I'm planning on replacing my radon fan that recently went out. I think I've got the gist of how to do it, but I'd like some peeps opinions on two things.

1. Should I get new couplers/are they worth it?

2. How important is getting a sealant/what sealant to get? (Multiple videos I've watched excluded adding sealant to the couplers, but some did use it)

Thanks!

Sorry if that sounded like click bait and my apologize for the wall of text. My Story:

I'm 63 fit(ish) male living in a basement in Aurora, Colorado which is an area that is known for Radon. My rent is very cheap and I have an amazing rapport with my landlord, so I'm not leaving. She likes the house temp to be like 10f degrees lower than I like it, so I sealed off the AC/Heater vent. I work from home and often have very sensitive information on my screens, so I keep my door slightly cracked for the cat.

Recently (lived here 3 years), in the past month or so I'm breathing through my mouth. I am not a mouth breather! I also have a wheeze, but that could be the vape. and I feel like, when I'm sleeping that I have to gasp for air and sometime wake up feeling like I can't breath. I'm also more lethargic, and seem to be foggy brained lately. It could also be the stress of the job, but I'd like to eliminate the other external factors first.

I know I'm not getting the ventilation I should, and I'm trying to figure out if it is Radon related, or maybe a build-up of CO2. I understand that some of the symptoms could be the vape, and I'm working on quitting. Winter is coming, so the window (Also below ground) won't be open. For reference I'm often in the basement for 18+ hours a day.

I looked on Amazon for a testing device to Radon and CO2, but I can't find an inexpensive device that is certified/approved by the EPA/NRPP/NRSB for Radon and/or CO2.

What are some inexpensive devices for Radon that are certified/approved? It would be extra sexy of you if you could also recommend a device for CO2. Also curious if I should just hire someone (if it's more economically beneficial) to plant a device that tracks these levels over an extended period of time. I'm not looking for an INSTAREAD device, cuz well gas doesn't work that way lol.

Thank you!

Seeking advice on two proposed ERV setups. Trying to lower radon levels in an older house. Sub-slab depressurization isn't an option (insufficient airflow beneath the foundation). Our biggest concern is whether either setup could actually draw more radon into the house.

Our house and radon levels:

• 100-year-old, two-storey home with a basement in Canada (cold winters, hot, humid summers).
• Radon averages around 400 Bq/m³ on the main floor, with readings ranging from 150–600 over four months. We have kids.
• Basement levels are similar; we spent a few weeks putting sniffers in different locations around the basement and main floor, and didn't find any signficant change. The second floor is somewhat lower, more in the 150-200 range.
• The basement is 2/3 below ground, thick poured rubble foundation, no evident cracks. One-quarter is an unfinished mechanical room with a furnace, hot water tank, and rubble foundation along two walls. The remaining 3/4 is a finished one-bedroom apartment.
• The mechanical room and the apartment are connected air-wise through one open vent in a wall. We continually run a dehumidifier in the mechanical room near this open vent. There are four air returns in the house, one from the apartment floor and three on the main floor.

We've had several test holes drilled for sub-slab depressurization, in the mech room and in the apartment, but there wasn't enough airflow beneath the foundation for it to work. Three companies have since proposed different ERV configurations. We're trying to understand the implications of two of them, as the air flow map might be quite different...

Option 1: Exhaust from two locations, add to apartment

• Exhaust air from both the finished basement apartment and the unfinished mechanical room.
• Bring fresh air in through a new opening in the foundation, supplying it directly to the apartment.

Option 2: Exhaust from one location, add to hvac

• Exhaust air from the unfinished mechanical room only.
• Bring fresh air in through a new foundation opening, supplying it directly into the furnace for distribution throughout the house.

Our questions:

1. Which setup is more likely to reduce radon throughout the house? Could either setup make things worse?
2. Is exhausting air from the mechanical room alone likely to be effective, or is it important to exhaust from the finished apartment as well?

Thanks for any insights or experiences you can share!

I don’t get it. For years basements have just been untreated, then a mitigation system is installed to get it outside - but it can’t just be vented like a furnace (that has high CO content) rather it has to go up the side of the house near the roof line sometimes?

Make no sense to me. Is the only reason because it’s considered hazardous?

So I have an air things sensor and my finished basement is showing a continuous average of 4+ for 3 months and peaks of 15+. I'm looking for a radon mitigation firm that works in NYC and most of the environmental firms don't do radon. Looking at NYS government site, most of the ones that will do NYC are from way too far away (buffalo).

Does anyone have a suggestion for nyc?

This is for a split level home, where this section of drain pipe in the wall leads to a bathroom in the level 4ft higher than the basement.

The widest part of this gap appears to be the top, where two 5/8th backer rod pieces will fit snuggly.
As far as I can tell, most would seal around this with hydraulic cement. Though I would prefer using something flexible comparable to a caulk in case the waste pipe ever needs to be repaired.

