Radon in your home

[revolution]

Usually, they are petty cheap. We put one in a house we sold for the sellers and it was under $1k

[eddy]

We did test because in Iowa levels are very high. No shock they came back high. We paid  around $1500.

[marshmallowmars]

Buyer's asked us to put one in when we sold our house a few years ago. We agreed and it only cost around $800.

[eddy]

When we were searching for someone to do it the reason we decided on a company because they didn't charge extra if htey had to come back and create a second hole, put a bigger fan etc. There is a bit of an adjustment that needs to happen to make sure you are getting the levels down and we didn't want to have to keep paying for those repeat visits.

[underwaterrhymes]

We have a Radon mitigation system installed.

A lot of the newer homes in MA require this because they're often too airtight to let the gases release without it.

ETA - it was already installed when we bought it, but they had it turned off. We insisted on making sure it was working properly before buying.

[Deleted]

We had it tested and didn't need a mitigation system (we were at 1.2 or something). My sister and BIL just lost a house that came in at a 6. The fix was only going to be about $1k, but the sellers had an as-is cash offer.

[Captain Serious]

Ice been thinking about this, too. Would you feel safe buying s home with a mitigation system, or would you assume you'll have a reason problem in the future? Would you but a house that once tested high but note has a mitigation system?

I tend to err on the side of caution and if reason is even mentioned or if I see a system, I get scared, but I realize this may be an overreaction based on my lack of understanding on how/what the systems do. Someone school me, please?

[cc]

All I know about Radon and houses is that one of my friend's mother in law passed away from lung cancer. She had never smoked in her life (which, I know you can get lung cancer without smoking) and they figured out that there were extremely high levels of radon detected in her basement. She spent a lot of time down there scrapbooking for her grandkids and they think she got it from the exposure.

[cinnamoncox]

When we bought our house, the radon test came back high and the sellers paid to install the mitigation system. It was written into our offer along with the typical home inspection, so I don't know if they would have paid for it if it hadn't been in our offer.
We are in Ma and this was five years ago.
It's a multi unit building so it was likely a bit more expensive than a single family home, just based on size.

[revolution]

Apr 25, 2014 8:40:31 GMT -5 Captain Serious said:

Ice been thinking about this, too. Would you feel safe buying s home with a mitigation system, or would you assume you'll have a reason problem in the future? Would you but a house that once tested high but note has a mitigation system?

I tend to err on the side of caution and if reason is even mentioned or if I see a system, I get scared, but I realize this may be an overreaction based on my lack of understanding on how/what the systems do. Someone school me, please?

It wouldn't scare me away.  But, we live in an area that is a zone 1 for radon.  Our radon people said the area we are in is the radon capital of the country.  So radon systems around here are normal.  It would be hard to find a house without having a system or needing a system.  

[tripleshot]

Apr 25, 2014 8:40:31 GMT -5 Captain Serious said:

Ice been thinking about this, too. Would you feel safe buying s home with a mitigation system, or would you assume you'll have a reason problem in the future? Would you but a house that once tested high but note has a mitigation system?

I tend to err on the side of caution and if reason is even mentioned or if I see a system, I get scared, but I realize this may be an overreaction based on my lack of understanding on how/what the systems do. Someone school me, please?

If there's a working mitigation system in place , I'd be comfortable buying. We had levels of 8 when we bought our first house in 2003. The sellers paid $900 for a mitigation system and we tested the radon levels every 2 years and it was always fine.

We just built our new house in 2012 and had the mitigation system installed before drywall went up, just assuming it was going to be an issue. I'm so glad we did it because the levels were high after the house was finished. So we just needed the mitigation company to come back to install the fan. We retested it last month and the levels were very low.

[soozy87]

We had our home tested before we bought it. The tests came back high and we had the sellers install a mitigation system. If we would have had it tested with positive results and then ended up walking away from the house the sellers would have had to disclose the positive tests to other potential buyers.

[eddy]

Apr 25, 2014 8:40:31 GMT -5 Captain Serious said:

Ice been thinking about this, too. Would you feel safe buying s home with a mitigation system, or would you assume you'll have a reason problem in the future? Would you but a house that once tested high but note has a mitigation system?

