I can’t believe that one of our competitors doesn’t value their clients’ safety or the safety of their technicians. In the first month of 2019, I feel compelled to share this story.

The safety of family or individuals is always first over the gain of a dollar. During a recent visit for a radon mitigation estimate for a real estate sale in Wheaton, IL, I was able to visually look into an accessible dirt crawl space through a window. I easily discovered vermiculite on the floor of the crawl space. According to the EPA, vermiculite should be treated as asbestos containing material and should not be disturbed.

Sealing the floor of the crawl space would disturb the vermiculite and would expose the family and technicians to asbestos. Vermiculite would be inadvertently pulled by the technicians from the crawl space, into the basement & throughout the house! Also, the radon mitigation system will collect the asbestos in the crawl and contaminate the outside yard with asbestos. I informed the client of my concerns.

I made a call to the client and they informed me that the other radon company did not mention this safety concern and was going to seal the dirt crawl space anyway. I was shocked. In my eyes, the contactor’s reputation is ruined. The realtor’s reputation is also ruined, who depends on their reputation to open doors for them.

We train our technicians to identify asbestos building products such as vermiculite, thermal spray-on insulation, exterior siding, transite paneling, etc. We train our employees on what the proper procedures are and that safety is always first.

I understand that cost is important. Please remember when hiring a contractor you should also look at the safety of the family during and after the system is installed.