Radon Inspection

For over a year now I have wrestled with the same questions and here is what I have found. It's a rather long winded story but in order to give you all the details in the proper perspective it has to be, so I apologize up front for the length. I hope you find it helpful though.

In Minnesota radon testing is highly recommended by the state Dept. of Health and in their literature it states the following advice in bold print for the general public, "You should test your home for radon. You can fix a radon problem." It lists the reasons radon is so bad and so on. At the state web site they even go so far as to list county extension offices where one can pick up radon testing kits at reduced cost. Kits can also be purchased at the Big Orange Box too.

In light of all this "officially sanctioned" information vs. what one reads about expensive radon testing equipment available for sale via HI tool catalogs, etc., I got to wondering just how simple, or complicated, radon testing could be. After all, if they sell inexpensive kits at the local gov't offices how tough could it be to perform a test anyway and exactly WHY would one need a thousand dollar tester to do the seemingly same job? Hmmmmm...

My first stop was to the do-it-to-yourself-center to pick up a test kit for about $15 to try on my own home. I placed it following instructions in the package. It said to place the canisters just so and leave them for 4 days. Great, since I was going to be out of town for 5 days I would do the test (I know, I know...follow the instructions! Ha!). Upon returning I filled out the requred cards and sent them in along with the cannisters and another $15 for the analysis (an expense they do not tell you about until AFTER you opened the sealed in the package instructions. The packaging has by now been destroyed due to it's permanant seal so good luck returning the thing if ya don't want to pay all that!). Oh, well, $30 bucks isn't too bad I guessed.

Several days later I received a notice from the lab declaring that the test was invalid because it was longer than 4 days and so I had to re-test. To their credit, they sent me a coupon so I wouldn't have to pay the $15 analysis fee again, but I would have to go buy another test kit. To date I have not, and here's why.

As luck would have it I received a flyer in the mail from an outfit calling themselves the Midwest Universities Radon Consortium or MURC. These folks, through the University of Minnesota, were offering a 2 day radon measurement course for a mere $395.00 as well as the radon measurement exam for $150.00. Also there was a 2 day radon mitigation course for only $550.00 and a radon mitigation exam for another $150.00. Whew! Lots-O'-Dough!! Now I WAS confused! The U of M is a prestigous university so this MURC outfit must be legit I thought, but now what? What could possibley be so important as to require a full 2 day course taught by certified instructors when the state of MN says I can just use that puny test kit they have. It just didn't jive, ya know?

In the mean time I was preparing to attend the ITA expo in Las Vegas so decided to wait and research this whole radon thing when I got there and had a chance to talk to the several vendors who are regular attendees of that event.

I must admit, I only talked to one vendor. I feel compelled to tell ya up front that I have no relationship with and cannot profit from helping him in any way either, but after chatting with him found no need to go any further! His name is Mr. Dick Manning from a company called femto-Tech Inc. in Ohio. They sell or will lease the CRM-510LP radon tester.

I believe Mr. Manning is the inventor of the radon tester he is offering also. At any rate, I just marched right up to him at the Expo and introduced myself and abruptly asked him just like that if he thought I needed ANY training in the area of radon detection, since I had none, before purchasing his equipment, fully expecting to be told something on the order of, no way! Our gizmo will do it all for you and all you have to do is sit back and collect the dough! Imagine my surprise when he didn't miss a beat and emphatically said, of course you should have some radon training BEFORE you use ANY monitoring system at all, even ours, to better understand the ins and outs of radon and how to properly test for it and all that. After that, then think about purchasing a (his) monitor, but by all means get some training first! Well!!

Then in the course of our continued converstaion I mentioned the MURC outfit. He got quite serious and said they were the best around for training and he has had a long standing relationship with them for years. He told me he has an agreement with them that he will not enter into the training field if they will stay out of the sales and leasing of test equipment field. They both agreed and so Mr. Manning told me that he has a standing agreement with them to discount any course by $100 for anybody he refers, just mention his name to them. Cool!

Now you see why I didn't talk to any other vendor at the show? I could have but made up my mind that indeed training would be appropriate before I bought or leased a test unit of any kind. I did however, go around and listen to others questioning radon test equipment vendors and got a feel for how complicated radon testing, at least proper radon testing, can be. Some things to take into consideration are humidity, air flow in the test area, times of day, fans running or not, and on and on.

Finally, form teh flyer I received I see the MURC folk offer their classes in Indianna, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota as well as Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, twice a month. Unfortunately they won't be back to my area until mid March but I will definitely attend this time. Then I'll feel comfortable and confident that I will have the proper training when I offer radon testing for my business so be able to do the best job for the client as well as keep my liability to a minimum!

If you care to contact MURC:

www.engext.ksu.edu/radon/radon_courses.html And femto-Tech is at:

www.femto-tech.com