Radon

As expected we did not pass our Radon test for the home sale.  For those of you that are not familiar with the Radon issue it is huge in the Midwest and has become its own little industry attached to the buying and selling of homes.  Even though there is generally no government law or regulation that mandates testing and remediation the real estate industry has seized on this and now makes it a requirement when a home transfers hands.  You have to be tested, which the buyer pays for, and have a reading of below 4 (whatever unit they use???).  Funny thing is no one can say where this “Safe Level” of 4 came from.  As the tester told me, 46% of the homes in this area fail.  Sure enough we had a reading of 10 with an average of 7 for the whole test (48 hours).  Now as the seller we have to bring our home into compliance by having a remediation system installed.  The system, for our size house, is around $1,000.  It involves installing a fan and vent pipe over the crawl space area of the basement.  It circulates air up and out of the basement.  What you are paying for, besides the installation, is a guarantee that you pass the re-test.  Interesting!

I have seen many of the systems installed on homes in our neighborhood as they changed owners over the years so I fully expected this expense at sale.  However, as I continue to research the issue I am beginning to feel like a conspiracy theorist.  I think this is a government hoax and nobody is calling them on it.  If it was such an issue why is it not mandated that all homes be tested and that new construction have systems installed.  “They” say that thousands of people are getting lung cancer each year because of this.  Sorry, I am not buying the hoax, but I am buying the system because I want to sell my house!

On a lighter note.  Since selling the house it has seemed like Christmas all over again at our house as we get a delivery about every other day of items ordered for the trailer.  I had put together a list of things that we would need for the trailer and had held off ordering them until the sale.  Now Amazon is my best friend, no shipping and no sales tax.  They beat Camping World on just about everything I need for the trailer.  I bought and installed the roll out pantry and am very pleased with that idea.  Other things have included a 50 amp extension cord in case we get caught with an electrical hookup far from the trailer, heavy duty wheel chocks to secure the trailer, new Corelle dishes, home theatre system, fold up ladder, leveling blocks along with other minor stuff. 

The big issue will be to see how we do on weight for the trailer.  RV’s have a weight limit determined by the manufacturer and you should not exceed that as it will void the warranty.  Mainly it has to do with the axle and overloading them as our truck is rated to tow much more than the maximum rating for the trailer.  We have room for about 3,000 pounds of cargo and any water in our holding tanks.  Hopefully we can make it.  Most campers say this is the biggest issue for full timers, they take too much stuff and overload their rigs.  Once we get it loaded I will take it to a local truck scale and get it weighed and see where we are at.