Your radon test came back high. Here’s the calm version of what happens next.
An elevated result is a solvable, priceable problem — not an emergency. Before anyone asks for your name, Radon Connect explains what your number means.
Ready to talk to somebody? Request a connection — we tell you first who sees it and what happens next.
Free for homeowners · Nothing you enter into a tool here is transmitted · what happens if you do submit a request
What your number actually means
Radon is measured in picocuries per liter (pCi/L). EPA recommends taking action at 4 pCi/L or higher and suggests considering action between 2 and 4. Those are health-based recommendations — useful, national, and worth taking seriously.
Full detail: radon levels explained · radon in a home sale
When mitigation makes sense
| Your situation | The straight answer |
|---|---|
| Tested at 4 pCi/L or higher | EPA recommends acting. Mitigation is the established fix — get quotes, compare designs, hire a licensed contractor, verify with a retest. |
| Between 2 and 4, inside a home sale | Frequently negotiated anyway, because a written quote is cheaper than an argument. Whether to act in this band is a judgment call, and it’s genuinely yours. |
| Between 2 and 4, staying put | Consider a long-term test for a better average. Households that use the basement heavily often act in this band; others watch and retest. |
| Below 2, or not tested yet | No result here calls for mitigation. Test (or retest in a couple of years) before spending money — and be suspicious of anyone who says otherwise. |
What mitigation involves
The standard fix is active sub-slab depressurization: a licensed contractor cores a small opening in the slab, runs a sealed pipe to above the roofline, and a continuously running fan pulls soil gas out from under the house before it can enter. Installation is typically a single working day, finished with a manometer you can glance at and a follow-up test that proves the number dropped.
What it tends to cost
In this region, straightforward single-point systems are commonly quoted in the low four figures, with multi-zone foundations, long routing runs, and older structures quoting higher — and activating a builder-installed passive pipe often quoting lower. Exact numbers are the contractors’ to give; that’s why quotes are the product here.
On a real-estate clock?
Most Chicagoland radon results surface during a purchase inspection, which means the decision usually has a contractual deadline measured in days. The sequence that keeps deals together: confirm the result, get a written mitigation quote, and negotiate a fix or a credit from a real number instead of a feared one. Illinois requires sellers to disclose known radon information — the remedy itself is negotiated, not imposed.
How Radon Connect works
Four stages that ask for nothing, and a fifth that tells you what actually happened to your request. The order is the point: you should understand the value before anybody asks you for personal information.
Understand
“What does my situation actually mean?”
What your number does and does not establish, what the test could and could not settle, and which parts of the picture are still genuinely unknown.
We ask for: Nothing. No name, no email, no postcode.
Prepare
“What should I be asking, and what should I have ready?”
The questions worth asking about your specific situation, why each one matters, and what a complete answer sounds like.
We ask for: Nothing. Everything is built in your browser and never transmitted.
Compare
“How do I make sense of what I am being told?”
What each approach involves, why two competent professionals can reach different conclusions, and how to tell a reasoned difference from a red flag.
We ask for: Nothing.
Connect
“I need somebody who can see the building.”
A route to a provider where one exists — and a straight answer where one does not, before you fill anything in.
We ask for: Your details, once you have decided this is worth it.
Confirm
“What actually happened to my request?”
The real state of it: recorded, under review, delivered to a named provider, not delivered, or not configured for your area. Never a thank-you standing in for an outcome.
We ask for: Nothing further.
What happens if you do send a request
- You tell us the situation. Test result, timeline, property basics, and the ZIP — which we resolve against our coverage before asking for contact details, so you find out whether we can route it before you give us anything personal.
- Today, it is recorded rather than routed. No market on this platform is operationally active yet, so nobody receives your details. We would rather say that here than let a confirmation page imply otherwise.
- Your confirmation tells you which of those actually happened. Recorded, under review, delivered to a provider, not delivered, or not configured for your area — every outcome is published before the form rather than discovered after it.
Radon Connect does not employ radon technicians, does not sell or install mitigation equipment, and has no financial stake in whether any individual home is mitigated. Our role is to introduce homeowners to independent licensed contractors; every estimate, contract, and warranty is between you and the contractor you choose.
Everything about our model, including how we’re paid · why this platform exists and what it is not · the standard we hold ourselves to · what we can and cannot determine online
Where we work today
Coverage is deliberate and ZIP-exact: 79 routing territories across 35 metro markets in 10 states. If your ZIP isn’t supported, the quote form says so plainly instead of pretending. Suburban Chicagoland is the founding market and is listed in full below — every market we cover has its own territories and city guides. Start with your county, or go straight to a city guide — radon in New Lenox, radon in Downers Grove or radon in Aurora.
24 published city guides across 6 county territories, and 34 further metros published beyond Suburban Chicagoland — Rockford & the Rock River Valley, Peoria & the Illinois River Valley, Springfield & the Capital Region, Bloomington-Normal and 30 others. Every one is editorial until real contractor coverage exists there, under the same honest-coverage rules.
Quick answers
Is this service really free?
For homeowners, yes — completely. We may be compensated by the independent contractors we refer requests to, and we disclose that everywhere rather than burying it. You pay nothing to us, ever, and quotes carry no obligation.
Do you install the systems?
No — and that is the point of the model. Radon mitigation in Illinois is performed by IEMA-OHS-licensed contractors. This platform exists to introduce homeowners to independent licensed businesses and then step aside; every quote, contract, and warranty is directly between you and the contractor you choose. No market here has an active provider yet, so today a request is recorded rather than routed, and the confirmation says which happened.
A contractor quoted me without a site visit. Is that normal?
Common and legitimate for straightforward homes — many systems are quoted from the test report, photos, and foundation details, with the design confirmed on installation day. Complex foundations (older homes, multiple zones) more often justify a walkthrough. Either way, insist the quote itemize suction points, routing, fan, warranty, and the verification retest.
What if my ZIP isn’t covered?
The form will tell you immediately and honestly. We record unsupported requests only as expansion interest — never routed anywhere — and we point you to IEMA-OHS’s statewide listings of licensed professionals so you still have a real path forward.
Ready to talk to somebody who can see the building?
Tell us about your test result and property. Your postcode is checked against coverage before you are asked for contact details, and we tell you honestly whether we can route your request today or whether we cannot.
Sources
- U.S. EPA — Radon
- U.S. EPA — A Citizen’s Guide to Radon
- U.S. EPA — Consumer’s Guide to Radon Reduction
- IEMA-OHS — Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security — Radon Program
- Illinois General Assembly — Illinois Radon Awareness Act (420 ILCS 46)