Radon testing for North Georgia homes

Radon is a radioactive gas that comes naturally from the ground. It can get into a house through cracks and openings in the foundation and build up inside, and long-term exposure raises the risk of lung cancer. You can’t see it or smell it, but it’s easy to measure, and high levels can be fixed.

EPA recommends testing every home, whatever its zone or county, and that includes new homes. Locally, the numbers show why:

• In UGA Extension’s records, about one in three radon tests from Hall County homes came back at or above EPA’s action level of 4 pCi/L. Those are homes whose owners chose to test, not a random sample.
• Gwinnett is one of only four Georgia counties in EPA’s highest radon zone, Zone 1. Hall, Jackson, Barrow, Forsyth, Dawson and Lumpkin are in Zone 2.

Zones and county figures can’t tell you about one particular house, though. Only a test in that house can. And Georgia doesn’t require a radon test when a home is sold, so it’s up to you to ask for one.

1. Closed house. From 12 hours before the test until it ends, windows and outside doors stay closed, fans that pull in outside air stay off, and the heat or air conditioning runs normally. Normal coming and going is fine. I’ll go over this with you when we set the date; if you’re buying, your agent can pass it on to whoever lives in the house.
2. Monitoring. I set up my monitor, an Airthings Corentium Pro, often during your home inspection visit. It’s a professional continuous radon monitor that runs on its own batteries, so it doesn’t need an outlet and keeps recording through a power outage. It goes in the lowest level you could live in, at least 20 inches off the floor and away from outside walls, windows and vents, and it takes a reading every hour for at least 48 hours. If anyone moves it, it logs that too.
3. Pickup. After at least 48 hours, I collect the monitor.
4. Your result. I send you the written result and explain what it means, and what to do if it’s high. Because the monitor records every hour, the result can show how the level changed during the test, not just one average.

Because the test needs at least two full days plus pickup, start it early in your due-diligence period. The inspection date and the date you need the result aren’t the same, so tell me both when you reach out.

I’m IAC2 Radon Certified: verify my listing. Want to know how the rest of the inspection works? Here’s what to expect →

New homes can have radon too. EPA says every new home should be tested after you move in, even one built radon-resistant. And if a house already has a mitigation system, the pipe and fan tell you something was installed, not what the level is today.

Building new? See new construction inspections. Other tests worth knowing about: mold testing and a sewer scope.