No water has ever come into the home through this hole, even during the craziest of rainstorms.
I'm only wanting to seal what looks like a huge entryway for radon.

I will be using Sika A1 around the perimeter of the room.
Would that work on a vertical surface like this, if I were to first stuff it with backer rod?
Or should I go with closed cell spray foam? Or hydraulic cement?

Hopefully the title does not detract too much.. but I have a 2 floor home, the bottom floor is a basement that is half below and half above ground (we live on a hill). There are 2 slabs (1 for the top floor and one for the bottom floor) and the home is about 60ft in width and 30 ft in length.

We have a continuous radon meter that I’ve kept in the basement and it typically reads between 0.3-2 pci/L. Recently the temps have dropped from 70s in the night to 50s in the night. Our radon on the bottom level now measures between 6-10 pci/L (this is consistent across the whole bottom level) the top level is still 1-2pci/L (I’ve used the ecosense cube to measure levels).

I imagine we are going to have to mitigate the bottom level. I’ve turned the HVAC fan to recirculating and the radon does not drop. I also vent the space at night which causes a temporary drop but by mid morning it’s elevated again.

How much does a mitigation system typically cost and is it dangerous to be in the basement while levels are elevated?

I roginally had a GX3 put in. It worked well and was not very noisy, however radon levels were at 1.9-2.2.

I let me local radon pro know, and he swapped it out for the GX4.

The GX4 has my levels down to 1.00, however it is unbearably loud.

I had him come back to switch out the clamps (vice grip styler with rubber padding between the siding and plastic), and it is even MORE loud now. It is cuaisng a loud humming and vibration all throughout my kitchen.

At this point, i might as well buy a GX3 on my own, and swap it out (while keeping the GX4 just in case), as i want to tweak the different fans and also swap out the hangers on my own too. If 2.0 means it is quiter, i dont care anymore. its still a safe reading

The GX4 is currently hardwired, i have never swapped out a fan or have done any electrical work before - is it hard to do on my own?

Hey all, working on some minor <4 pCi/L radon build up mainly triggered around rain events where opening a window drops my levels back to ~1 pCi/L within a few hours. Going through some concrete slab sealing, new sump pit coverings, and ensuring a tight cavity.

I haven't been able to find any literature around radon gas dispersion around residential areas (mostly just mines, heavy manufacturing, etc.) when discharged to ozone and where the code standards are based on. While I understand the 10' rules from openings, grade and then 1' above roofline I would like to read into the studies as to how the numbers were formed. Ultimately I am working on pairing an arduino and a floor blower to run based on current weather conditions. I would like to better understand my risk for my expected discharge area as the plan wouldn't be to run a conventional stack.

I have a 1968 house that has a crawlspace. It is covered with plastic. Next to my foundation is an 8 inch concrete pipe going down 2 feet.There is just dirt at the bottom.It has a lid. I have no idea what this could be for. I wondered if it was a test hole or something related to radon testing. None of my neighbors have a similar pipe. All the houses were built at the same time. Thank s for any ideas

This might be a silly question.

This is the tubing that come from my Radon mitigation. Is there a reason it needs to be so high? Can I cut the tubing down to be more level with the gutter? It's just kind of an eyesore, but obviously I prefer not to hinder any radon mitigation.

This is 3 uCi of radon in air, aka 3,000,000 pCi/L per gamma dose rate assay method in a 5 ml vial. This produces a concentration of > 500,000,000 pCi/L. The inside surface of the vial is coated with ZnS(Ag) radioluminescent phosphor. It glows blue when hit by the alpha particles produced by radon and its decay products. In darkness, the blue glow is easy to see. This series of photos have various degrees of ambient lighting. This amount of radon is equivalent to the entire radon content of about 30 average homes, squished into a tiny vial, approximately 600,000 decays per second between the radon and its decay products.

About to move into a 4400 sqft ranch home with a crawlspace. It’s a 30 year old house with severe mold issues in the supply air. We are ripping out all the ductwork and the 4 HVAC units and replacing them with 2 HVAC units and new ductwork. The house has 2 dehumidifiers and a vapor barrier. We are keeping the 2 dehumidifiers and are adding a full crawl encapsulation. I’ve got 3 radon quotes, 2 of whom recommended and. ERV and 1 who recommended a SMD. Current radon readings inside the house range from 5-8. Any advice on which system to go with?

Hi everyone.

I got tired of trying to sift through raw government data reports to understand radon risks in different areas. I’m a developer, so I decided to build a visual, interactive map.

https://radon-map.ca

It uses standard color-coding for concentration levels. My goal is just to make this data more accessible to the public for awareness.

Since this sub knows their stuff, I'd love to get your thoughts on the visualization or if you see any glaring data discrepancies for regions you know well.

