Professional radon tests typically range between $145 and $700, with the national average cost at $411. Some home inspectors include a radon test as a part of their general inspection, but you’ll typically have to pay extra for this service.

A home is typically thought of as a family’s safest place. While this is true most of the time, your home can be host to dangerous chemicals and gasses that can wreak havoc on your health. The stealthiest of which is radon—a completely odorless, tasteless, invisible radioactive gas that can be detrimental to your lungs.

It’s estimated that 21,000 Americans each year die from radon poisoning, hence why it’s so important to get your home tested for radon before you move in and put down roots.

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What is radon?

Before we get into how much a radon inspection cost, let’s first answer the million dollar question: what exactly is radon? Radon is an odorless, tasteless, invisible radioactive gas that is the natural byproduct of uranium breakdown in the soil. It can seep into your home from cracks in your foundation or pipes and create a serious health hazard. You can injest radon by either breathing it in or through your water supply.

Behind cigarette smoking, prolonged high-level radon exposure is the number two cause of lung cancer in the United States. As such, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends that every home test for dangerously high radon levels.

How much does a radon inspection cost?

The national average cost of a radon inspection is $411. But, the prices range from $145 to $700, depending on a couple of different variables.

Home size: The bigger the home, the bigger your inspection bill is likely to be. To cover a house with large square footage, a radon testing professional will need to use multiple testing kits—which can jack up the bill anywhere between $30 and $300.

Home layout: Your home’s floor plan can also determine the number of kits the inspector must use. Multi-level homes and homes with firewalls tend to require more kits for thorough radon testing.

Region: If you’re living somewhere with a particularly booming housing market, you could see an uptick in the cost of radon inspections. Most radon testing is real estate purposes. And when demand is high, prices will often follow suit.

Travel costs: This one depends on the company you use for your radon inspection, but some may upcharge you if your home is outside their typical service area.

Bundle with home inspection: This also depends on who does your radon inspection. Many home inspectors automatically include a radon inspection in both the process and pricing of their inspection, while others offer it as an add-on service for an additional $90 to $250.

MORE:

How to prepare for a home inspection

Do I need a radon inspection?

Because radon is so dangerous, the EPA recoomendation is to have one done. Although no federal or state legislature requires radon testing, some local ordinances in known areas with high radon levels might require radon testing. States like

Alaska

South Dakota

, and

Pennsylvania

typically have higher than average radon levels, so if you’re buying a home in one of those states, double-check your local ordinances.

This leads us to the next question—who has to pay for it? While it’s usually the buyer’s responsibility to shoulder the cost of a home inspection, the cost of radon mitigation is usually the seller’s. But, this is more common etiquette than a rule written in stone. So, when it comes to radon, the buyer and seller can work out who pays for what between themselves.

Key takeaway While radon testing isn’t a legal requirement, we recommend adding it to your home inspection if it is not already included.

Signs of radon presence in home

So, if radon is invisible and odorless, how are you supposed to know it’s there? If you’ve been exposed to radon in your home, you will begin to exhibit signs of radon poisoning:

Shortness of breath

Chest pain

New or worsening cough that won’t go away

Hoarseness

Wheezing when taking a deep breath

Coughing up blood

Radon poisoning typically affects the lungs the most, but fatigue, weight loss, and loss of appetite are also indicative of radon poisoning.

MORE: How to decipher home insurance quotes

At home radon tests vs professional radon tests

If you suspect high radon levels in your home, for $10 to $200, you can purchase your own radon testing kit. These kinds of kits can be either short or long-term, and long-term kits and be either passive or active.

Short-term kits

Short-term kits are the cheapest of the bunch, with costs ranging between $10 and $30. They utilize charcoal to detect elevated radon levels and can be purchased on

Amazon

Home Depot

. You simply need to position them at the lowest level of your home (preferably in the basement) for two days, and mail them off to a lab for results.

Short-term kits are attractive to homeowners because they’re pretty cheap and provide speedy results, but are known to provide inaccurate results—which means you’ll have to spend more money on a different test.

Long-term kits

Passive long-term radon testing kits

cost about the same as short-term kits, but take anywhere between 91 days and a whole year to collect particles on a test strip before you send the results off to a lab. Because they have more time to gather a sample, this testing method is generally more accurate than short-term kits–but still requires you to wait on lab results.

Active long-term radon testing monitors

are the most expensive of the lot, at around $200 each. These are set up at various points throughout your home and continuously monitor and display the radon levels. Active long-term monitors are great for homeowners who don’t want to wait around for lab results, but the monitors do require some routine maintenance from time to time.

Radon water tests

These are just air tests—what about testing the radon levels in your water supply? After all, radon is present there, too! At-home radon water test kits cost you between $15 and $40 and can be picked up at your local hardware store or online. Bringing in a pro, however, costs an average of $200.

Key takeaway: The EPA considers any amount of radon higher than 4.0 pCi/L dangerous. If your home’s air or water has this level or higher of radon, mitigation is vital.

Radon mitigation system costs

Radon mitigation costs between $711 to $1,179. Or, if you have a larger home, you can expect to pay upwards of $3,000 to get your home’s radon levels back to a safe level. Of course, exact prices of radon mitigation depend on which method your selected radon professional elects to use. The table below shows the cost of different radon mitigation processes.

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