instant radon screening?

[Les]

I have a "new" inspector in my market area that is offering an instant radon screening.

Is there such a thing as an instant radon screening and I'm not aware?

I have twenty continuous monitors that may have just gone out of date!

[Charles46]

Les:

None I am aware of and I am confident that if there was the folks at ESA would be emailing me about it daily trying to sell me some new equipment. You may want to have someone anonymously call him and ask him about his instant radon screening. I am willing to bet he is using a CRM and his instant is at the end of the test period. Why wait two days for results from a charcoal canister test when I can have the results for you the instant the test period is completed.

[Erby]

Notice that he calls it a screening, not a measurement test. Bet he runs a CRM for an hour or two to get a radon reading and that's what he's passing off as an acceptable "screening".

Unfortunately, "radon testers and mitigators (radon reduction contractors) are not licensed or regulated in Michigan. "

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality - Radon

He's shooting craps. I've done numerous tests where the levels were low for the first few hours and then went up to mitigation needed levels. Someone needs to edumakate the poor smuck on the liability he's setting himself up for. Bet he's not certified!

[Charlie R]

There are ways to get a quick read on radon (at least an hour) but none of those ways meet the EPA test protocol. I could set up my CRM and just read it after an hour or two, it would show the readings. Minimum of 48 hours, per EPA, for an actual radon test. They could also use a Safety Siren Pro Series 3 which says it meets EPA standards as a radon home monitor but not for testing, it will show a reading after an hour. Anything instant can get you in a whole lot of trouble I'm thinking since radon is so variable. Me, I prefer to run 96 hour tests. More data the better.

[Inspectorjoe]

He may be using something like this.

Edit

Charlie beat me to it.

[gtblum]

He may be using something like this.

Edit

Charlie beat me to it.

Check out the comments on the page. One HI uses and loves it. Five star rating!

[Inspectorjoe]

Yeah, I'm sure the guy sees no irony with the name of his company:

Integrity Home Inspections

[Scottpat]

We have a local remediation contractor that uses those little machines! They give them to the real estate agents to set in the home for free to test for radon when they have a sales contract. The only stipulation is that if the reading is high that they get to do the remediation!

It is a joke!

This is the local company that we have to deal with http://www.docair.com/

[John Dirks Jr]

Grab Sampling is what its called. I don't think its intended for use in determining the need for mitigation. Its intended mainly as a diagnostic tool to try and zero in on radon entry points or to compare potential in different parts of a building.

http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/devprot3.html#2.6

http://radon.radonaway.com/inventoryD.a ... 337&CatId={F5887B8D-C4A5-46FD-807D-19B8F295CA10}

[Les]

every monitor I have seen and read about does not "read" until 4+ hours.

Story behind the question is a broker had this person do inspection at the client's request. He is a two day AHIT wonder and lists his certification as AHIT. He used the safety siren (does not calculate for first few hours) and took the hundred bucks for the test. he also wore bib overalls and a white cotton tee shirt = Mike Holmes?

business is getting better so now there are lots of two day wonders!

[John Dirks Jr]

business is getting better so now there are lots of two day wonders!

Perfect to provide contrast and separation. All the more reasons people will learn to hire someone like you Les. When you realize the challenge at hand you quote your price. The potential client balks at your fee and hires the two day wonder instead. You are now open for the more relaxing opportunity that awaits. It happens that way for me sometimes. And sometimes they bite at my higher quote and its game on. Either way, it doesn't bother me.

[Bill Kibbel]

Radon levels will have highs and lows during each diurnal cycle. How do the buyers and sellers know at which point of the cycle his little sniff was done?

The plug-in "monitoring" device info that was linked earlier says it provides a 7-day average. I don't think it would be useful for an instant sniff and probably not valid for a real estate screening.

The whole radon testing thing is pretty gray science when you look deeply into it. It looks even worse when there are clowns like this running scams.

[gtblum]

The whole radon testing thing is pretty gray science when you look deeply into it. It looks even worse when there are clowns like this running scams.

There's radon in the bowels of one of three nuke plants here. It likes plastic helmets, safety glasses, and clothing. It's mitigated by either standing in front of a fan or losing at least temporarily, some clothing. No big deal, no stack of paperwork. Trust my experience. They don't miss many chances to make you sign paper work when it comes to radiological concerns.

A brother in law is a senior Rad tech with training way beyond anything any HI will ever be required to learn.

From the conversations we've had on the subject, It's more like fifty darker shades of Gray.

[Erby]

It's mitigated by either standing in front of a fan or losing at least temporarily, some clothing. No big deal, no stack of paperwork. Trust my experience.

So I should just tell my clients with radon concerns that they just need to strip down and run around the house naked when they're home?

[:-monkeyd[:-monkeyd[:-monkeyd

[Nolan Kienitz]

... he also wore bib overalls and a white cotton tee shirt = Mike Holmes? ....

That is nothing but "pure marketing" ... certainly doesn't add any real credibility. [:-crazy]