How Often Should I Test My Home For Radon?

Assuming that you already know what radon gas is, there are several different ways you can test for radon in your home. You can purchase long-term or short-term local radon testing kits to test your home, or you can have a professional radon mitigation company come and test your home.

The answer to the question, “How often should I test my home for radon,” is a little complicated because radon levels can change over time. Here are some of the factors that influence the radon levels in your home.

Seasonal influences

There are many things that can cause the radon levels in your home to change, and the changing seasons is one of them. If you perform a short-term local radon testing in the spring, then you should do another one in the fall or winter. If the area you live in has an extremely hot summer or rainy spring, you might want to do another test then too.

Home changes

The EPA identifies things like cracks in solid floors, construction joints, cracks in walls, gaps in suspended floors, gaps around service pipes, cavities inside walls, and the water supply to all be major ways that radon can get into your home. So, if your home experiences any renovations, changes in ventilation, earthquakes, settling of the ground underneath, etc., radon could be finding new ways to get into your home. So you should retest after these changes to make sure it hasn’t.

Living pattern changes

Your living patterns can influence the levels of radon in your home too. For example, if you plan to start living in your basement because you turned it into a master suite, you should retest your home for radon.

Whenever there is a change in your home, you should perform local radon testing. It’s also recommended that you test your home for radon at least twice a year too. If your tests come back unusually high, then you should order one or two more tests so that you can compare the results. Your risk of lung cancer increases by 16% with every 100 Bq/m increase in long-term average radon concentration. If the levels don’t go down, it’s time to call in the professionals to help you get rid of the radon in your home.