Quick side note – what does the efficiency really mean? Well is realistic terms, think of it as a dollar bill. If you buy $1 of gas and have a 60% efficient furnace, then 60 cents is heating your home and 40 cents in going out of the flue! This is a rough approximation, but is generally pretty accurate. So a 95% efficient furnace means that you lose only 5% of your houses heat out of the flue.

OK, so does that mean that old furnaces are bad? You would not believe how many times I hear this question asked by my customers. The answer is no. An old furnace is not bad because it is old. In a home inspection certain things are inspected on a furnace, but if they are operable with no major problems – then they are not a problem from a home inspectors point of view (Read our procedures for inspecting a gas furnace here). However, one of the best things you can do to lower your monthly gas bill in the wintertime is to upgrade an older (even perfectly functional) furnace to a high efficiency model. The savings in monthly gas usage usually pay the furnace off in about 5 years. However, in Springfield, MO in 2009 you could pay off the unit in only 2 years! Here’s how…

Let’s say you want to replace your 60% efficient, functional furnace with a new 95% efficient furnace. At this time, I will not talk about ductwork or an air conditioner (which will both be the topics of different posts). Let’s say I hire a company to do the work for $2,500, which includes the furnace and the installation. It will take $2,500 out of my pocket now to get the furnace replaced – so you need to be aware of that up front. None of the rebates offered anywhere lower the initial cost. Now that I have the furnace in place, let’s get our first rebate. Go to the rebate section of the city utilities website and download this form, and fill out the customer section. Give the form to the contractor you hired to install the system and have them fill out the contractor section of the form. After submitting the mail-in rebate, you will be eligible for $350 back from city utilities for a 95% efficient furnace installation (different efficiencies have different rebate amounts). The rebate comes within 3-5 weeks after the form is submitted.

Please note that the contractor must perform and submit a load analysis called a Manual J Load. Only use contractors qualified to perform this analysis. Additionally you will need to submit the invoice for the work showing the installation date and a GAMA certification (ask your contractor for this)

Well that’s $350 of the installation cost already paid for by city utilities (or your your percentage people – that’s 14%). Now let’s jump to tax day (Go Matt France) for another chunk of money. There is a Federal Tax Credit for Energy Efficiency in place to assist residential consumers with the cost of upgrading certain components of your home. Natural gas furnaces that are a minimum of 95% that are on this list qualify for the tax credit. The tax credit will allow you to reclaim 30% of your furnace (including installation) upgrade up to $1,500. So on April 15th, you will submit your receipts to your accountant and claim $450 as a tax credit (that’s 30% of $1,500). This is a true tax credit (not a deduction), so if you were going to get a $1,000 refund – now you would get a $1,450 refund.

At this point, I have recovered 44% of the initial installation expense without even running the furnace yet! Now I get to talk about therms and heating degree days – yippie! A therm is a normalized “amount” of fuel used to equate the expense of the fuel in terms of heating. This means I can calculate the cost of heating a home on any given day with wood, oil, propane or natural gas and see which is the cheapest. Anyway – city utilities calculates an average residential annual gas usage in therms – so we’re stuck with using it. OK, heating degree days is a representation of the number of hours per year the outside temperature is below 65 degreed Fahrenheit (divided by 24). This is the best way to determine the therms of heating needed to maintain a livable house.

Definitions out of the way – city utilities has recorded here that the average house in the Springfield, MO area uses 780 therms of natural gas per year. The cost was listed as $1.13/therm making the average annual cost of gas $883. Now some houses have gas water heaters, fireplaces and ovens that use that natural gas as well as the furnace, so I have to subtract that from the bill to find out what is costs to run just the furnace. I decided to use the Department of Energy’s numbers which account for this fact. You can view the chart on this webpage, but it says that upgrading from a 60% furnace to a 95% furnace will save you $37.80 per month per $100 of fuel spent. That’s 37.80% savings per year, which calculates to an annual bill reduction of $333.72.

