OT radon

Ray · Apr 15, 2013

Just got a radon test back on our 1 story brick house.The report says we have a pretty high level of radon. 1.3 is for a normal house,ours is 5.
Anyone ever deal with this stuff?

rustcollector · Apr 15, 2013

Ray,

Lots of information if you Google "radon". If you have a crawl space, ventilation is your cheapest way to reduce levels. Some even suggest a plastic sheet with a vent tube underneath in the crawl space. If you have slab construction, life becomes more difficult. Radon is in the parent soil material and can be in cement slab or concrete block materials. I recommend that you check with some of your state regulatory or Extension Service personnel who may be conducting educational and mitigation programs. Also consult with a Dr. to see what the health risks really are and perhaps re-test.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 15, 2013

Per EPA anything over 4.0 should be remediated. Radon is reported to be the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer,next to smoking. Having said that I do not know of anyone whose lung cancer was attributed to Radon. It is a radioactive gas that is present in most soils. Check the web site for AirChek www.radon.com This lab is located in Mills River, NC south of Ashville that analyzes the tests. I own a home inspection in upstate SC and use this lab.

MI AC Parsons · Apr 15, 2013

Sold a house in Delaware for relative and ended up having a fan put in the basement and crawl space. Never saw it personally, but it then passed a previously failed radon test.

Janicholson · Apr 15, 2013

I have two senior students at St. Cloud State U. that are doing radon mitigation at a home for their senior project. They have a small electric squirrel cage fan sucking air out of the crawl space and venting into the air above the garage.
$ inch ducting and PVC. Jim

FarmerZeb · Apr 15, 2013

I've had to "mitigate" radon to close a house sale before. Cost for a professionally installed mitigation system is between 800-2000 dollars for a sub slab depressurization system (basically a PVC pipe with a fan inside it). 5 pCi/L is above the threshold for mitigate but not really high. (some homes have readings above 100 pCi/L. The science behind the radon problem is not settled so to speak. There is an established correlation between radon and lung cancer but the direct causal link has not been established. According to the EPA at 5pCi/l your risk of cancer is only slightly higher than dying in a car crash.

Did you do a short term (less than 90 day test)?? If so you might want to do the long term test to see what your average is. It may turn out below 4pCi/l since your initial reading was so low?

-Paul

MSD · Apr 15, 2013

I run into it when trying to sell a new home. I just tell the buyer to skip the money for the test cause it is going to read high anyway and use the money to do the mitigation. Most times they put the test kit in a basement that may not have been aired for a while and it of course will be high. Open a few windows once in a while while doing the test and the level will be lower.

Hay hay hay · Apr 16, 2013

Don't ignore it. Mediation is fairly simple and not all that costly if you can do it yourself. Basically you need to suck out the air under the slab continuously and vent it to the outside. Sounds complicated until you see someone do it.
Watch it on youtube.

buickanddeere · Apr 16, 2013

You don"t want to be breathing in or ingesting Alpha emitting radionuclides.
Extremely high energy/very short range ionizing radiation.

LenND · Apr 16, 2013

I would think any house with forced air heat and a chimney has automatically taken care of venting any Radon. Unless you have an awful high reading.

OT radon

Ray

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rustcollector

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Anonymous-0

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MI AC Parsons

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Janicholson

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FarmerZeb

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MSD

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Hay hay hay

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buickanddeere

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LenND

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