Customer Reviews

Pro-Lab RL116 Long-Term Radon Gas Test Kit

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this test to use in my parents home. Still don't know if the product itself works because I never got test results from Pro-Lab. When something went wrong with the test, I consulted them on the phone, followed their instruction, spent the money, and ended having 3 follow-up calls with them, each with different and contradictory information. Nobody knew anything including the history of the issue and my previous calls, and they denied they had told me what they did, twice, even though I had it in email from them... They ended up 'offering' me my money back but that never happened either. An apology was out of the question evidently.

I will never do business with a company like that, especially if the health of my family is at stake.

I'm buying a kit for the third time now. The previous two worked great. I took an initial 90 day test and it came back 3.9, just under the EPA's action limit. I did a low cost remediation solution (didn't require a barrier) and tested again the following year. Got 2.1. I'm testing again now 2 years later to verify everything is as it should be. The short term tests are the best you can do for a quick real estate transaction but they can give erratic results and you'll want to use several samplers (testers) to get a more accurate reading. Over the course of a long term test, the results are evened out to give you a more accurate indication of actual levels in the house over the course of different weather, time of day, heating and air conditioning operation. In my house, leaking air ducts were pressurizing the crawl space and blowing contaminated air into the living space. All I needed to do was seal the ducts and slightly pressurize the house to keep crawl space air out. A short term test would have indicated erratic results depending on whether the blower was running or not during the short test. I highly recommend these long term tests if you or your family are going to be living in a dwelling.

The Pro-Lab product has not let me down. On one test I apparently forgot to indicate on the form when the test ended and Pro-Lab called me. When I told them the end date from my calendar, I got the result immediately after via email and us mail. If there is a long term test alternative out there, I haven't found it. I imagine it would involve a service and some professionals that are involved in selling remediation solutions. I rather like to do it myself with an independent lab.

I purchased this product on July. 16, 2011. I still don't know if this product works. I placed the test kit where the packaging suggested. I sent the product in the provided self-addressed envelope and placed it in the US mail on Oct. 16, 2011. The instructions said that it would only take 2 weeks to get the test results. I called the company on Nov. 16, 2011 (4 weeks later). There were no results in their system for me. They had no explanation and no offer to replace the test kit. Getting the test results was included in the purchase price. Therefore this product did not do what it claims to do.