At that rate of reduction in gas usage and saving 44% in the first year from rebates, the 95% efficient furnace will completely pay for itself in 3 years and 3 months. After that, you save $333.72 every year – forever! My opinion is that if you are buying a house to live in for at least three years and hte furnace is an older model – seriously consider replacing it with a 95% efficient model.

Throughout our 6 years inspecting properties in the Springfield Missouri area, we have found many homes where we have recommended a moisture barrier be installed in the crawlspace. However, many people don’t realize what a moisture barrier is, what function it performs, or when to use one effectively. These are excellent questions and the answers may not be exactly what you think. We thought you might like to hear an opinion of these issues from a professional who is in the business.

Sections on this page

What is a moisture barrier?
What does a moisture barrier do?
When do I need a moisture barrier?
Photos of a crawlspace that need to have a moisture barrier installed.

What is a moisture barrier?

A moisture barrier (also called a vapor barrier) is a sheet of plastic that is laid over the floor in a crawlspace. Basically, that is all a moisture barrier is, but there is more to the story. First of all, a moisture barrier must cover 100% of the floor surface leaving no gaps exposed. Secondly the plastic is lain in sections, so each section must overlap by roughly a foot. Thirdly, the plastic should be at least 6 mils thick to be durable enough to last over time (sorry, no thin painters plastic).

You can use clear or black, but we prefer clear as this allows visibility under the barrier so you can see how it is functioning, termites, or additional water problems. There is a normal assumption that the sections must be fastened together, or held down with gravel. This is not necessary as the crawlspace generally does not have foot traffic or wind that might disturb the barrier. It is perfectly acceptable to simply lay it in place on the crawlspace floor. There is an exception to this rule for moisture barriers that are also installed for radon mitigation, which is a topic for another article.

Moisture barriers are sheets of 6 mil thick plastic laid on 100% of the crawlspace floor

What does a moisture barrier do?

This is an excellent question deserving consideration as this is the most common question I get as a home inspector. A moisture barrier reduces the relative humidity in the crawlspace, which reduces the potential for organic growths like molds and rot. It doesn’t sound logical that the simple addition of a piece of plastic could prevent mold and rot, but it works!

Here’s how it functions, water vapor from the ground disperses into the air filling the crawlspace which increases its relative humidity. Once the humidity reaches 60% for a sustained period of time, mold can grow by pulling water right out of the air. Many rots can sustain growth with even less humidity. Additionally when there is a temperature differential, the water in the air will condense to form a water droplet when it contacts any surface. This could be the concrete foundation wall, piers or worse – the wooden floor joists. Once the wood becomes wet with surface water, organic growth is ready to start.

The point is, you want to reduce it to around 30% to 40% for the general health of the property. The moisture barrier’s true function is simply to act as a surface for the water vapor to condense onto instead of the wooden members of the structure. By placing the moisture barrier on the ground, water vapor emanates from the ground, condenses onto the underside of the moisture barrier, and drops back into the soil without harming anything. This is very effective at reducing the relative humidity of a crawlspace to levels that do not promote organic growths.

Moisture barriers reduce the relative humidity of crawlspace air by providing a condensation surface close to the ground.

When do I need a moisture barrier?

Our opinion is generally that every crawlspace should have a moisture barrier. There is no crawlspace that could not benefit from this relatively inexpensive feature. However, we highly recommend these barriers to be installed in properties that have signs of past chronic water intrusion, have an organic growth beginning to form on a majority of the wooden structural members, or on properties that exhibit water related problems during the home inspection.

It is important to note that a moisture barrier is completely ineffective at fixing standing water problems in a crawlspace. This is only effective against vapor intrusion from the ground due to wet soils. However, a moisture barrier can be combined with a sump pump installation to both remove standing water and reduce humidity. Read more about that solution in our next article.

Every crawlspace should have a moisture barrier to protect its long term health.

Photos of a crawlspace that needs to have a moisture barrier installed.

Summary

This article is intended to communicate the intricacies of the home inspection industry in the opinion of a CLOSER look home inspections. It explores the purpose of an inspection in a real estate transaction, the value of a home inspection, and how we apply the real estate culture of Springfield, Missouri to our service offering.

