Marching in Place

Its Wednesday now and I was really waiting for some actual news to post but I guess I could just update. Since my last post I got the results of the home inspection done on Friday. It came back good with just a couple of things to change. I need to extend the gutters out away from the house so that the rain (hello...we are in a severe drought - don't even remember rain) doesn't pool around the foundation of the house. The other item is placing a 2 x 4 board under the step down into the garage to stabilize it. I am going to strap on my tool belt and get right to those items. Okay, I may beg a neighbor's husband ;-). So that part of the countdown to closing went better than expected. And then there was the RADON test. They set up the kit on Wed and read it on Friday. The buyers had written into the offer that the test results had to come in at the average EPA level or below. I thought, "No Problem - it's a new house" and all the time wondering what RADON was. (this probably has been a question on "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" - actually...NO.) The radon results came in at a whopping 6 whereas the average is 4. PROBLEM. I knew there was something wrong when my realtor said she had to drive out to talk with me and arrived almost in tears.

Alex - may I have RADON for $100?

RADON, the odorless, colorless, gas coming up from the ground was being sucked up into my house like a vacuum and not venting out. It is the second most cause of lung cancer and really ups the ante if you are a smoker or have been in the past. The other interesting fact I found was that Limestone County and most of Northern Alabama is in a RED zone indicating a high possibility that the s**t is in the ground. However the builders are not required to test the house before selling or even have a public service announcement that says "All of y'all that are from outta town need to know this - RADON is nasty and might be in your neighborhood". Okay, I know that I am rambling now. My first mission was to alert all my neighbors and tell them to test their homes. If anything good is to come of this - that might just be it - keeping them safe.

Back to the house sell. The mitigation, or fixing of the problem, will cost under $2000 I think and of course I will do it (even if only my cats live here). I don't know when or who or how. The buyers had initially said that if I did this and it was retested they still wanted the house. That was Saturday. On Monday I hadn't heard anything so I called my realtor and left a message. She returned my call late Monday afternoon and said that the other agent was pretty sure that the buyers were backing out. the wife said no deal and the husband was upset since he wanted the house. Last word was that they were not speaking. I don't think my neighbors need these people to move in anyway. Jerks I have not received a formal withdrawal of the offer yet and I think I have to be presented this and sign it.

I decided not to worry about it all and concentrate on our upcoming Back to the Beach Retreat. All the kids, wives, husbands, girlfriends, grandkids, etc and me...on the beach for a week. Priceless. This is the good stuff. Only ONE thing missing and he will be there in spirit. I will post pictures or at least someone will...ha ha