I tend to err on the side of caution and if reason is even mentioned or if I see a system, I get scared, but I realize this may be an overreaction based on my lack of understanding on how/what the systems do. Someone school me, please?

It would not scare me away as it has nothing to do with the quality of the house.

Again I live in Iowa and our radon levels are high. So it is pretty much expected that you will get a high reading.

[Deleted]

We just sold and the buyers tested our home. The test was clean but we would have done the mitigation system. Our agent told us it would be in the ballpark of $1200 if we needed one.

[cookie510]

Yes we had ridiculously high levels. We had a mitigation system installed and it cost around $1,200. If I remember correctly our seller agreed to pay $1,000 towards it, but it was such a battle. He was an asshole.

I don't know exactly how the mitigation system works. We basically have a tube running from the floor of the basement out the side of the house. After it was installed, we retested and the levels were next to nothing, so it works.

[livinitup]

Apr 25, 2014 8:40:31 GMT -5 Captain Serious said:

Ice been thinking about this, too. Would you feel safe buying s home with a mitigation system, or would you assume you'll have a reason problem in the future? Would you but a house that once tested high but note has a mitigation system?

I tend to err on the side of caution and if reason is even mentioned or if I see a system, I get scared, but I realize this may be an overreaction based on my lack of understanding on how/what the systems do. Someone school me, please?

I moved to a different part of the state with different topical land. It was very weird for me to see mitigation systems in some homes. My inexperience made me want to avoid them. But really, a mitigation system virtually guarantees that the problem is ... well ... mitigated. 

[kermit]

I got a DIY test kit after I bought my current house and the levels came back just under the acceptable limits. I guess I should probably still install a mitigation system but we don't spend much time in the basement. I've seen mitigation systems on some homes in my neighborhood but it seems the majority don't have one.

[froggy76]

Both homes I've bought had radon mitigation systems. Still, part of the inspection was to test the level of radon to make sure the system is working. I wouldn't buy a home without testing the radon level.

If the seller doesn't agree to your request, the next buyer they work with is just going to end up giving them the same request. They would most likely have to tell future buyers that your deal fell apart because of high radon. If they're smart, they'll just work with you and do it.

[Marle]

The mitigation systems are effective. No need to get scared but do install something.

I'm sure it's something the seller could agree to.

Yes, radon exposure is the second biggest risk factor for lung cancer.

[sillygoosegirl]

We didn't test before we purchased, since it was a short sale, the sellers weren't going to install a system anyway. But they are pretty cheap, so we figured that was okay. We tested after closing. Our home has slightly elevated levels of radon, but not high enough that you can really do anything about it or need to be worried... More like the levels that homes tend to have after a mitigation system has been installed.

[VeryViolet]

We don't have a basement so we didn't need to get it tested. However, the mitigation systems aren't that expensive as far as house things go and are very effective so it wouldn't deter me if a house had one.

[justemily]

We have one (not sure what our levels are) and H has it turned off right now (it was in the way of our sump pump which was having issues) - now I'm semi-freaked out. LOL

[eddy]

Also the only reason we didn't negotiate for radon was because were negotiating for money for the furnace/air. Since that was a bigger item we didn't want to eff around with asking for too much.

I think it is very normal to negotiate for it.

[schitzengiggles]

We bought in August 2013, had it tested for radon, and yes the levels were quite elevated. We requested the sellers put in a mitigation system and they did.
ETA: As someone mentioned above, it wasn't hard to negotiate. A future buyer would have had the same request anyhow, as the seller would have had to disclose the high radon levels once they knew about them. Either way I think the seller felt they didn't have much of a choice (if they wanted to a smooth and successful transaction).

[isabel]

We're in the exact same situation as you, but our market is crazy and the sellers refused to install one because they can. We'll be installing it. Quotes have been about $1,500 for a 1,300 sq ft crawl space. It makes a big difference in price depending on whether you have a crawl space that needs to be lined, basement, and square footage.

[tripleshot]

Apr 25, 2014 9:29:57 GMT -5 VeryViolet said:

We don't have a basement so we didn't need to get it tested. However, the mitigation systems aren't that expensive as far as house things go and are very effective so it wouldn't deter me if a house had one.

Not true. Our old house did not have a basement and was on a concrete slab. Everyone told us we didn't need to test for radon but I insisted. The levels were very high and we had the seller install a mitigation system.