Professional Radon Testing for Northwest Iowa Homes.
Radon doesn’t announce itself. There’s no smell, no stain, no sound, and a house with a serious radon problem looks exactly like a house without one. At Midwest Radon Pros, we provide professional radon testing with calibrated equipment and state-required protocols, so you get one thing most homeowners in Iowa don’t have: a number you can trust. In a state where roughly 7 out of 10 homes test at or above the EPA action level, that number is worth knowing.
Schedule a radon test today and get a straight answer about the air in your home.
How It Works.
What to Expect From a Professional Radon Test.
1. We Set the Test
A technician places a continuous radon monitor on the lowest level of your home that you live in or could live in, positioned away from drafts, windows, and exterior walls per testing protocol. Setup takes a few minutes and nothing about it is disruptive.
2. Closed-House Conditions
For the test to mean anything, the house needs to be kept closed up for the duration, starting 12 hours before the test begins. Windows stay shut, doors open only for normal coming and going, and the HVAC runs like usual. We’ll walk you through it. It’s easier than it sounds, especially in an Iowa winter when the house is closed anyway.
3. 48 Hours of Data
The monitor records radon levels hour by hour for a minimum of 48 hours. Because radon levels rise and fall through the day, hourly data gives a far more honest picture than a single snapshot, and it also shows us whether closed-house conditions were held.
4. A Straight Answer
You get your result promptly, in plain English. Not just the number, but what it means and what, if anything, to do about it. No scare tactics if you’re fine, no sugarcoating if you’re not.
Understanding Your Result.
What the Number Means.
Radon is measured in picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L). The EPA action level is 4.0 pCi/L, and the average Iowa home sits around 8.5, more than six times the national average of 1.3. Here’s how to read your result:
- Below 2 pCi/L: You’re in good shape. Retest every two years, and after any major change to the house.
- 2 to 4 pCi/L: Below the EPA action level, but there’s no level of radon considered perfectly safe. Many homeowners in this range choose to mitigate, and the EPA says to consider it.
- 4 pCi/L or higher: Fix the house. A radon mitigation system will bring the level down, usually in a single day of work.
Whatever your result, it belongs to you. We’ll explain it, answer your questions, and if the number is high, we can quote the fix. If it’s low, we’ll tell you that too and see you in two years.
When to Test.
Four Times a Radon Test Earns Its Keep.
You’ve Never Tested
Every county in Iowa is in the EPA’s highest-risk zone, and two houses on the same street can test completely different. Age, style, and condition of the house tell you nothing. If you’ve never tested, that’s reason enough.
Buying or Selling a Home
Iowa sellers must disclose known radon test results, and buyers increasingly make testing part of the deal. We test on real estate timelines with equipment that meets protocol, so the number holds up on both sides of the closing table.
It’s Been Two Years
The EPA recommends retesting every two years. Radon levels shift when the house shifts: a finished basement, a new furnace, new windows, an addition, or settling can all change how the house breathes.
After Mitigation
Already have a system? A test is the only proof it’s still working. Fans wear out quietly, and a system that looks fine from the outside can be moving nothing. If your test shows the system has quit, we handle fan replacement and repair too.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Your Radon Testing Questions, Answered.
Aren't the hardware store kits good enough?
A DIY kit is a fine place to start, and we’d rather you test with an inexpensive hardware store kit than not test at all. Where professional testing earns its cost: real estate transactions where the number has to hold up, hourly data instead of one averaged reading, verified closed-house conditions, and results you don’t have to mail off and wait on.
Do I need to leave my house during the test?
No. Live normally, keep the windows closed, and use doors like you usually would. The test works around your life, not the other way around.
Does the time of year matter?
You can test any time of year. Levels often run higher in winter when the house is sealed up and the furnace is pulling air, which is part of why this part of the country takes radon seriously. If a summer test comes back borderline, a follow-up in heating season is a smart move.
What if my result is high?
Then you fix it, and the fix is proven. A properly installed mitigation system brings levels down dramatically, and we verify with a follow-up test so you’re not taking anyone’s word for it. High result today, verified number a few days after install. That’s the whole timeline.
Who's doing the testing?
Our own crew, trained and credentialed through the State of Iowa as the law requires. For more on radon in Iowa, the state maintains a solid resource page at Iowa HHS.