Sections on this page

• Definition of a home inspection
• Where do home inspectors fit into my deal?
• What do home inspectors look at?
• What do home inspectors consider to be a problem?

Definition of a home inspection

Most people do not know the clear differences between a home inspection, home warranty, and an appraisal. Not that it is hard to know, but most people are not in the real estate industry so they have never had any occasion to study this topic. It is usually discovered when you have an expectation that you’re getting a service that you really aren’t, but when you count on it being there later – it isn’t!

a CLOSER look home inspections is a company that works hard to help you understand what you get before you get it, so there is less of a chance of missed expectations later. We hope that you find this information useful, and if you have any comments or suggestions – please leave them in the reply field below. I guess we should start out by giving you a working definition of what a home inspection is:

A home inspection is an in-depth visual inspection of the accessible components of a property for the purpose of assessing their condition.

This means that we don’t see through walls, but are highly trained to evaluate all visible clues of defects in a property that can be harmful. It is important to note that a home inspectors job is not to find all problems with a property. That is not actually possible as inspectors can only inspect what they can see. If a problem exists inside a wall with no visible clues, it will not be covered as a part of a home inspection service. However, the good news is that a vast majority of problems have some form of visible, detectable or testable clue that can lead a good home inspector to conclude there is a problem.

Where do home inspectors fit into my deal?

This is a very good question, and not usually discussed specifically. We use a great analogy that helps people understand what a home inspector is in a real estate transaction and when they are necessary.

When you don’t feel well, you probably have a drill down of things you go through to find out what will make you feel better. Mine is that I get onto the internet and do a little personal research. After reading all of the horror stories and I am good and FREAKED OUT thinking I have something major – I go to step two. I ask my mom! Yeah I know it might be lame, but she has patched me up my whole life so – there it is. If she doesn’t know, it is time for step three. I go see a doctor, but not just any doctor. I go to a General Practitioner. Now this is a generalist, in that they don’t know each and every area of the body as well as a specialist. However, they are highly trained and educated in the evaluation of the human body as an entire system.

A General Practitioner can determine what is not right and either prescribe a fix or refer you to a specialist. There is a large set of common ailments that fall within the scope and expertise of a General Practitioner to diagnose and offer a treatment. Would you go to a pediatrist, cardio-vascular surgeon, neurologist, and a gastroenterologist if you were feeling ill? Actually – that even sounds a little absurd. Most people would go to the GP first and if a problem is outside of their scope, the GP refers to a specialist in the correct system of the body. The specialist then evaluates that one system and offers a more in-depth opinion as to the problem. This is the value of the GP. They are the ones who know when to fix, when to refer and to whom to refer.

The value in the inspector is that a majority of all problems in a home can be found by one person, at one time, for one low fee.

Home inspectors fit into a real estate transaction in the exact same way. They are the general practitioners. The value and reason to use a home inspector is so that you can have a single person inspect every system in a home. Your home inspector can determine what is not right with a home and either prescribe a repair or refer you to the appropriate specialist. Just like the GP, there is a large set of common problems in a house that are in the scope and training of a home inspector to prescribe a repair. In these cases, a good inspector will simply state the problem and recommend the fix. However, sometimes the problem is outside the scope of their expertise and they would refer you to an appropriate specialist.
You can read a more in-depth article on the difference between a generalists opinion, specialists opinion and fact as it applys to real estate here

What do home inspectors look at?

To answer this, you first need to know that home inspectors are not licensed in the state of Missouri. Missouri House Bill 2057 has entered the legislature again to add regulation to this industry, but as of the writing of this post – no regulation exists. In this state, professional inspectors rely on the code of ethics, continuing education requirements and standards of practice of national home inspector associations to maintain credibility. There are many around, but really only three to speak of – and they are ASHI, NAHI and iNACHI. The inspectors at a CLOSER look home inspections are members of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (iNACHI).

