Radon is a naturally occurring gas that rises out of the ground, and because you cannot smell or see it, measuring is the only way to know what your house is doing. We connect homeowners in Salt Lake, Utah, Davis and Weber counties with contractors who test first and fix only if the number says so.
You cannot smell it, so measuring is the only way to know.
Almost every radon question a homeowner has fits into one of these. Start wherever you actually are.
Everything begins with a measurement. A contractor places a short-term device for a quick reading or a long-term device for a closer look at your yearly average, then hands you a number you can make a decision from.
Learn more →When a reading sits at or above the action level the EPA publishes, the standard remedy is sub-slab depressurization: a sealed pipe and a fan that draw soil gas from beneath the slab and vent it above the roofline.
Learn more →A sale runs on its own clock. Radon tests during a transaction carry timing rules and closed-house requirements, and it saves friction to settle early who orders the test and who deals with the result.
Learn more →Fans do not run forever, and the little monitor on the pipe is easy to stop noticing. Service means checking that gauge, confirming the fan still pulls, replacing it at end of life, and re-testing to prove the system still works.
Learn more →During a build, the pipe can be run before the drywall closes the walls. A passive rough-in is far simpler than routing a system through a finished house, and adding a fan later is a small job.
Learn more →Three steps, and the first one is just a conversation.
Radon is odorless and colorless, so a test is the only way to know. A short-term test answers quickly; a long-term test reflects an annual average.
The EPA publishes an action level and Utah's DEQ publishes state guidance and maps. Those sources, not a sales pitch, are where the threshold comes from.
The standard remedy is a pipe and fan drawing soil gas from beneath the slab and venting above the roofline. The house gets re-tested afterward to prove it worked.
Radon comes up out of the ground. It moves through soil and enters a house through the slab, through the joint where the foundation meets the floor, around sump openings, through utility penetrations and straight up out of an open crawl space. How much ends up indoors depends on the soil under that particular lot, on how that particular foundation was built and sealed, and on how the house is operated day to day. Two homes on the same street, framed by the same crew in the same year, can measure very differently. That is why a result borrowed from next door is interesting and not useful.
You cannot see it, smell it or taste it, and exposure produces no symptoms, so there is nothing to notice and nothing to wait for. That is not cause for alarm; it is simply the reason testing exists. A measurement is inexpensive compared with almost anything else you do to a house, it requires nothing to be opened up or torn out, and it replaces speculation with a number. The EPA publishes an action level, and Utah's Department of Environmental Quality publishes state guidance and maps, so once you have your result you can check it against current published figures at the source rather than taking anyone's word for it.
Most decisions are short. If your reading comes in comfortably below the published action level, there is nothing to install and nothing to buy. The reasonable follow-up is to test again every few years, and to test again sooner if you change how the house breathes, alter the foundation, or begin using a lower level of the house that you previously did not. Levels move with weather, season and how the house is run, so a single low reading is a good sign rather than a permanent answer, and re-testing is a small, undramatic habit.
If the number sits at or above the published action level, the fix is well understood and routine. A contractor installs a sub-slab depressurization system, which is a sealed pipe and a fan drawing soil gas from beneath the slab and venting it above the roofline before it can enter the living space. It is quiet, it runs continuously, and it is an ordinary installation rather than a renovation. The system should then be re-tested, because a system that has not been verified by a measurement is only an assumption with a fan attached.
Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, and Weber counties — Ogden down to Provo.
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Radon is a naturally occurring gas produced in soil and rock. It rises through the ground and can enter a house through the slab, foundation joints, sump openings and crawl spaces, where it mixes with indoor air. It has no odor, no color and no taste, and being around it produces no symptoms you could notice. Because of that, measuring is the only way to know what is present in your particular house.
The EPA publishes an action level, and Utah's Department of Environmental Quality publishes state guidance along with maps and homeowner resources. We do not print those figures here, because published numbers and guidance can be revised and you should read them from the source. Once you have a test result in hand, compare it against the current EPA action level and the current Utah DEQ guidance, and decide from there.
Yes. Radon comes from the ground beneath the house, not from the age of the materials above it, and newer construction is often built tighter, which changes how air moves rather than removing the source. Some newer homes were built with a passive rough-in already in place, which helps, but a rough-in without a measurement is still an untested house. The only way to know is to test.
It depends on which question you want answered. A short-term test sits in place for a matter of days and gives you a quick reading. A long-term test stays for months and gives a better picture of your annual average, because levels swing with weather, season and how the house is being operated. Many homeowners start short-term, then follow with a long-term test if the first result lands near the line.
Yes. The fan is designed to run continuously and quietly, drawing soil gas from beneath the slab before it can get indoors. It uses a modest amount of electricity, similar in spirit to other small always-on equipment in a home. Switching it off means the house goes back to whatever it was doing before, so a system is left running and simply checked from time to time.
Test first, then decide. There is no fee to be matched.
Arrange a TestCounty, foundation type, and whether a deadline is involved is enough to start.