Living in North Georgia we have a common problem with Radon. Lots of granite in these parts. So it’s not unusual to find it, in fact it’s unusual not to find it.

A friend’s wife was recently diagnosed with small cell lung cancer (reformed smoker). Fortunately they caught it very early so she has a very good chance of beating it. As a result of the diagnosis, her doctor suggested they have their house tested for Radon. So I get the phone call last week to come test.

Unsurprisingly, the meter was hitting 6.8 picocuries per liter over a 24 hour average in their basement. Not that there is a “safe” level, but anything over 4 pCi/L it time to mitigate. So Dave calls a Radon mitigation company who quoted $18,500 to install a radon capture system. He hit the floor with the news so I got another call on Friday.

Soooo, this weekend we pulled everything out of his unfinished basement and sealed all below grade concrete foundation walls and floor. We also caulked the cove joint between foundation walls and floor - which is common practice to do, but many builders don’t bother.

As of this morning, readings are down to 3 pCi/L but it will take a week to track the trend. Hopefully the numbers will continue to come down over time. The total cost was $550 for two buckets of RadonSeal Plus and a few tubes of caulk. Probably went though $150 of Scotch as payment.

Anyone else dealing with Radon intrusion?

I just installed a sump mitigation system, I had readings of 19 at the sump and between 3 and 4.5 for the rest of the basement. On the main floor I had readings of 1 to 3.

All have been greatly reduced, testing is ongoing right now.

As far as I know radon doesn’t exist where I live thankfully. I have dealt with methane before, could you put a small fan in the basement to exhaust any accumulation to the outside to help with the sealant you’ve put in? I don’t know how radon acts as far as gravity is concerned but is it heavier or lighter than air and place the suction of a fan in the needed elevation. I hope she recovers quickly and completely!!!!

It's here.

Radon is 7 times heavier than "air" so it's fairly straightforward to collect and exhaust it out of the house. The problem is, this tends to depressurize the house resulting in pulling moisture into wall cavities. This creates a whole nuther can of worms. So typically you will need to install a heat recovery ventilation unit to help balance the house. This also helps to bring fresh air into structures which solves a whole bunch of other indoor air quality issues caused by overly energy efficient homes.

On new construction installing a sub-slab depressurization system (PVC pipes and a $175 fan) is a simple and very cost effective solution but few builders bother with it. Doing it after the fact can get quite pricy.

If builders would do things right to begin with, homeowners would be a lot happier and healthier too.

We have a big radon problem here. My last house had a mitigation pipe and fan installed before I bought the house because it failed the radon test.

We had an old rental house that we had and when we sold it, it failed the test. That house also had a small craw space which makes it worse. Had to put in a mitigation fan and seal off the ground in the crawl space. We had a company come in and do it and it cost a couple of thousand bucks if I remember correctly.

When my father-in-law passed away, when my wife and her sisters went to sell the house, it also failed the test with a count of 18. That house also had a large crawl space in addition to an unfinished basement. The house was relatively new, about 25 years old, and it had a pipe to nowhere sticking out of the floor. The radon guy said that it was roughed in for a radon mitigation pipe, but never hooked up. They also had to seal off the ground in the crawl space and ventilate it. Not sure what that one cost to mitigate.

I built my house in 1999 and they put a radon pipe coming out of the floor and up through the roof, but no fan. When I was dealing with my FIL's house, I asked the radon guy about my pipe with no fan. He said that it might help, but without a fan, it was probably not doing much. He recommended that I test my house. After the test, it came in at about an 8. This was in 2018, so I had already lived there for 19 years, not good. I bought a radon fan on the internet. I didn't know what size, so I just bought the biggest one that they offered. I think it was about $300.00, but can't really remember. Could be wrong about that. I cut the existing pipe and installed the fan and it shows that it has good suction. About a week later I retested and it came out to be <1.

My house in Rexburg had readings of 50 in the basement and 30 upstairs. I had an active fan powered system put in and it lowered it to 1.3 or so. I lived there about 5 years with it that high before I tested it.

Bb

It's an issue than that most people don't know about. But, just one of many.

Radon mitigation:

A $12 fan in your crawlspace vented to the outside(if you have a crawl)

And don’t be a lazy fugk that doesn’t regulate his foundation vents seasonally. Get tstat controlled auto louvers

Been under THOUSANDS of homes doing termite control, no telling my exposure.

My house has a heat exchanger which does an incredibly good job of air exchange.

I had a system installed last year. They drilled horizontally beneath the concrete basement floor. Then they excavated a “chamber” and installed the pump. They were quite professional and the system works well. It is very quiet and reduced the levels appreciably. It wasn’t cheap though… cost about $1800 IIRC.

Is there a way to test the soil for radon prior to the build?

This is a bunch of bs ..somebody's making money ....u have to be in the right rocky soil, and have a house so tight that when it it did show up its cause it had no where to go .....

Oy yeah ...in the 60s it was font eat lead paint...they brought that back about ten years ago..that paint got all ate ...now it's ray - Don...lol

Not reliably. But where there is granite, there is Radon that's pretty much a given. However, Radon occurs naturally in decomposing soils so you can find it anywhere. If you're sitting on a bunch of fill dirt, you can also find Radon.

You can pop a Summa canister and pay big bucks for a "lab" test, or you can simply invest in a real-time Radon detector:

Detector

I sent my test in to UGa. Seems like it was $15-$20. NBD

Lead paint chips were delicious

Me and my buddy Ray-Ray would munch on paint chips and then go thru a box of cake mix for dessert

I vented the cat litterbox into the Radon duct with 3" plastic vent hose. Former house was built on decomposed granite with a basement slab between frost walls.

Its really common here. This end of the Cumberland Plateau is a gigantic limestone karst formation. When you add the radon to the Marlboros, it's no wonder we have one of the highest lung cancer rates in the nation.

The radon barrier stuff on concrete pads helps, but as previously mentioned the best solution is a good ventilation system expelling air out of the basement or crawlspace.

Use to sharpen a #2 pencil to a needles point and stick kids in the arm and hand.

Poor Matthew in 2nd grade, he prolly ded from all the lead we broke off in him.

#HelicopterMoms

🦫

WE bought our current house in July 2019. The place was built in 1998. It is placed right into a rock ledge so you walk right out of the the basement door in the open front. The radon test failed & the seller had to install the radon mitigation system in the basement floor for $1500. The exhaust fan & piping runs up along an outer wall of our spare bedroom. Damn thing is a rumbling annoyance. We turn it off if family come to stay for the night.

I grew up in a house with a dirt floor basement. We moved there in 1962. I spent a lot of time in that basement. My Mom's washing machine was in the basement I would hate to run a radon test in the basement but I'm sure it will max the dial. No one in my family has had cancer. We typically die from heart disease. Mom passed at 88 from a blood clot. The house will never be sold. It will be pushed in when my brother moves out so making it radon safe will never happen. After all of this I am a bit skeptical of the cancer/radon connection.

kwg

If you're a smoker and exposed to radon it's a very real connection. For non-smokers there's a LOT less chance of it giving you lung cancer.