Radon Test Results: 16.4 pCi/l - How to Reduce High Levels?

[russ_watters]

In some places, that's all you have to work with. It really isn't that big of a deal - my parents' house has a basement that gets wet and while the sump pump runs quite a bit, it's only evehad water on the floor once in 20 years.

 

[RVBuckeye]

But that's my point. If water is coming in even during the construction, I wouldn't want that house. Why would anyone buy a house that they can't even keep dry when it's brand new?

May be all they can afford.

 

[Bystander]

http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/radon/georadon/3.html

Little more "grist" for the mill.

 

[Averagesupernova]

Moonbear, if a basement gets wet in an area where the soil is quite clay-like I would say it is because they are not getting water to drain away from the house on top of the ground and it stands next to the foundation and eventually finds its way in. Landscaping can go a long way to keep a basement dry. Some basements however, will have water come in from the bottom up. This is why they have perforated pipes along footings which drain into the sump. For those of you who have a sump, it most likely has a cover over it, take a look in it. There may be water setting in the bottom right now. It collects there from the perforated tiling that is burried around your house. A sump pump in a basement to me means that the house is somewhat modern or whoever built it used their head thinking of what can happen. They most likely used their head in other areas too.
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Russ, I wouldn't buy that house if it were me. Not necessarily because of the radon, but that doesn't sweeten the deal. My reason is the propane heat and they way the gas is distributed. I know of a small town that had an explosion because a utility company cut a gas line on the neighbors yard. Propane is heavier than air and doesn't readily come out of the ground where natural gas is lighter than air and won't collect in low places. In this case, the gas seeped over onto the victims property and into the basement. An explosion soon followed and killed the guy. The cut pipe was NOT part of a distribution network and simply went from a 500 gallon tank into the neighbors basement. With a distribution network, the gas will more easily find its way to a basement. Another example I can think of is a grain elevator explosion triggered by someone lighting a match in the basement of the office. A leaky propane pipe buried close by caused the basement to accumulate with gas and it went off when a construction worker lit a match because of a burned out light bulb. Propane is an EXCELLENT fuel but I treat it with respect. I am not a fan of burying pipe carrying propane close to my house or anyplace the fuel could potentially leak into and collect.

 

[zoobyshoe]

My reason is the propane heat and they way the gas is distributed.

This is a good point. I was surprised when I read about this distribution system. I'd never heard of doing propane this way before, and it struck me as risky. Propane always requires more care than natural gas.

 

[Moonbear]

How does that work, having propane distributed from some central tank? Does someone have to come out to refill it, or is there a pipeline supplying it? Who's in charge of making sure it's filled, and what happens if it runs low or out just before a blizzard? Do you have a meter and get charged for your individual usage, like with any other gasline, or does everyone chip into the community "pot" to get it filled every so often, so your gas bill is at the mercy of every neighbor who wants to keep the home heated to 80 degrees and has a houseful of guests over taking hot showers every weekend? I know nothing of this sort of system, so some of these questions may sound really weird to anyone who is familiar with it. I've only heard of using propane for mobile homes or out in really rural areas that they haven't run natural gas out to yet, but then it's your own tank and your own responsibility to fill it (and it really sucks when it runs low on a cold night...had that happen with an RV...then everyone is fighting over who gets the dog to sleep in their bed ).

 

[zoobyshoe]

Sounds like a quetion for Hank Hill.

 

[Moonbear]

Sounds like a quetion for Hank Hill.

"Propane and propane-related accessories."

But...it's not quetion! It's a real question! If it was a quetion, I'd have asked it over in the stupid quetion thread.

 

[Averagesupernova]

Moonbear, I'm sure it's metered. No one in their right mind would just chip in.
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I'd prefer a cute gal over a dog, especially the 2 legged kind of dog. What kind of dog were you fighting over?

 

[russ_watters]

It is individually metered and distributed as if it were natural gas. To make the houses look pretty, they installed the meters 4 feet off the ground, between the garage and the front door (visible in the pic in my other thread). Good place for a bush...

 

[vik3001]

radon concentration 6.2

I am in the process of buying a townhome and the radon level is > 4. it is 6.2. should i buy the home if the seller puts a mitigation system? or should i just walk away from the deal since mitigation systems don't work much.

anybody else in this situation ever. pls help, need advice


more data: the seller said that he lived in the house and did a test many yrs ago close to 1.0. also he has rented it since then, but the tenants moved out in feb and its been closed for 4 months, the windows, doors etc. only once a month seller goes to get his mail.

is the closed condition also contributed to a 6.2 reading?

 

[turbo]

Do not under any circumstances take the word of the seller. When my wife and I bought this place, the seller claimed that the roof never leaked. When we got an early thaw the first winter, so that ice would hold the water against the roof, the roof leaked like a sieve. Then (duh!) I got up on the roof and found out that the shingles had been installed by a bunch of drunks, with exposed nail-heads everywhere. It cost me $6000 for a new roof (in February). A radon problem that is understated by the seller and that cannot be properly mitigated is going to cost you a LOT more than that.