Radon what?

Before I get to the story of where we went, I wanted to share another blessing about selling our house. As I mentioned before, a fireman bought our new house. I'm assuming in my head that has something to do with what happened, but maybe not. Maybe there's no tie at all. As buyers of our house, they are allowed to request certain tests, inspections, etc. You all know what I'm talking about. Well the buyer requested that we have a Radon test performed. When we bought our house before this one, I think we were offered the opportunity to get a Radon test, but I'll be perfectly honest, I had no idea what it was. In our case, I especially didn't understand why Radon would be in such a new house. Well as I found out, it has even more to do with a new house than an old one.

So what is Radon?

Radon is a radioactive gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless and occurs naturally from the disintegration of radium. It is very known for causing lung cancer when exposed to it in high levels. It can seep into homes, especially basements.

What we learned is that sometimes when foundations are dug, it can stir up the ground and cause Radon gas to be emitted.

So the new owners of our house had a Radon test performed and found that we were WELL over the acceptable limit of exposure. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe we were at a 7 pCi/L (under 4 pCi/L is acceptable). Basically a Radon mitigation unit needed to be installed to get the gases seeping into our basement outside.

We were using the dining room in the house as a play/toy room and we had a table setup in the kitchen. When we put our house on the market it was suggested to us that we make the dining room an actual dining room and put the kids toys in the basement. So for three months our kids had been playing in the basement in tons of Radon gas!

I praise the Lord because we would have never tested for Radon and had plans to live in that house forever. We would be have been absorbing the effects of this gas for years and years! God was protecting us and we didn't even know we needed protection.

Once again, I say, Thank You God!