We at a CLOSER look home inspections highly recommend that you only choose inspectors who are members of a major national association

Now to answer the question, home inspectors in Missouri evaluate the systems that comprise a property based on the standards of practice of their national association. iNACHI standards of practice can be found here, and they dictate what must be inspected and reported on as well as what is not required to be inspected. Generally, an inspector looks at the grading and drainage around the house for signs of adverse water conditions affecting the house. They will look at everything connected to the exterior of the house and then evaluate the roof. Inspectors are not required to put themselves in physical danger during the inspection, so they may not actually walk on the roof if it is unsafe (due to ice or snow, rain, height, pitch, etc). However, they will look at the roof covering, any penetrations and the flashings. An inspector will then operate and visually inspect the major utilities in the house.

They will run the furnace and air conditioner (if the outside temperature is above roughly 60 degrees), inspect the electrical panel and the water heater. Your inspector will then visually evaluate the interior of the home for structural problems, operate windows, doors, lights and receptacles for proper operation. Most inspectors will operate any built-in appliances, evaluate the visible components of a fireplace, and check for minimum safety device installation (such as handrails, smoke detectors, etc). Finally, your inspector will crawl into your crawlspace or walk in the basement and inspect the floor structure and foundation of the house. As you can see, a home inspector looks over every visible inch of your property and surrounding area to determine if there are any adverse conditions present with the property.

What do home inspectors consider to be a problem?

This is where your inspectors will differ greatly. Everyone has their own style and set of important criteria to measure against. a CLOSER look home inspections has the philosophy that we are hired to evaluate a property in order to give you enough information to make a good purchase decision. We are very much consultants and NOT THE HOUSE POLICE.

In Springfield MO, homes are sold under the GSBOR real estate contract. This contract stipulates the difference between a material defect and everything else. It says (in section 9) that a buyer has the right to renegotiate the purchase contract based on the discovery of material defects only and not simple maintenance, cosmetic issues, or any other condition. Well who has the expertise to define defects as “material” in a real estate deal? Well your handy dandy Dr. Inspector of course. Our philosophy (which differs from our competitors) is that since you have already entered into a legal contract to purchase a home before you ever call us and that contract places importance on “material defects”, we should clearly define what in our opinion constitutes a material defect right in the report.

All defects in our report are labeled specifically as “Material Defects”, “Maintenance Recommendations”, and then just information. This lets you know very clearly what is a material defects in the opinion of the inspector. Now what exactly is that? That is a little tough as the GSBOR contract is pretty vague on the definition of material defect. It states (below is paraphrased):

“A material defect is any condition that would materially affect a prudent person’s decision to complete the real estate transaction”

How does an inspector use that to determine a material defect? Well there is a fair amount of latitude, but a CLOSER look home inspections considers anything to be a material defect if it falls into one of these three categories:

• Safety – meaning any shock hazard, fire hazard, or personal injury hazard. These are things like missing handrails, missing or damaged smoke detectors, overloaded electrical panel, etc and are regardless of cost.
• Damage – meaning any major damage, as opposed to normal wear and tear. These are things like termite damage, any active water leak, hail damage, floor or roof structure problems, etc.
• Money – meaning anything in a property that is broken or in need of repair, and the cost in itself is enough to take into consideration in your real estate transaction.

I frequently run into situations where I am asked to provide information that is out of the scope of a traditional home inspection. Things that specialists do. Yet it seems that there is a grey line as to where that is and what that means. This grey line exists for those of us who are in the industry, so I can only imagine the confusion for people who are not in the industry. People who just want to know what a home inspection is and what to expect from one. I wanted to take the time to answer some very common questions that I receive on this subject. Some of these are actual questions and others are crafted from many related questions in order to give you the whole answer. Wait a minute – I just gave you the first topic when I said specialists above.

“I did hire a specialist to inspect my house, right?”

Generalist Opinions

The answer to that is, “Not exactly!”

