You Can't See It

You can't see it

Publication: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Date: August 3, 2007
Author: Angie HicksSpecial to The Chicago Sun-Times
Section: Real Estate And Home Life
Edition: Final
Page: S1 / FRONT
Word Count: 1149
Anita Hooker and her husband were expecting their first child and had carefully prepared a nursery on the bottom floor of their Ukranian Village condo. In the midst of their happy planning, they learned that a friend, who had never smoked, had been diagnosed with lung cancer. The friend's doctors linked her cancer to a high concentration of radon gas. This tasteless, colorless, radioactive gas seeps into the home through cracks in the foundation, becomes trapped and, over time, builds to dangerous levels.Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It occurs naturally from the breakdown of uranium inside the Earth and is pushed up into the air. While radon contamination is preventable, 74 percent of Angie's List members polled have not had their homes tested for radon.

The Hookers are not part of that woeful percentage. Their concern for their friend's health quickly turned into concern that they, too, might be in danger from harmful levels of radon. They weren't about to expose their child to it. So, for about $25, the Hookers bought an at-home radon test online. After placing the test on the bottom-most level of their home and leaving it for a few days, they sent the sample to the lab for analysis. The results came back two weeks later with a borderline result of 4.0 pCi/L., that means 4.0 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), a high level of radon.

"We didn't want to take the chance with high radon concentration," Hooker said. "We decided to install a mitigation system since our small baby was going to be in the home."

High levels of radon are relatively common in northern Illinois. Some experts theorize that much of the uranium deposit in the area was left by the most recent ice age, 10,000 years ago. The EPA recommends that any area with a radon concentration of more than 4.0 pCi/L be outfitted with a mitigation system. Illinois law provides home buyers the right to request to have a radon test before purchasing a house. If sellers are aware of a problem, they are required to disclose it to the buyer.

The Hookers called on Rich Whisler of Accurate Radon in Chicago to install their $1,400 mitigation system. Whisler said there are many options when it comes to mitigating radon.

"There are varying levels of quality in radon systems, just as in everything else we buy," he said. "Beware of the cheapest, quick fix because you probably get what you pay for."

Radon-mitigation systems can range from $575 on the low end to more than $1,500.

The good news for Chicagoans is that Illinois is one of only five states that require licensing for radon specialists and has adopted minimally acceptable standards that include energy efficiency, a system function indicator and an exhaust method above the highest eave to prevent the gas from re-entering the home.

A professional crew can usually install a radon-mitigation system in one day. The process involves drilling a hole in the basement, crawlspace or foundation floor. Then 3-inch plumbing pipes are inserted through the hole to collect the air on the inside of the house. The tubing exits the home just above ground level. Once outside, it runs to the height of the house past and the highest eave where the gas is diffused into the air. An exhaust fan, located outside, creates a vacuum effect to pull radon away from the living area.

"Oftentimes, people don't understand that problems with radon are fixable," Whisler said. "Our goal is to reduce the radon concentration to a level as low as reasonably achievable. We can do that by up to 95 percent."

Increasingly, radon mitigation systems are being installed as part of real estate sales. Many home inspectors are completing the Illinois state training program so they are licensed to test for radon as part of the pre-sale home inspection, Whisler said.

If a test results with a concentration lever greater than 4.0 pCi/L, as nearly half do, an interesting conflict arises. It is the seller's responsibility to correct the problem, but they generally have two goals: reducing the level to "passing" at 3.9 pCi/L and doing it as cheaply as possible, Whisler said.

The buyer, on the other hand, probably has a vested interest in the system working effectively for years to come. One option is to include a credit of $1,000 to $1,500 in the sale so the buyer can choose how and who they want to address the issue.

The Illinois Home Inspectors Association said that 126,000 residential real estate transactions took place in 2005.

Among those, only 14,000 radon tests were performed, meaning only 11 percent of homes were tested. But of those, more than 6,000 failed the 4.0 pCi/L benchmark.

This proved true for the Hookers. They have since sold their UkrainianVillage condo to move to a single-family home on the Northwest Side. The condo buyer seemed disinterested in the system's presence, they said.

The Hookers have yet to have their new home's radon level tested.

"We weren't as concerned because we don't have bedrooms in the new basement," Anita Hooker said. "We will definitely test eventually when we finish the basement and make it a livable space."

Regardless of how you use the lowest level of your home, you should test -- and if your home has a high level of radon -- take action.

The at-home tests cost $25 and, if done properly, can be just as accurate as a professionally conducted one for $150.

If you are interested in finding a qualified radon service professional to test or fix your radon problem, here's what you need to know:

-Get more than one estimate in-person because each house is different and the system design might vary.

-Find someone who will stand by the work and service it. Find a contractor who promotes post-mitigation testing.

-For more information on radon and contractors, visit the EPA Web site at and check the contractor out on Angie's List.

Angie Hicks is the founder of Angie's List, which has more than 500,000 members nationwide, and 37,000 of those are Chicagoans. She can be reached at
Color Photo: John Patsch, Joliet-Herald News / LEARN TO DETECT RADON IN YOUR HOME: Rich Whisler, owner of Accurate Radon Inc., gathers the supplies he will need to stop radon from leaking into a home in New Lenox.;

Graphic: Bonnie Bellew, Sun-Times Graphic / (See microfilm for graphic). Color Photo: John Patsch, Joliet-Herald News Photo / SEALING JOINT BETWEEN WALL AND FLOOR: Rich Whisler cleans up the basement floor as Linda McGuire watches. Whisler was preparing to seal the joint between the wall and floor. Color Photo: John Patsch, Joliet-Herald News Photo / PLACING THE PIPE: Whisler places a pipe that will remove radon from the McGuires' basement. Color Photo: John Patsch, Joliet-Herald News Photo / ATTACHING A FAN: Frank Denges, who works for Accurate Radon, places a fan in the vent pipe. The fan runs constantly and will keep radon from accumulating.;