Radon Testing in Durango, Colorado
Durango sits in EPA Radon Zone 1.
That is the EPA’s highest-risk category. Homes in La Plata County are expected to average above the 4 pCi/L action level, and La Plata County testing has averaged around 5.5 pCi/L against a national average of about 1.3. About a quarter of the tests I run around Durango come back above the action level.
Radon is a naturally occurring gas from uranium in the soil, and the rock under Durango and the Animas valley carries plenty of it. You can’t see it or smell it. A test is the only way to know what a house is doing.
The EPA action level is 4 pCi/L. Above that, mitigation is recommended. In a Durango transaction a mitigation system is a normal, fixable item — not a reason to walk away.
Buying a house is the one time someone else can pay for the fix. Test during your inspection window, while you still have the leverage to ask.
How I test
I am a Colorado-licensed radon measurement professional (RME.0000058). I use a continuous radon monitor on a tripod, not a charcoal canister — it logs a reading every hour and flags tampering, so the result holds up when you hand it to the seller.
The test runs 48 hours under closed-house conditions. I set the monitor at a committed time, pick it up two days later, and you have written results within 48 hours of pickup — usually the same day.
Add it to your home inspection, or I can set the monitor up ahead of the inspection so the radon result lands with your report. I test; I don’t sell mitigation systems.