Let me explain a bit using a very well understood analogy. The human body is an amalgamation of many different systems that all work together. The system is so complex that no one person can fully understand the whole thing, so the profession has been split into many different types. Which one do you go to first when you feel bad? Do you go to a neurosergeon to find out why you have a headache?Of course not, you go to a General Practitioner (your family doctor). This doctor is a highly trained generalist, who knows every system of the human body. Their value is in the fact that they can tell you when something is not right. Now – after you go to your GP and they say there is a problem in your back causing those headaches – where will they send you? That’s right – they will refer you to a specialist in that area. This is exactly how to think of a certified home inspector. We are trained in every system in a home and tell you when something is not right.

“My inspector didn’t refer me to anyone else, he told me to fix the problem. Is that what they are supposed to do?”

Certainly! General Practitioner doctors can prescribe medications. Why? Well, there is an entire set of human illnesses that are common and within the training and expertise for a GP to diagnose and treat. A good GP will not send you to a specialist unless the problem is beyond the scope of their general expertise. A home inspector is the same within their industry. With regards to real estate, most problems with homes fall into the set of common issues that are within the scope of a home inspector to both diagnose and prescribe a repair. Not every problem is like this and you may find that a home inspector will refer you to a specialist. However, a good home inspector will not simply refer you to a specialist in every home system, but will give you a diagnosis and repair prescription for every problem in the scope of their generalist role.

Inherent in this topic is the value proposition for a home inspector. It is cheaper, easier, and faster to hire a generalist home inspector to evaluate your home than it is to hire a specialist in every category. An HVAC tech, plumber, electrician, roofer, foundation contractor, grading and drainage specialist, etc all come with separate fees, separate trips that require access to the property and separate time frames for releasing reports. Why go through that (at anywhere between $500-$1500), when most problems in a home can be discovered during on 2-3 hour home inspection at an average cost of around $300?

“My inspector referred an electrician to evaluate my electrical panel, but when the electrician saw the panel they said there wasn’t a problem. Who is right?”

Specialist Opinions

The answer to this is, “The Specialist!”

This is a very understandable dilemma that sellers, agents and buyers can all find themselves in at some point. This is the difference between a generalist and a specialist. Now we have talked already about what a generalist is, but we have not talked about a specialist. Although it may be well understood, a specialist is a person that has extensive training and expertise in a single system. These are the people who should know all there is to know about that system. Note that a generalist and a specialist both offer their opinions. These opinions are based on their education and work experience. Generalists do not have the depth of knowledge of a single system that a specialist has, and for that reason the specialist’s opinion is considered to be more “valid” than the generalist’s opinion. This is true in every industry, including real estate.

Many times a generalist will note a problem or a condition that may be harmful, but it will take a specialist to determine the harm. This is mostly when I have run into this situation and it usually results from difference in local building practices. No one in this case is necessarily “right”, but the specialist’s opinion is more “valid” than the generalist’s opinion when dealing with real estate.

“I had a radon inspection performed and the level was high. Is the seller required install a radon mitigation system?”

Facts

Facts are hard to dispute!

Excellent question. This one was actually a conglomerate of a bunch of very similar questions that deal with “fact”. My company is a CLOSER look, inc in Springfield, Missouri, and we perform radon concentration analyses using Air Chek professional radon test kits. You can read about a CLOSER look home inspection radon policies for information on how we perform and interpret radon measurements or why a CLOSER look home inspection uses Air Chek kits instead of CRM (radon) machines. This is background reading (both are short reads) for this section. The answer to the above question is still, “No, they are not required to repair the house.”, but there is a little more pressure on this this type of problem than others. Remember earlier that both generalists and specialists offer opinions? Well – laboratories offer facts! One of the reasons sellers can refuse to make repairs on things in their house is because opinions can be refuted or contradicted. Facts on the other hand, can not. Air Chek is an EPA certified laboratory and uses some pretty high tech gadgets to determine the level of radon in their test kits. They are also required to certify their test equipment and maintain regular calibrations. When they release a radon report, it documents the level of radon found in each packet – period. This is not an opinion it is a fact. CRM (continuous radon monitors) that are used by some inspectors are not as definitive in their results. Read the above link to find out why!

