Novato Environmental Inspection & Remediation

Novato is Marin County's largest city by land area, stretching from the marshes of San Pablo Bay on the east to rolling oak hills on the west. Its housing stock reflects a broad range of eras — from post-war subdivisions of the 1950s in the downtown Grant Avenue corridor and the older De Long Avenue neighborhood to larger custom homes of the 1970s-1990s in the Marin Oaks and Novato Heights areas. This variety means we encounter a wide range of environmental inspection needs across the city.

Downtown Novato and the older residential streets off Grant Avenue contain the city's original housing stock, including craftsman bungalows and small colonials built in the 1920s through 1940s. The Hamilton neighborhood, developed on the former Hamilton Army Airfield and redeveloped into residential use beginning in the late 1990s, presents a different profile — but military-era structures on the base campus predate modern construction standards and carry legacy concerns about asbestos and other building materials common to mid-century government construction.

The eastern edge of Novato borders the San Pablo Bay marshes around the Black Point area and the Bel Marin Keys lagoon community. Bay fog and marsh humidity push moisture readings in these low-lying neighborhoods significantly higher than in the city's inland hillside areas. Bel Marin Keys — developed in the 1960s on dredged Bay fill — sits at near sea level with a water table that fluctuates seasonally and drives moisture through slab foundations year-round. We perform more vapor barrier and crawlspace moisture assessments per square mile in this part of Novato than almost anywhere in Marin.

Novato's inland hills, including the areas around Deer Island and the Novato Heights neighborhood above San Marin Drive, have greater radon potential than the Bay flatlands due to the region's volcanic and serpentine geology. The California Geological Survey has identified elevated radon risk zones in parts of northern Marin, and Novato's hillside properties fall within those zones. We recommend radon testing for any Novato hillside home where prior test results are not available, especially before the property changes hands.