Radon - anyone have experience? Fact/Fiction/Mitigation

[Just1more]

CDC and EPA states (take that with a grain of salt) anything over 4 pCi/L (picoCuries per liter of air) would be cause for concern and recommends mitigation. We had a test done on our house and it tested at 4.1 pCi/L. The test was performed while it was raining outside and as I understand it, that can affect the readings and show higher. They say it's the second leading cause of lung cancer next to smoking.

Radon seems to be common in Georgia with houses that have a basement. The moisture and humidity increase deterioration of organic material. Radon, as I understand it, is the off gas of deteriorating Uranium. It's basically a radioactive gas. Under a foundation, that gas gets trapped and eventually makes its way into your house by way of any cracks. Radon tends to settle in the lowest point of the basement as it is heavier than air. However, it seems to be easily distributed throughout with any air movement.

I ended up buying a connected constant Radon monitor and am shocked to see that at its peak I am seeing 11.1 pCi/L and seems to level out throughout the day at 6, regardless of weather.

I have scheduled a contractor to come out and install a mitigation system. If you have not seen this before it's basically a series of 3" PVC pipes run from a hole in your basement foundation to a fan located outside with the PVC pipe extending above your roof line by no less than 12" to avoid Radon leeching back in through an open window. Fan runs 24 hours a day. Basically it's function is to create vacuum under your foundation and pull the Radon gas up and out before it leeches into your basement.

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Anyways, point of this post was to bring awareness and ask if you've had first hand experience with it? This is my first rodeo with it so I have only topical knowledge of the subject. The project to install a system like this seems fairly straightforward. Being that it's dealing with holes in the foundation and in the side of my house, I going the contractor route. Quotes have been from $1500 to $3000. National average is $1500 so I'm not even considering the $3000 option.

Does your basement open to the outside?

 

[garypl50]

When I built my house I sealed all the joints around all interior and exterior walls in the basement and painted the concrete foundation and poured walls with Drylok to seal out as much moisture and radon as possible.

After completing construction and moving in I tested using the 72 hour tests and radon levels were @3.something so I figured I was good.

Fast forward @18 years and after finishing half of the basement and spending a lot of time in the unfinished half in my woodworking/leatherworking shop and reloading area, I decided to test again. Levels were @7.7 so I decided to have it fixed. Guy came out and installed the system for @$1300 and levels dropped to a little over 1.0. The systems do work and I figured since I spend so much time down there I might as well not push my luck with long term exposure and if/when I decide to sell I would likely have to fix it then anyway.

I really liked the guy that did mine - seemed very thorough and made it very unobtrusive.

 

[John5757]

Could be the groundwater level rising, bringing it closer to your basement.

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Could be. I don’t get any water in the basement though. It’s also unfinished. This week it’s been around 2.5 seeing it’s dry outside.

 

[John5757]

When I built my house I sealed all the joints around all interior and exterior walls in the basement and painted the concrete foundation and poured walls with Drylok to seal out as much moisture and radon as possible.

After completing construction and moving in I tested using the 72 hour tests and radon levels were @3.something so I figured I was good.

Fast forward @18 years and after finishing half of the basement and spending a lot of time in the unfinished half in my woodworking/leatherworking shop and reloading area, I decided to test again. Levels were @7.7 so I decided to have it fixed. Guy came out and installed the system for @$1300 and levels dropped to a little over 1.0. The systems do work and I figured since I spend so much time down there I might as well not push my luck with long term exposure and if/when I decide to sell I would likely have to fix it then anyway.

I really liked the guy that did mine - seemed very thorough and made it very unobtrusive.

Who did you use?

 

[OttoMan]

Most of the new home builders are now installing them mitigation pipes. And before the very first pouring of concrete into the basement foundation they already set them down in different places.if you search you are able to do it yourself John5757 …. I CAN HELP YA!!!!

 

[John5757]

Most of the new home builders are now installing them mitigation pipes. And before the very first pouring of concrete into the basement foundation they already set them down in different places.if you search you are able to do it yourself John5757 …. I CAN HELP YA!!!!

I thought about that and did some research but not sure I’m comfortable doing it myself. With my luck I’ll probably screw something up and end up costing me double. Lol

 

[Gingerbeard Man]

Does your basement open to the outside?

It does. We have a French door that opens up. Actually had it open yesterday while I was working and it dropped to below 2. I had a basic house fan pointed out the door.

 

[Just1more]

It does. We have a French door that opens up. Actually had it open yesterday while I was working and it dropped to below 2. I had a basic house fan pointed out the door.

Interesting. I need to have mine tested too then

 

[Gingerbeard Man]

Interesting. I need to have mine tested too then

You may have already seen it but run through this thread and there is a link for a free test.

Radon Test Kit

This short-term radon test kit should be hung in the lowest lived-in part of your home (basement or first floor) for <b>3-7 days</b>. Instructions for using the kit will be shipped with the kit. Additionally, you can watch an instructional video on our website at www.UGAradon.org. <b>Please...

estore.uga.edu

 

[Gingerbeard Man]

I thought about that and did some research but not sure I’m comfortable doing it myself. With my luck I’ll probably screw something up and end up costing me double. Lol

That's where I'm at. Putting holes in my house I can do...putting holes in my house the right way is not LOL