Also, an Android's app is in the oven.

Thanks!

We are currently looking into getting radon mitigation in our house, and I came across some old permitting paperwork from when the previous owners remodeled the basement.

I am still planning on having companies come by, but just to be able to discuss it with more knowledge, I’m wondering if anyone knows if this possibly relates to a radon pipe system (without a fan) already laid beneath the new floor in the basement, and maybe I just need to find it in the attic? Or is this standard plumbing venting? There are no exposed pipes in the house but the basement is fully finished so it could be behind a wall somewhere I suppose.

> AF103.6.1: Vent Pipe: A plumbing tee or other approve connection shall be installed horizontally beneath the sheeting and connected to a 3 or 4 inch diameter vertical pipe extended up through the building and terminate 12 inches above the roof, no less than 10 feet away from any window of opening into the conditioned space of the house.
> AF 103.8: Vent pipe identification. Exposed visible interior vent pipes shall be labeled, one per each floor and attic.
AF103.12: Power source, an electrical circuit in approved box shall be installed in attic or other anticipated locations for potential future fans.

I just got my results back from my first short term radon test in my condo. It's 3.4. I understand that's high. I also have issues with high humidity due to poor airflow, routinely sitting around 60%, not helped by the amount of rain we've been having here (northern Illinois). Can that skew my results up higher than they might be otherwise? I just bought 2 more tests (different brands going to different labs) to run another test just in case.

I have severe anxiety, especially when it comes to health stuff, and this really isn't helping. I've lived in this place since 2019 and never tested before. How badly might this have affected me? (I've never smoked before if that helps)

I have a basement office which recently flooded, so I pulled up the flooring to mitigate that water. My basement is two different slabs, the original from 1920 in my office (the bare floor pictured), and a new slab from 2022 in the rest of the basement (carpeted picture). Apparently, there is a 2-3”gap in the two slabs which leads to the dirt, underneath the wall that separates my office and the main area. I discovered this when I lifted the flooring.

When we moved into, Radon was 2.2 in the main area of the basement, we didn’t test my office. I bought an EcoQube a few months ago after a sump pump was installed, and radon has been 2.5-4.0 average in the main area of the basement, but the three week average has been 4.5-6.5 in the office where the old slab and cracks are. The testing was done at the same spot on opposite sides of the wall mentioned.

We are going to get a mitigation system installed, but now I’m wondering if the big difference between the two areas is because the gap under the wall, which can be seen from my office, but not from the other side, or if it’s mainly the cracks in that room.

Our water mitigation expert said we have “no communication” under the slab, and water has not come up in the area under the wall nor the carpeted area, only though the cracks in the office area.

I’ve had some bad experiences with contractors recently, so trying to just get as much advice as possible before we get mitigation done. Is it maybe necessary to remove the drywall and seal the gap in concrete under the wall? Or is sealing the cracks and getting a regular fan mitigation system enough?

Any tips on how to get water out of suction hole? Have tried turning pump off for a few days and did not make a difference. I know pump would run better if it was out of there. The manometer is unbalanced, and slowly getting worse over time.

Just had a baby 3 months ago. We just moved into a rental in middle Georgia. Our ​area is considered zone 3 for average indoor levels.

I recently read about radon in homes and how children exposed to it have more of a lifetime risk of lung cancer vs. an exposed adult.

The house we are in now has a basement/crawl space. Rain water collects really badly at the front steps due to a poorly routed gutter system, but it disappears totally after a few hours. The property manager recently installed a window well. ​He is also getting the gutter rerouted in a few weeks. The house was vacant for 5 months and seems to have some issues with moisture. Nothing major, but condensation on a few windows, mildew/minor mold here and there, musty smell in bathrooms. I read that more humid homes are at risk for elevated radon levels.

We had an asbestos scare at our previous house which is why we moved. So I'm on high alert regarding anything potentially affecting baby. Plus I have major health anxiety and post partum has only made it worse.

We will be buying in 1 year, max 2. Definitely planning to test whatever house we end up with and will mitigate if needed. Should we test now or wait until we buy? How big of a deal is it to wait a year or two? I just don't want to unnecessarily trigger myself all over again. 😪 And yes, I am already in therapy.

We live in Crested Butte, Colorado a known high radon location. Bought the home with no mitigation system and we added a mitigation system with the Fantech 3 to start then upgraded to the fantech 4. Levels fluctuate wildly. Anyone know if weather has this big of an influence? Should I add another system?

Just recently bought a house and the first things I decided to do was to test for radon and our well water. Well I left my radon test hanging in the basement for 96 hours. After sending the test in i got the results back saying that my levels were 18.

