Radon Detection and Mitigation - A Scam?

[The Stigenator]

There is nothing wrong with the inspector doing the mitigation, by the way he probably subcontracts the mitigation, but yeah, it happens in the environmental field a lot.

<-- works in the environmental field, radon is the least of my worries in my line of work..

 

[DrPizza]

Necro thread, but no one has pointed out yet that Radon is an inert gas. It doesn't react chemically. It's not absorbed by your body. If you inhale one or two atoms, you exhale those one or two atoms.

 

[NetWareHead]

Necro thread, but no one has pointed out yet that Radon is an inert gas. It doesn't react chemically. It's not absorbed by your body. If you inhale one or two atoms, you exhale those one or two atoms.

Radon may be chemically inert but the radioactivity it emits while residing in your body before it exits is what makes it dangerous. Radon doesnt "stay" radon, it radioactively decays into radon daughters that are dangerous too.

 

[FoBoT]

if you want to avoid radon, the best way is to not live in places with high levels of radon in the ground and of course, don't have a basement

just like if you want to avoid cosmic/gamma radiation, don't be an airline pilot

 

[edro]

I'm guessing this guy googled "radon scam" and found this.

I still believe it's a scam...

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I'm guessing this guy googled "radon scam" and found this.

I still believe it's a scam...

It is.

 

[KeithP]

I thought home inspectors were just suppose to inspect the home and make a report? If I ran across one that also offered to fix things he found wrong I would drop him like a hot potato.

-KeithP

 

[bignateyk]

I've always wanted to know how they can attribute a lung cancer case to radon? How can they tell it was radon that caused it and not one of the other 10 million pollutants in our atmosphere?

 

[edro]

Oh BTW... I noticed that I never updated this thread.

The test results came back as 4.0, dead on the EPA limit. They recommended remediation.
lol - what a coincidence...

The offer on the house was good, so I paid the $800 and had a company install a fan over the sump pump. They did a good job for $800. It was their main business.
$800 to sell the house was well worth it in hindsight.

 

[OutHouse]

800 bucks to install a fan over a sump pump??

 

[vi edit]

800 bucks to install a fan over a sump pump??

Usually it has to be stacked and vented outdoors somehow, so there's a little more to it than that. But $800 sounds a lot cheaper than a lot of people that I know ended up paying. Most people I know ended up being on the hook for $2000 or more.

As for other people having a radon test done...open up every window you can and get as much stale air out of the basement as possible for a couple days prior to the test being brought in. Your real estate agent will probably tell you this though

 

[greenmtrider]

The inspector came today and installed the ugly mitigation system and didn't seal the foundation cracks like is written in the contract that he wrote up. The system cost me 1,350.00 for two hours worth of work SCAM. All that I have googled and read was to seal all floor crack and seams.

 

[Gibsons]

I've always wanted to know how they can attribute a lung cancer case to radon? How can they tell it was radon that caused it and not one of the other 10 million pollutants in our atmosphere?

On an individual basis, you can't. While I don't know about Radon specifically, the typical way this is done is you look at a large population, and you see something like out of a million people breathing X amount of Radon, 35 got lung cancer, while in a similar population not breathing so much Radon, only 12 got lung cancer.

Now out of the 35, 12 of them (probably) would have gotten cancer anyway. But there's no way to know which 12.

All number made up on the spot, of course.

 

[jagec]

Radon may be chemically inert but the radioactivity it emits while residing in your body before it exits is what makes it dangerous. Radon doesnt "stay" radon, it radioactively decays into radon daughters that are dangerous too.

True, but DrPizza's point is that the typical danger with radiation (and the reason why people wear those suits) is that you'll inhale radioactive particles, which will remain in your lungs and continuously emit radiation. This is less of a concern with radon.

BTW, if you install granite countertops, you may well be bringing more radon into your house.

Pro tip: When shopping for a house, bring your Geiger counter to the open houses. Conspicuously wave it over any granite countertops, as well as in the basement, and try to find a hot spot. That will scare away some of the competition, and might even increase your bargaining power.

 

[Golgatha]

Radon may be chemically inert but the radioactivity it emits while residing in your body before it exits is what makes it dangerous. Radon doesnt "stay" radon, it radioactively decays into radon daughters that are dangerous too.

The decay products of radon or "radon daughters" are not gases, and thus they will sit in your lungs emitting harmful radiation inside of your body for quite some time. Radioactive particles degrade, mutate, and otherwise mess up your body. Not good.

