The results are in.

The radon results, that is. Remember when I posted about my concerns for the odorless, tasteless gas known to cause lung cancer? I was particularly concerned the more effort we put into making our basement cozy that I wouldn't want to know the results. I didn't want to know anything bad, nor did I want to give up the basement.

I finally stopped dragging my heels, designated a time to set the charcoal filter out in the basement and let it rest for 48 hours (or 48 hours and 37 minutes because I forgot to stop the test). When the testing period was over, I sealed it in the metallic-lined envelope and mailed it off to Alpha Energy Labs in Texas.

And yesterday, no more than 8 days after mailing it in, my results arrived in my inbox. Ah, the wonders of technology.

Some good news and some not-as-great news is how I like to see it.

The average home has a level of 1.3. Ours is 2.8. Action is recommended if the level is 4.0 and above, but with levels between 2.0-4.0, additional testing is required every 2 years.

While we're above average (always knew we were--ha!), our level is not of great concern. Louis made some good points: we don't spend much time in the basement and when we do anticipate spending time down there it will be sweet summertime when the basement provides relief from the heat, and added bonus: the previous owners installed windows in the laundry room that can open and let the air circulate. Pretty cool considering most basement windows, at least from this time period, don't open (minus the egress type).

So if you're reading this and dragging your feet about getting your home tested, just do it. The peace of mind is worth it. And I can say that having to not shell out cash for a radon-mitigating solution, I know.

Here's a chart included in the report. It freaked me out.

Yikes! So even though we're in a "safer" zone, we're not totally certain we won't take further action, but for the time-being, we rest a little bit more assured of our health.