Minnesota Radon Map Minnesota Home Inspectors LLC

Radon in homes has been at the forefront of real estate news lately.  Word has it that the State of Minnesota is paving the way to require testing of homes at the time of sale.  Minnesota has already made the requirement that all newly constructed homes have a radon mitigation system installed.

We at Minnesota Home Inspectors LLC thought it would be a cool idea to plot our findings to a map.  So we dug out our testing results since 2011 and loaded them into the map below.  Green icons indicate readings below the EPA action level of 4.0 pc/l.  Yellow icons indicate radon levels 4.0 to 10.0.  Red icons indicate radon levels over 10.0 pc/l.  Both yellow and red icons indicate radon levels which should be mitigated.

Examining the map indicates a couple things to us.  One is there seems to be a correlation between radon levels and bodies of water.  Secondly, there's no way to know whether levels will be high or low without testing.

 

 Click to see the full sized map.

The Truth About Truth in Housing Inspections

Several cities in the Twin Cities area require a Truth in Housing or Time of Sale inspection.  These cities include:

Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington, Crystal, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Maplewood, New Hope, Osseo, Richfield, Robbinsdale, St. Louis Park, South St. Paul

These inspections are basically worthless to buyers.  Especially first time home buyers.  The reports are designed to ensure basic property standards of the individual cities.  But, very seldom even accomplish this.  They are not designed to be a "Buyer's Inspection" and should not be relied upon in lieu of Buyer's Inspection.

Take a look at the reports below.  On the left is a Minneapolis Truth in Sale of Housing Disclosure Report.  On the right is a Buyer's Inspection report completed on the very same house, only a few days apart.  The Truth in Sale of Housing Report was completed by an "Evaluator" licensed by the City of Minneapolis.  The Buyer's Inspection report was completed by Ken Rowe, an ASHI Certified Home Inspector.

Click to Download

Click to Download

 

 

 If you've downloaded both you'll see the difference immediately.  The TISH report is 11 pages, the home inspection report is over 80 pages.  There are no pictures in the TISH report.  There are over 40 in the home inspection report.   

But look closer.  There are no electrical or plumbing problems listed at all on the TISH report.  In fact, according the the "Evaluator" this house meets all requirements for a Certificate of Occupancy in the City of Minneapolis.  However, the Buyer's Inspection Report list 14 electrical and plumbing problems which need to be corrected, all of which are documented with pictures.

The differences don't stop there.  According to the "Evaluator" the garage structure, attic venting and pretty much everything else in the home "Meets Minimum Requirements".  On the other hand,  the Buyer''s Home Inspection Report lists 31 pages of deficient items which will need to be addressed at some point.

Do yourself a favor.  When you're buying a house don't rely on the report required by your local government.  Find your own ASHI Certified Inspector.