Home Environment Testing

If you are testing a property for your own interest and not for a real estate transaction, you have more testing options at your disposal. You have test kit and equipment options as well as testing service options.

Test Kit and Equipment Options

Long-Term Test Kit

In radon testing, the gold standard is a long-term test. This is a test that lasts 90-365 days. This test is done almost exclusively with homeowner test kits. A long-term test is the best possible testing option for homeowners because the longer the test, the larger the sample, and the closer the average is going to be to the true average for the home for the year. A long-term test is a particularily good choice if this is the first test performed at the property.

Short-Term Test Kit

A short-term test is a test that lasts 2-89 days. There are a few different types of short-term kits, most are designed to perform a 2-7 day test. During a testing period that is shorter than seven days, you will need to maintain "Closed Building Conditions" to get an accurate test result. The short-term test is a good choice for your 2 year check up. All homes, including those with mitigation systems, should be retested every two years. Why?

Professional Continuous Radon Monitor (CRM)

We use the Sun Nuclear model 1027 Professional Radon Monitor. It records data hourly and has tamper-monitoring features. These monitors are used for short-term tests only, generally lasting only 2-4 days.

In accordance with state law, each monitor is calibrated annually, cross-checked against a recently calibrated monitor at six months, and every 10th test set has two monitors side-by-side to ensure that the results we provide your are accurate and reliable.

Testing Service Options

You will want to choose Full Service CRM Test if you:

• Only want to do a short-term test performed with a Continuous Radon Monitor.
• Have a small window of time in which you'd like to have the test done. For homeowners, this occurs commonly when planning a basement remodel.
• Simply prefer to have a professional come out to perform the test from start to finish.
• Are willing to maintain all the Closed Building Condition requirements for a short-term test and follow all the protocols the state requires for a professional test.

You will want to choose one of our Test Kit options if you:

• Want to do either a short or long-term test.
• Have a least 3 weeks from the time you start the test before you need the results.
• Are really only interested in the overall average, not the fluctuations.

Which Test Kit Option?

RDS Serviced Test Kit	Self Service Test Kit
Don't know which room to test.	Know which rooms you want to test.
Aren't confident that you will be able to place the detectors properly.	Are confident that you will be able to place the detectors properly.
Pretty sure you'll forget to seal up the kit and send it to the lab.	Sure you'll remember to seal up the kit and send it to the lab.

 

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How to order your test:

RDS Full Service Radon Test	Call 800-244-4242
This is the same test and service level we provide for tests performed in conjunction with real estate transactions. This is a short-term (generally 2-4 day) test performed only with continuous radon monitors. A monitor is placed on each foundation of the home that has an e room to eligible room to test. The results are available the same day the monitor is retrieved. We follow all anti-tamper and interference protocols. As a homeowner testing for your own interest, there are certainly elements to our full service that you don't need in order to get good results. That does not mean our professional service is not the right choice for you.
Self-Service Test Kit	Order Online
This is a completely self-service option. You purchase the test kit(s), deploy them, seal them up and ship them back to the lab. This is the most economical way to perform a test. This is the test for you if you are confident that you will be able to place the detectors correctly and remember to seal them up and ship them back within the required time frame.
RDS Serviced Test Kit	Call 800-244-4242
This is the solution for you if you recognize that you don't want to incur the expense of our full service test, but are not quite confident that you want to perform your test completely independently. For a $50 service fee on top of the cost of the required test kits, an Illinois Licensed Measurement Technician will make an appointment with you to come to your home to properly set and deploy test kits. They will discuss with you any questions you have about the test or testing conditions. They will also discuss with you how long you want to conduct the test for, and on the end date you choose, our office will call to remind you to seal the test kit(s) and ship them to the lab for analysis.