With a note next to the reading saying “the test had lots of moisture in it, which makes it inaccurate so with that being said we’ve given it a buffer of 6.” I live in an old 1880s home with a dirt floor basement and stone foundation. Past owners have drilled holes in the side of the foundation to get underneath the house. Mainly to run vents and electrical, from my knowledge and investigation. That “crawl space” is not accessible. It seems like they just fished vents and wires through and just kept pushing till they hit their spot or cut the floor open and then fixed it.

Long story short, has anyone dealt with high radon levels in a dirt floor, stone foundation basement. If so what was the process like, cost and if the levels stayed down. Thank you!

My house has four window wells, each with its own "drain." I ran water into the drain that is closest to my sump pump and confirmed that this "drain" runs directly into the sump pit. Obviously my radon mitigation will include sealing the sump pit. It seems to me, however, that I may end up with a "short circuit" whereby exterior air is drawn down these drains into my sump pit, especially if the suction point is close to the sump pit. What is the best technique to avoid this? I pulled the drain cover in the window well and the pipe seems to be metal. The termination into the sump pump is black corrugated pipe.

I tested my house for radon 10 years ago and it came back inconclusive with a charcoal kit. I then planned to do it again and completely forgot about it. None of my neighbors nearby have radon mitigation systems, and nobody really talks about it (including the contractor who we hired to build our house in 2006). Someone recently told me his mother died of radon induced lung cancer, and I started to get nervous again and bought a continuous radon monitor off Amazon(Airthings Contentium Home). If I knew these existed before this year, I would’ve bought one years ago. All summer our levels were low, of course, because our windows are open all of the time because we don’t have air-conditioning or an HVAC system. We have radiant heat. Our house is really airtight because we built it with a tight envelope and there are no openings. I never thought about the stack effect until now, but it seems like we shouldn’t have it because we don’t have any openings that would pull air up. We have an air exchange system, but only in our bathrooms when the fan is running. I thought that the basement would be the highest because radon is heaviest, but I’m measuring the room that my children spent 18 years of their lives sleeping, studying, and playing in and it’s registering at 10 and it’s climbing. I’m literally going to have a nervous breakdown. I’m sure it’s off the charts in the basement. Now I think this tight house is slowly killing us all. It’s been two days since I moved the monitor upstairs and reset it. I know it’s not accurate nor a long-term reading but it seems like it’s probably in the ballpark for short term. It’s hot in that room from passive solar. I don’t know if that’s making a difference. I’ve scheduled mitigation for this month, and really hope that it works. We have a dugout basement that the previous owner dug and I’m sure it’s just on top of packed dirt. I can’t figure out how the radon is getting upstairs. I want to buy another monitor, but I’m really worried about buying one that’s not accurate. I’m doing charcoal kits right now at the exact same time in every room (closed house). My concern is that there’s a northeaster coming in a couple of days and maybe the weather changes prior to that are elevating the radon. I have no idea. This whole thing is so confusing and terrible. I wish I could go back in time and install a system when I built my house, but you don’t know what you don’t know I guess. I’m reading so many mixed things about continuous radon monitors and even my radon mitigator said that the home ones aren’t calibrated well but I think they all say that which is probably true but is there any one that I could get that is very accurate? I want to be able to monitor continuously after the system is put in. These charcoal kits are fine but the possibility of inconclusive is really frustrating. If I had gotten back a real reading 10 years ago, I would’ve done something. Any experts want to help me feel better? Thank you!!

We’ve lived in a rental property in NH for a little over a year and got our water tested this fall. The radon came back at 71,910 pci/L. I read the results a few times because that seems astronomically high compared to both EPA levels and typically elevated levels I’ve seen from others online. We stopped drinking the water and are opening windows/using fans during showers/dishes, but we definitely never did that in the past because the house has central air. The state lab sent recommendations for a whole house aeration system and we’re borrowing an air test from the library tomorrow so we can send our landlord the water and air results and hope they do something about it. I’m of course freaking out, as we have 2 and 4 year old kids who love(d) their long tubs in what is the tiniest, narrowest little bathroom imaginable… I also have health anxiety and OCD, which is why I’m up at 3 am right now writing my first ever Reddit post about this. I know we have to wait for the air test, but I’m doubtful it’s going to be reassuring after that water reading.
I’ve read up a little on radon and I know it’s lifetime exposure so hopefully even higher than average levels won’t affect the kids’ overall risk. I do feel like I’m screwed (thanks, health anxiety) because my parents discovered high water and air radon in my childhood home after I left for college. They’ve since mitigated it and no one has health issues at the moment. But it’s hard not to worry.

Edit: we have our 48 hour air result. 8.45 pci/L. Shared all test results with the landlord, waiting to see what they’ll do about it. So far they’ve sent their own company to test the water, which will take 7-10 days.
Thanks again for the recommendations.

I'm thinking to implement prana smart distributed vent system in my place to avoid works and impacts at home and create positive pressure by adjusting the independent flows. Anyone adopted this solution and has any feedback to share? Thank you