Radon Mitigation?

Has anyone ever had radon mitigation performed on their home? We bought a 30 year old house with a basement a couple years ago and I thought it might be a good idea to check it for radon. After a year long test, I got the results back last week. Our level was 7.2 pCi/L with EPA recommended action recommended at anything over 4.0 pCi/L. What is involved in lowering radon levels and what kind of costs I'm I looking at?

 

What type of foundation do you have. Basement? Poured concrete? Sq. ft? Do you have a sump hole? Is the basement finished?

Sealing openings in the foundation would normally be done with a basement, with the installing of a PVC pipe into the slab and venting the pipe inconspiculously out through the side of rear of teh home or through the attic if feasible.

A bulb in that PVC vent typically would have a fan to draw the Radon gas out of the slab before it enters the living space and harlessly out of the hoem through the PVC pipe.

A mitigator would be required to get the reading below 2 pCi/L, i believe.

 

We had ours done recently. There is a lot of shale in our area so radon is all over the place in high numbers.

I think our entire kit was close to a grand. He installed it in about 2 hours. We got one because the kids are always in the basement. Might as well yield on the safe side.

No "safe" levels have been established though. Realtors say 4 pCi/L. And who knows nuclear physics and its affect on human physiology better than a dude selling houses. My good friend just got his done too. He is 10 miles north of me and his reading was 15 pCi/L.

Its basically a small hole in your basement floor with a fan outside. The fan takes the gas up a pipe just as high as your roof. Very unintrusive.

This isn't my house but it looks like it.

Basement floor


Oustide

 

In our area of Kansas CIty, every home is inspected for radar during the buying inspection. It is a very commen problem with houses that have basements. I think for less than a grand you can get it done.

 

I had it done on the house I bought this year, think it was 1200. they sealed around the sump (poorly), installed the vent pipe (mine blends in much better) and t'd it in to draw from two places and sealed up a dirt floor room (building is a 100 yr old former bank). they did NOT seal an open hole in the basement wall or any cracks. Was overall not too happy with it and ended up feeling like it was a waste of money, but I also knew I wouldn't be living here forever so decided to get it done with someone elses money rather then the next buyers making me do it with my money

 

All i can offer is my nuclear engineering knowledge. 7.5 pCI/L is not a large amount of radiation. The maximum non occupational exposure to people near nuclear plants is 4pCi/L which is nothing compared to what we get everyday from concrete, granite, cosmic sources, etc

 

We have a basement with a poured concrete slab. It's approx 1000 SQ FT. We do have a sump pump hole-but it's on the exterior wall that is buried-the opposite side is the walk out side of the basement. The basement is finished

 

IMHO, it's all quackery. You get more radiation from outer space...how ya gonna mitigate that?

 

They would probably seal the sump and install the PVC pipe and fan and re-test to see what effect it had on the level. My guess is you would fall in the $1000-$1200 range, though i suspect prices will vary by region. A less involved mitigation, regardless.

I don't do the mitigation, but i do the testing as part of my Home Inspection service when requested.

Radon gas is alleged to be the 2nd leading cause of cancer behind the obvious, (butts) so i can see the concern by some. The EPA site gives you probablilities with certain measurement ranges in the event anyone is interested. They liken probabilities to things such as getting in a car accident or struck by a bolt of lightening. It is called the 'Citizens Guide to Radon'.