Although there is no law in southwest Missouri that requires a seller to repair their house for radon, facts are much harder to wiggle out of than opinions. Additionally, this would be an issue that law would require a seller to update their seller’s disclosure statement to accommodate. This is also a bargaining chip that buyers can use to facilitate a repair request. This use of “fact” over opinion is also used in mold inspections as the inspector takes samples that are sent to a laboratory for analysis.

The mantra to remember is:

“Fact, trumps Specialist opinions, trumps Generalist opinions”

I hope that I have helped to answer some of your questions regarding these issues. I am always available to answer other industry questions. You are welcome to email them to inspectors@aclhi.com.

Sincerely,

Sean A. O’Rear
a CLOSER look home inspections
(417) 890-8500

You should note that I am a working home inspector in Springfield, Missouri. I am not a lawyer and the information in this article is not valid legal advise. It is merely an attempt to answer questions that I have experienced in the last 5 years as an inspector. Additionally, the real estate opinions in this article are based on the real estate customs and contract in the Springfield, MO and may differ in other parts of the country.

So, off I went to build my business as an inspector. My company grew over the years and my experience with it. Well, that is until I fell into the trap of thinking I knew it all. I performed relatively few radon inspections, and I thought that customers who ordered them were being overly cautious. Hey – to each their own! After three years in business, I began looking at radon with renewed interest. It was attractive to me because I didn’t have to spend large amounts of time taking the samples, and I could add it to any home inspection. Now, I knew a bit about radiochemistry (the chemistry behind radioactive materials), but I didn’t know much about radon itself. As I needed continuing education credits for my national association memberships, I decided to go to radon training and learn a few new things.

I came back with a well fed head and new take on radon. I tried talking to people about adding radon inspections, but had little luck. I guess people thought, as I had, that radon is only a problem on the coasts, or just “somewhere else”. Enter Gary! In November of 2006, my father-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer. My wife was devastated; I hope I never find out first hand how Gary and his wife felt. They questioned the reasons why this could have happened, afterall Gary has never smoked. Lung cancer is a thing smokers get – right? I decided to test Gary’s house for the presence of radon, so I took a trip down and set the detectors in place. A few days later, we got a report that said his house was over double the high limit of radon. Quite frankly – I was ashamed. Have you ever heard the old saying, “The cobbler’s kids have the worst shoes”? Why the heck did a man’s son-in-law (who is an inspector) never think to test his house for the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers? I’ll post a follow-up when I figure out the answer to that one.

Radon Facts

• Radon is naturally occurring
  • It is a radioactive gas that originates from the break down of uranium in the earth. As uranium breaks down into stable lead, it becomes many different elements. Somewhere in that decay chain it will become radon, which is a gas. It then will percolate through the soil until it reaches the surface and disperses into the atmosphere.
• Radon is measured in units called pico Curries per liter of air (pCi/L).
  • The atmospheric level is 0.3 pCi/L which is a safe level.
  • The US EPA has established ranges of radon levels as it applies to health.
    1. 0 to 2 pCi/L – is a LOW health risk
    2. 2 to 4 pCi/L – is a MODERATE health risk
    3. 4 to ^ pCi/L – is a HIGH health risk

At this point you may be wondering “why this is a problem in my home?” When radon percolates from the earth it has to go somewhere. Gases (like liquids) always follow the path of least resistance, so they will exit the earth in any place that is easy. Let’s say that you have a basement home that has a sump pump pit in the slab floor. This is a great place for radon gas to exit, as it has relatively no resistance (compared to the concrete foundation). Now that radon is in your home, where does it go? Good question, and the answer is – nowhere. Basement and slab homes have no exterior ventilation., which means that they do not have ways to ventilate internal house air to the outside. This condition allows radon to build-up in concentration (as more comes in, but none leaves) until the level can become a dangerous health threat.

I get a lot of customer questions about the way radon enters a home, so I thought I would answer the most common ones here.

