Radon Testing in Northern Utah Homes

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by the decay of uranium in soil and rock. It's invisible, odorless, tasteless, and — according to the EPA — the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and the second-leading cause overall. The only way to know if your home has elevated radon is to test for it.

Northern Utah has a radon problem most residents don't realize they have. The geology of the Wasatch Front — uranium-bearing soils, fractured rock, and the way homes are built into hillsides and over basements — creates conditions where radon enters and accumulates. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA both report that roughly 1 in 3 Utah homes tests above the EPA action level of 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). In some Weber, Davis, and Cache County neighborhoods, the rate is higher.

Kerry runs short-term radon tests using a continuous electronic monitor placed in the lowest livable level of the home (typically the basement, or the lowest floor people regularly occupy). The monitor records hourly readings over 48 to 96 hours under closed-house conditions. That gives you a defensible average — not a single snapshot — that you can act on.

Results are simple. Below 4 pCi/L, the EPA recommends no immediate action but suggests retesting periodically. At or above 4 pCi/L, the EPA recommends mitigation. Mitigation in Utah is a separate, mature trade — licensed mitigators install sub-slab depressurization systems that typically run between $1,500 and $2,500 and reliably bring levels down to well below the action level. We test, we don't mitigate, intentionally — separation between the testing party and the mitigation party is a basic integrity standard for radon work.

Radon testing is one of the most common add-ons during a pre-purchase inspection, because the inspection contingency window is exactly the right time to know. It's also strongly recommended for sellers (so the result is on your timeline, not the buyer's), for new homeowners who haven't tested, and for any owner who hasn't tested in the last two years. Testing is non-invasive, the monitor is small, and you can live in the home normally during the test — just keep windows and exterior doors closed except for normal entry/exit.