Marin Real Estate Pulse

Granite Countertop

The fad for granite kitchen countertops looks like it may last a couple of million years, the radiation that is, not the fad. According to Rice University physics professor, W.J. Llope, some granite countertops have enough uranium to pose a danger to humans. Some of the countertops produce both radon and radiation. Radon is the number two cause of lung cancer just behind smoking.

Some granite countertops emit radiation at levels much higher than typical atmosphere exposure. Some samples have levels 25 times higher than recommended EPA levels. Not much testing has been done on kitchen radiation and radon levels but it appears most countertops are in the safe range according to the Marble Institute of America. None the less, if it were my home I would go for the testing.

The American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologist have a web site that can help you find someone local and qualified to test your counters. The cost can run several hundred dollars. Also, if you Google “radon test kits” you can find them for under $12.00 at Amazon but they will not test for radiation. I would recommend the professional over the self-test kits.

Most of Marin County real estate does not have an issue with radon from the ground so not many properties here have been tested but it looks like this might be a newly popular test, for the kitchen anyway.

Water Well

With ever increasing water rates and the constant threat of a water shortage it makes you wish you had own well.  Getting a well that produces enough water may not be as easy or inexpensive as you imagine as I learned while hunting for agriculture land for a client.

Wells are measured by the number of gallons per minute they produce.  For residential use usually five gallons per minute is adequate and even with that amount you many need to time when you water your yard.  One solution for temporary heavy usage is to have a storage tank that will fill during slack usage.

Drilling a test well usually run $15,000 a pop and it can take several tries before they hit water, if they find it at all.  Then there is the issue of well running dry.  It can happen seasonally or during low water years.  If you are in the county and that happens you need to truck water in.

I do know of someone that drilled their own well in San Anselmo.  This was in the “old days”, it was hand drilled and he only had to go 30 feet when he found an underground spring.  That sounds great, but the time being I will stay with the Marin Municipal Water District.

Some communities in Marin have banned or restricted gas leaf blowers.  The original bans in Belvedere were enacted because of noise issues.  Who wants to be woken up by your neighbor’s gardener at 8:00 A.M. Saturday morning? 

I still have my old gas blower in the garage; it has not been used in years, not because I was the first to go Green or didn’t want to disturb the neighbors.  They are just too hard to start, it would take me ten or fifteen minutes just to get the blower out of the garage and started. 

My wife purchased an electric Toro blower/vacuum for the yard and she loves it.  I was somewhat skeptical, how could that machine keep up with a Tim-the-tool-man Taylor gas blower?  Well, it does and we never have to run to the gas station, worry about neighbors, and are as green as you can be without raking (that will be our next step).  Not that I have anything against raking, it often works best, but for some of those tricky areas, nothing seems to work as well as a weed blower. 

I think the trend is good, we need to learn to get away from these gas powered lawn mowers and blowers.  Not only are the noisy but they also are not good for the environment and who wants to make our oil-producing neighbors richer than they already are.

Warren Carreiro, Broker

Frank Howard Allen Realtors

www.realtyofmarin.com

Warren@RealtyOfMarin.com

“Homes You Love. Advice You Trust”