You pulled the permit, the contractor is lined up, and the plan is a family room, a guest bedroom and maybe a bathroom in the unfinished space under the house. It is one of the best value projects in Hamilton County. It is also the project that takes the part of your home closest to the soil and turns it into somewhere people sleep and spend hours a day. That is the moment to find out what the radon level is, while everything is still open.
Radon is a gas that comes out of the rock and soil under the house and rises through the slab, the floor drain, the sump pit and every crack and joint in the foundation. The lowest level of the house gets the most of it. It is also the level the test is supposed to be placed on if people will use it. An unfinished basement where you only keep paint cans is one thing. A finished bedroom on the same slab is another. Our radon levels page explains why readings around Chattanooga run higher than many people expect.
A test takes a few days and costs very little compared to the remodel. If the result is low, you proceed with confidence and you have a baseline number on file. If it is elevated, you have just avoided building walls and floors over a problem you will have to deal with anyway, and you can plan the fix as part of the project instead of cutting into new finishes later. See our radon testing page for how it works.
One note on timing: a test run in a basement full of construction dust, open doors and active demolition is not reliable. Test before the work begins, under normal closed house conditions, and plan to test again after the finishes are in and the space is in use.
This is the part most homeowners do not know. A sub-slab system pulls air from the gravel under the concrete and vents it above the roof. Routing that pipe is simple when walls are open and ceilings are not yet closed. Once the basement is finished, the same pipe may have to run through a chase, a closet or a soffit, and the fan and monitor location becomes a design question. If you are going to need a system, tell your contractor and us together, early. We can sketch the pipe run so the framer leaves room for it. Our radon mitigation page covers how the systems work, and the cost guide will help you budget.
Levels change with the seasons, with how tight the house is made, and with ground disturbance. A low result today is not a promise for ten years. Some homeowners choose a passive rough in during the build: a capped pipe from beneath the slab to the attic. It costs little when walls are open, and it means that if a later test comes back high, activating the system is a short visit with a fan.
Before demolition: run a radon test in the lowest level, with normal house conditions.
Before drywall: if levels are elevated, have us mark the pipe route and the fan location with your framer.
After the finishes are done: retest the finished room, since that is the number that matters for the people who will use it.
For resale: keep the test results and any system documentation with the permit records. A buyer's agent will ask for them.
Call (423) 529-4385 with your address and a rough sketch of the layout. We will set up the test and tell you plainly what the result means for the plans.
Free quotes · Same-week testing · Systems installed with guaranteed results
Call (423) 529-4385