these results.)

You’ll notice when some people talk about radon in homes they’ll say a home ‘has radon’ or ‘doesn’t have radon’. But that’s inaccurate – there’s really not a question of whether radon exists in a home or not. After all, radon is a naturally occurring gas and even exists in outdoor air.

It’s not a question of ‘if’ a house has radon, but how much radon it has, especially in places like most of Colorado, which falls into the EPA’s Zone 1 for likelihood of having high radon levels. The EPA has a recommended action level of 4 pCi/L. They recommend radon levels higher than that be reduced.

But that doesn’t mean 3.9 is safe. When we’re talking about a cancer-causing gas in your home, the lower the level, the better, wouldn’t you agree? In fact, the EPA site has this to say:

Radon levels less than 4 pCi/L still pose a risk, and in many cases may be reduced. . . most homes today can be reduced to 2 pCi/L or below.

A radon remediation system usually costs between $1,000 and $1,200.

So after considering all these facts, here’s my advice:

Colorado homebuyers should assume they will need a radon mitigation system if there’s not one there already. If this is something they could not afford to install, they can request the seller install a system, but even with levels above 4 sellers are not required to do so. In that case, buyers can terminate the contract.

But think about that – terminate a contract over a fix that costs about $1,000? When you find another house you’ll have to pay for inspections again, and may have the same problem.

Best idea is to make it a very high priority to get that radon reduced as low as possible asap, especially if anyone in the house is a smoker. In fact, all Colorado home owners should make sure the radon level in their home is as low as possible. (If you’re thinking, we just won’t buy a house rather than deal with issues like this, I wonder if the house you’re renting has been tested?)

*Radon is an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas that is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers (second cause for smokers). You can’t tell if a house has it unless you test for it. It doesn’t matter whether or not neighboring houses have it, each house must be tested. You can’t assume a house doesn’t have it because a vapor barrier was put down, or because there’s no basement.

I write posts on real estate issues and local events in the Denver metro area, especially those *communities between Denver and Boulder, as a public service. My hope is to give people an idea of the ‘flavor’ of our community, in case they’re new or moving to the Denver area.

I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver.

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