I don’t have a sump pump pit in my basement, so do I really need to worry about radon in my house?

• Radon can enter a basement home through hairline cracks in the slab floor, around plumbing drain pipes that go through the slab floor, from the gap between the slab and the foundation wall, and even through the foundation in some cases. Just because you don’t have a sump pump pit does not mean that you don’t have high radon. I would always test a house with a basement of slab foundation for the presence of radon.

“I have a walk-out basement so I shouldn’t need to worry about radon – right?”

• Walk-out basements are no different than any basement home when it comes to the possibility of having high radon levels. Many people assume that since they have windows and a large sliding glass door, that they have ventilation. Remember that anything that constitutes a ventilation system for radon must be ventilating 24 hours a day, everyday of the year. The only way a walk-out basement would vent radon is if you left the windows and exterior doors open all the time, which is not practical.

“What do I do if I have radon in my house?”

• This is the easiest to answer, because unlike many problems in a home that can affect your health – radon is completely fixable. Let me say that again. Any structure with high levels of radon can be fixed. I will touch on this a little later.

Now that we know that radon is a health threat and it can build-up in concentration in homes, what can you do about it? This is an issue I have been thinking about constantly since November 2006. I watched my father-in-law consult with doctors, absorb the grave news, lay under a knife, and recover only long enough to not die under the shock of chemo. He lost his lung to surgery, his hearing to chemo, and his identity when his hair fell out. He wore a hat named Radon. When I set out to be an inspector, I wanted to make a living for my family. I wanted to help people make a good decision when buying a home so they would not be hit with unexpected problems. I never thought that I would have the power to keep people from wearing the hat. I have multiplied my radon inspection numbers many times since then and not because it was a good business decision. I have seen what it does to people first hand and I just don’t see how anyone could think that the $125 for the inspection is worth more than the cancer that can come from not knowing.

So, what can you do about it? The first thing is to have a radon test performed on your home so you know if you have high levels. It is a complete necessity to inspect any home for the presence of radon, in my opinion. If you have high levels of radon, remember that it is a fixable problem. Let’s look at one of the solutions available for radon mitigation.

Sub-slab depressurization

Actually, there are other methods of mitigation, but none as effective as this one in my opinion. Sub-slab depressurization (SSD) is where a mitigation professional will core a hole (usually 3.5 – 4 inches in diameter) into the basement concrete slab. This will penetrate the slab so you can see the gravel underneath. A white PVC pipe (usually 3 inches in diameter) will be lowered in the hole and sealed in place. The pipe is then routed either outside the house and up past the roof line, or it will be run inside the house somewhere and penetrate through the roof. Somewhere in this pipe (usually in the attic or mounted to the exterior wall of the house) is a fan that runs 24 hours a day, forever. The theory goes like this, the fan sucks (yes – it sucks  and creates a vacuum under the concrete slab. If radon percolates up under the house, it will travel through the gravel layer and exit through the pipe. This provides a very low resistance path for radon to travel, essentially bypassing the house entirely. This method is very effective at reducing radon to safe levels.

• Costs range a bit, but in Springfield, MO (where I am) a radon mitigation system runs between $1,000 and $2,000.
  • That may seem like a lot of money, but it is all in context. Gary had to pay a $2,000 deductible to his insurance company for 2006 and another $2000 in 2007 for his chemo treatments and surgeries, so I guess it’s all relative.
• In real estate transactions this cost can be negotiated in the transaction.
  • This is a very common thing for my company to see, but I recommend that everyone test their home whether they are buying, selling, or have been living there for years.

I hope this article gives you reasons why you should test for the presence of radon in your home. Although at one time I believed it to be a only good business opportunity, now I am far more interested in helping people learn about what radon is and what how it affects people. Please, get any qualified professional to come to your home and test. I have a lot of information available to anyone who is interested in finding out more about radon. Please feel free to email me your questions, concerns, or stories of your own. I would love to hear them.

Sean O’Rear
a CLOSER look, inc
certified home inspectors