When I bought my home years ago, I did not test for radon.  I think I knew about it but I didn't even think about testing for it nor did my real estate agent even mention it.   

In any case, one day I decided to test for Radon...not sure why...so I bought a test kit online, left it in the basement for the required time for a short term test, mailed it in and a week or two later received the news.

Uh oh...it was like I got an F on my report card.  Let's just say it was higher than the 4 picocuries of radon per liter (pCi/L) deemed acceptable whatever that means.  Not panicking I did more research and bought three more kits...testing different parts of the basement.  I got 3 different readings all around 3 to 4 pCi/L.  I tested it one more time later in the year and I got around 8 pCi/L.

I read that the levels can change throughout the year and you may have radon while your neighbor does not.  Anyways as always I kept researching on the net and finally bought an electronic radon detector that monitors the radon level so I could have "real time" readings...oh what fun.  Here is the upgraded version Safety Siren Pro 3 Radon Detectors, EPA Evaluated that is sold by Amazon.  This one goes to decimal places rather than rounding up.

The readings stayed over 4 pCi/L.  So I decided to have a radon mitigation system installed.  For about $1000 or so, a radon mitigation company came in and sealed our crawl space, and also dug a small hole in our foundation and put a suction point into the hole using PVC piping.  They also sealed our sump pits with seals with window covers in case I wanted to see what was going on in the sump.

Some other methods I read about to mitigate for radon included sealing cracks (hard to do with a finished basement), sealing the sump pits (which I tried), opening windows which I do not have in the basement (and to me may only be masking the problem) and just staying out of the basement.  Well I tested the first floor and I believe I got a reading a little over 2 - before I installed the system.   Oh I another I idea I thought of was buying a zeolite air filter which can absorb some gases.  I researched this  (i.e. wasted hours on the internet) and finally decided I did not want to spend $400 or so and cost of filters and instead just addresses the root cause.  In the end, it seems like this is usually the best approach for any problem interms of both cost and time wasted trying to figure out other solutions.

After my radon system was installed, my radon detector started diplaying 1 pCi/L which means less than 1 pCi/L...I have the old version of Safety Siren Pro 3 Radon Detectors, EPA Evaluated .  I bought another mail in test kit to be sure and it came back at around 0.4 pCi/L .

I am not a radon expert, but if you research Radon on google or the EPA website, you will find out it is not something you want to ignore especially if you smoke.   I keep my radon detector on all the time and it stays at 1 pCi/L which for me is peace of mind. 

So my thoughts on this - test for radon in your basement if you are buying a home, test for radon in your home if you never have tested for radon and if you come out high mitigate it.  Just my thoughts on this.

I mowed my grass today using my reel mower I bought a couple years ago.  As I mowed the grass I appreciated a few things.

First, my kids were running around me and the yard as I cut the grass.  I did not have worry about rocks shooting out the side.

Second, what a great workout.  Pushing a reel mower is a great workout for my arms, legs, chest and abs.  As I have said before, it amazes me people buy riding lawn mowers or gas powered mowers and then spend money and time to go to the gym...or they pay someone else to mow their lawn so they can go to the gym.

Lastly, I was not breathing in fumes and going deaf from the motor.  When I used to use a gas lawnmower I wondered how efficient it was.  Cars have pollution control devices on it to reduce emissions like NOx and particulates...looking at a lawn mower something tells me the exhaust coming out may be even more unhealthy and pollutant than what comes out of your tailpipe.  May be I am wrong, but I would not stand behind a running car for too long so I am not sure I want to walk behind a gas lawn mower for 30 minutes.

Get real and get a REEL mower. 

It seems to get increasingly hard to buy gifts for some of my friends and family that have everything they need. It is also hard to answer the question people ask me on my birthday or during the holidays...what do you want. If I say nothing, then they buy something anyways. I do appreciate the thought but it is a waste of money, resources, and in some way affects the environment...in the production of the gift and also the eventual disposal. Well, I finally found what you can give me. You can Give the Gift of Life this year... give me a tree. Thanks.