Radon Test

[salysaturn]

We put an offer on a house, that we plan on moving into by the end of April. We had an inspection Friday, and it came back with a radon concentration of 4.4, above the 4.0 pCi/l Action Level, and a mitigation is reccommended. I did some searching on the boards, and kind of got some answers, but could you guys help me out a little more?

Who pays for the mitigation?
Is it OK to buy?

The house is 6 years old. The inspection went fine, and we aren't asking them to fix anything since there were like 5 things come up, and they were all minor(smoke detector not working in basement, DH's dad will install a new one anyways, pedestal sink needs a bolt, etc...)

Thanks in advance. We really love the house.

[lawyerlee]

In asking for mitigation, you are asking the seller to pay for installation of a detection and reduction system as a condition of the sale.

We did this, and it worked out fine. I really don't have any concerns now because the level is consistently at about 1 now.

I cannot imagine not asking for mitigation. They worst they can say is no. In which case I'd recommend you only buy the house if you can pay for mitigation yourself, especially if you will be occupying the basement of the house.

I hope this helps. :)

[salysaturn]

How much does something like this cost? Obviously its not SUPER high, but I wouldn't want to wait.

Oh we will ask for it, we just weren't sure of the dos and don'ts, believe me all information helps:)

[lawyerlee]

IIRC, the sellers paid between $1,500 and $2,000 for the mitigation on our house.

[salysaturn]

yikes!

[Cath]

When we bought our house 4 years ago, the radon test came back positive as well. This was in a seller's market and our seller's agreed to pay for radon mitigation. I don't recall how much they paid. From my understanding, it's pretty standard for the seller to pay for this.

I will say that if your seller's don't pay and you back out of the purchase, they will have to disclose the presence of radon for anyone else who decides to purchase.

[ginad724]

For our house, mitigation of radon was a stipulation of our offer. The sellers agreed to pay up to $1000 if high levels of radon were found. When the test was done, slightly high levels were found, so the sellers paid for the mitigation though we found the contractor who did it.

It was an easy process, a hole was drilled in the basement and there's pvc pipe that exits the house up to the roofline. It was under $1000.

Radon is more prevalent in certain areas (I think it's rockier soil?), and once mitigated, is completely safe.

[salysaturn]

Thanks guys! I sure hope this goes well, one thing on our side is that they need to move and move quick, so maybe this will entice them to agree, considering I was thinking the same as Cath that if they don't, they'd have to disclose presence of Radon, and may be harder to sell, or they may say no to us, fix the issue and try selling it at an price higher then our offer. :(

[salysaturn]

Thinking positive thoughts :)

[MsPeachy]

My DH is a licensed mitigator and bases his fee on the size of the house (sq ft). In a very large house, you could need either a more heavy-duty fan or two fans to properly ventilate the radon. For an average size house, his rate is between $750 and $1000 for the mitigation system and installation. He does a lot of systems for sales and usually the seller pays for both the testing and mitigation.

[salysaturn]

The house is in WV...close to the VA border. It is a split level, and the house size is 2049 sq ft.