 

[Golgatha]

Pro tip: In order to cheat the test, you can open the door to the basement and put a box fan blowing into the basement. This should dilute the radon to ridiculously low levels. If the test still comes up above the EPA levels, you really do have problems and need a mitigation pump.

 

[DrPizza]

The prices they charge are because people are "oh noooooes! Radon! Radioactivity! Radiation! AHhHHHHHH!" Fear sells. There are a lot of companies that use this tactic to close sales. E.g., the company that sells those heat alarms - "the smoke detectors don't detect fires that are burning unless they're producing a lot of smoke. If you don't buy these heat alarms (for a few hundred dollars each and stick one in every room of the house) it means that you love your money more than you love your wife and children."

 

[DrPizza]

The decay products of radon or "radon daughters" are not gases, and thus they will sit in your lungs emitting harmful radiation inside of your body for quite some time. Radioactive particles degrade, mutate, and otherwise mess up your body. Not good.

But, the odds of the radon decaying while in your lungs isn't very good. The more likely avenue for radioactive radon daughters to get into your lungs is carried there on dust particles that are inhaled.

Here's a thought - when those radon abatement guys go to your basement, are they wearing respirators, etc.? Or do they do the work with regular clothing on?

 

[jagec]

E.g., the company that sells those heat alarms - "the smoke detectors don't detect fires that are burning unless they're producing a lot of smoke. If you don't buy these heat alarms (for a few hundred dollars each and stick one in every room of the house) it means that you love your money more than you love your wife and children."

That's why I installed a number of items in my house that emit tons of smoke when they burn, like stained hardwood floors, leather couches, synthetic blend drapes etc. That way I can use cheapo smoke detectors and still have plenty of early warning of a fire.

Wouldn't "heat detectors" nuisance alarm every time you lit a candle or used the stove?

 

[edro]

Here's a thought - when those radon abatement guys go to your basement, are they wearing respirators, etc.? Or do they do the work with regular clothing on?

They say it's only harmful if you spend a lot of time there, or are an infant.

SAVE THE BABBIES!

 

[railer]

OP you sound like a true nutter. Of all the grand conspiracies "the governmnet" could possibly come up with, you really think that "they" are going to hitch their grand conspiracy wagon to radon, so that they could weasle in on all of the sales money from the $15 radon detector kits that Walmart and Home Depot sells, and then somehow weasle in on the sales of electric fans, pvc tubing, and cement sealer that the radon remediation folks sell? THIS is their grand plan?????? ROFL.
I think skin cancer is a scam! I mean, I don't know anyone who has it! Yet I see sunscreen commercials on TV all the time....that industry must be worth billions! Imagine how much money "the government" is raking in from that!

 

[Exterous]

As mentioned oh so long ago Radon in Michigan can be a problem but the mitigation costs mentioned here seem high. When we had a radon test done on the house we bought it was just barely over the limit. We negotiated with the sellers for the to install the $150 system that turned the passive radon removal system into an active system (ie added a fan and ran electrical to the fan location) in return for them removing the butterfly ceiling fan that they wanted to take with them (win - win!)

Although maybe houses else where don't have to come with passive radon systems?

 

[Golgatha]

But, the odds of the radon decaying while in your lungs isn't very good. The more likely avenue for radioactive radon daughters to get into your lungs is carried there on dust particles that are inhaled.

Here's a thought - when those radon abatement guys go to your basement, are they wearing respirators, etc.? Or do they do the work with regular clothing on?

The abatement guys are in your house for a few minutes. You're there for the majority of the day or at least several hours sleeping. The length of exposure time is pretty key here.

Also, you're exactly right on the dust particle comment. The half life of radon is roughly 3.8 days and I doubt you can hold your breath long enough to get much exposure through just the radon that decays in the air.

 

[VtPC83]

Buying a house right now and brought in an inspector. He did a radon test at our request (didn't push it on us or anything) and found it to be 1.6.

While we doing the inspection he told about the mitigation system and explained that not only does it reduce radon in the house but also prevents moisture buildup in the basement so really a 2-fold improvement.

Something to keep note, if doing a radon mitigation system, most will reduce the radon down to a 2 at most.

 

[SirStev0]

Radon is very dangerous and a huge problem but of course that means people find ways to use fear of it to scam others.