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How bad is Radon in a home?

S

spidey07

No Lifer
Thank goodness I paid extra for a Radon test for a home I'm under contract to buy. The report said levels over 4 picocuries/liter needs action, and the readings were as high as 17 pCi/L. National average is 1.3 pCi/L.

The home has been unoccupied for some time.
 
Ventilate the house (open the windows for a day) and then close it back up and redo the test. Radon accumulates over time and if the house has been sitting empty w/o outdoor air exchange for some time the reading may not be reflective of conditions you would experience living there.
 
spidey07 said:
Thank goodness I paid extra for a Radon test for a home I'm under contract to buy. The report said levels over 4 picocuries/liter needs action, and the readings were as high as 17 pCi/L. National average is 1.3 pCi/L.

The home has been unoccupied for some time.
Click to expand...

Does it have granite countertops?
Vent the place for a while, close up for 24 hours and re-test. Could be a false high.
 
It's so bad it climbin’ in your windows, it’s snatchin’ your people up, tryin’ to rape ‘em. So y’all need to hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband cause they’re rapin’ everybody out here
 
I'm surprised that you can afford a home..you know...with all of the extra taxes that you have had to pay over the last 2.5 years.
 
Rubycon said:
Does it have granite countertops?
Vent the place for a while, close up for 24 hours and re-test. Could be a false high.
Click to expand...
Assuming Spidey is still in the Louisville area, the likely source is black shale (IIRC, the New Albany Shale). The shale contains fairly high levels of naturally occurring uranium.
 
Here, to sell a home, there must be a radon test performed. However, if you build a home, nobody gives a shit. So, you can build and live in a home for 24 years as I have and then one day you decide to get the radon level checked and it's high.

I'm OK though until I try to sell.

Exact same scenario with the water except mine is fine. They didn't care when I built, but if I sell, they're all over it.
 
There are several methods to reduce the level and to determine which is called for, a long term test must be performed. The long term test will show the levels over time as the levels can fluctuate.

We have basements here. Where the concrete floor meets the walls as well as any cracks can be sealed. That alone can sometimes bring the levels down to acceptable levels. If that won't get the job done, then a hole is drilled through the concrete floor and a pump is installed to create a vacuum under the slab. The air removed from under the slab is vented to the atmosphere. They can sometimes run the pipe indoors and vent through the roof and sometimes they must run the line on the outside of the house. The motor on that pump runs 24/7/365 and they typically last about 5 years.

Sump crocks and floor drains can complicate the process to a degree.

There is a lot of information out there regarding reducing the levels. All this is from memory, but I'm pretty certain I'm not too far off.
 
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Meh, I'm from an area in PA where it's found in nearly every basement. So I grew up breathing it constantly I'm sure. The basement of my parent's house read between 11-14. So it sounds like I've got an increased risk of lung cancer as there may be some decay going on in my lungs as I type. Oh well. I'm not too concerned at this point.
 
There are acceptable safe levels, I believe 4 or less. I'm surprised national average is really 1.3, though. A co-worker lent me his radon detector (unlike the little kits it's an electronic $100 or so unit) and said in his house the levels were over 10 and had been for years. Mine were 2.5 or something--good to go.

I think boomerang is on point. Something houses with basements have now is poly film directly under the concrete slab and it can limit gas in the air as well.
 
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