Archive for the 'Home Maintenance' Category
Radon, Radon Everywhere
Radon is a naturally occurring gas, and is part of the normal mix of elements that make up the air we breathe. However, the concentration varies greatly throughout the country, within individual towns, and even within neighborhoods. If the concentration is too high, then radon can be a health hazard.
We always recommend that our buyers test for radon as part of their home inspection. If elevated levels are found, then our buyers have an opportunity to make sure they have addressed it to their satisfaction before proceeding with the purchase. Some become uncomfortable with the home and choose to walk away. Others require that the sellers install a radon mitigation system to lower the concentration to more acceptable levels.
Mitigation systems are very effective at reducing radon levels. Because radon is produced underground, and is heavier than most other components of air, it tends to enter through the foundation and pool in the lowest levels of a home. Mitigation systems are simple ventilation tubes (usually PVC piping) that blow air from under the home’s foundation to the outside of the structure. They are easy to install and relatively inexpensive compared to other mechanical systems in a home.
The EPA has a website devoted to radon and real estate that should be required reading for all home buyers and sellers. They also have more general pages that talk about the health risks of radon in addition to their overall radon portal. The EPA defines a concentration of 4.0 pCi/L as the point at which a mitigation system should be installed. As a point of comparison, the average indoor concentration level is 1.3 pCi/L and the average outdoor concentration is 0.4 pCi/L.
In September of 2009 the World Health Organization completed the International Radon Project, a comprehensive study of residential radon health risks. They recommended that countries adopt tighter standards regarding acceptable radon concentrations in residential environments. Their target action level is equivalent (they use different units to measure) to 2.7 pCi/L, and they suggest that the highest action level a country adopt is 8.0 pCi/L.
The EPA’s action level is comfortably within the suggested range, and in their reaction to the report they did not give any indications that they would change the standards in the United States. A different article pointed out that the EPA actually recommends that home owners “consider fixing their home” when concentration levels are 2.0 pCi/L, even though the accepted action level is 4.0 pCi/L.
Radon is an environmental issue that impacts everyone involved in residential real estate, whether or not they are actively pursuing a transaction.
Home Owners: Consider testing your property to make sure that radon concentrations are at safe levels in your home. We tested our home a couple of years ago. It’s a two day process for the continuous monitoring test (we recommend this over a canister test) and currently costs about $250 when done alone (versus as part of a home inspection).
Sellers: Be prepared for buyers to conduct a radon test during their home inspection period. Since elevated radon levels are considered a “Material Fact” in the state of Connecticut, you will be required to disclose the results to all potential buyers (even if the buyer that discovered the radon walks away from the deal). The practical implications are that sellers with high radon must have a mitigation system installed in order for their home to be marketable.
Buyers: Read up on radon so that you understand the potential risks and the effectiveness of mitigation systems. Conduct a radon test during the home inspection process, and insist that elevated levels are addressed by the seller either in the form of an installed mitigation system or a credit to cover the cost. Remember, you will be required to disclose the radon test results when you sell the house, so keep the paperwork.
All of us are exposed to radon on a daily basis, inside our homes and out – there is no way to eliminate it from our environment. The key is to understand the potential risks and to make sure that our homes contain safe concentration levels.
A Remodeling Surprise
Remodeling projects often bring surprises for homeowners because one never knows just what they’ll find when walls are opened up and floors removed. What exactly did the original builder or previous owners do with the electric and plumbing? Contractors always have stories about the crazy things they’ve seen on their jobs once they get to the demolition phase and take down the sheet rock or plaster. Often these surprises are not good and increase the cost of the project, as additional work is needed to fix or work around them.
We started our destruction phase today and actually ended up with a happy surprise. Currently our kitchen has laminate flooring. During the budgeting phase we determined that we wanted hardwood flooring so that it would match the rest of the house. When viewing the floor from below in our basement, it appeared that there was plywood underneath the laminate. No hardwood from the original kitchen seemed to exist.
So today when I started removing the shoe molding around the edges of the cabinets and saw some distinctive wood graining I yelled “Hardwood!” Let’s just say I picked up the pace and started demolishing a little bit faster. A short time later we pulled up some of the laminate and revealed this…
Turns out the original fir flooring is still intact. We’re hoping that a good refinishing and some repair work will bring it back to its original beauty.
And now we’re really knocking on wood that we only have more good surprises going forward with this project.
Here are the previous posts about our adventure:
Remodeling Our Kitchen
Budgeting for a Kitchen Remodel
Designing a Kitchen
Our Before Kitchen
Our Temporary Kitchen
This Old House Magazine
The magazine version of This Old House arrived in the mail yesterday. It was a very good day.
There are only 2 magazines that I immediately sit down and read cover-to-cover, and this is one of them (the other is Wired). It is a perfect mix of interesting stories, tasteful design ideas, and moderate skill project suggestions. Each issue is full of useful tips and addresses issues that relate to me, since we actually live in an old house.
This month I learned that…
1. We can grow purple shamrocks (four-leaf clovers) in our yard since they require indirect light. We’ve struggled to grow something other than hostas in the part of our yard shaded by the ginormous maple trees, so this might be a way to add some color and interest to the area.
2. After looking at pictures of kitchens both in the ads and in the articles, I’m more comfortable that darker knobs will look good on our white cabinets. Although Amy found some interesting crystal knobs yesterday afternoon, so it may be a moot point.
3. The article about “the best place to buy an old house” really shows how interesting and diverse residential architecture was throughout the country 100 years ago. One of our clients actually commented on this yesterday after we showed him a very unique brick tudor within walking distance of West Hartford Center. We were sitting in the car debriefing and he pointed out that all the houses would have looked nearly identical if the street had been developed since 1960.
4. Spring comes early in the This Old House world. There were two articles about tidying up outside which will need to wait at least two more months for those of us in the Hartford area. Even our friends in the warmer climates are getting slammed with winter this year, so I’m not sure if there is anywhere entering spring at the moment. Washington DC is a mess, and apparently it’s snowing in Atlanta today.
I picked up all of these tidbits in the first half of the magazine. But wait, there’s more! Secrets to Curb Appeal … Reader Remodel of an American Foursquare… Garden Junk … All About Wood Windows. This Old House is terrific for homeowners interested in learning about little things they can do around their place, inside and out. And there are ideas on just about every page for those who aren’t likely to pick up a hammer themselves.
Now, about those wood windows…