Thank you for posting and sharing DIY radon mitigation information on youtube and your website. I recently purchased an AirThings air quality monitor. After two days of monitoring, our radon level had climbed to 8.5 pCi/L average in our 1st floor living area. Although it's recommended to allow 30 days to determine an accurate average I decided not to waste any more time. I turned to your videos and website for information and decided to install a DIY mitigation system on our basement sump pit. The sump pit is fed by two clay tiles that run around the entire inside perimeter of the basement walls. I spent about $500 for all the materials including ~$150 for the RP145C and ~$100 for the Radon sump dome. There are so many unknowns that I wasn't sure what the results would be, but I was hopeful that levels could be at least halved. I spent about three days off and on installing the system. About 24 hours after turning on the fan the Airthings indicated that radon levels had fallen to .8pCi/L, and after three days the level is currently reported as 0. Needless to say I am very pleased with the results so far. Thanks again for all the helpful information, especially the sump mitigation system info on your website.
Good video, I’ve mitigated over thousand homes(250-300) yearly. Wish you would’ve expressed that cold crack caulking is the primary, as in northern states like minnesota and wisc only seperated cracks are addressed not spider cracks and they are endless.
Thank you Mike for your comment and all your hard work fixing homes. Working in those northern states you mentioned, we know that to be true. Focusing on those separated cracks is key. The smaller hairline cracks connected to those larger cracks do need to be caulked. Isolated spider cracks, because they aren’t all the way through the slab, are not necessary to caulk.
super helpful. The house we moved in to is 60+ years old. We bought it in October and the levels were just under 4, not enough to warrant mitigation, even though they were well aware they were going to spike in the winter months, which is kind of BS. We ended up having to gut the entire basement and after it was re tested in the winter months our numbers were over 12, consistently. I'm pretty mad about it. There were very large gaps along the edge of the foundtation and several in the floor. It'll be interesting to see how good of suction numbers we can get. All the edge cracks were sealed with cement caulk, as were the floors. I'm hoping for a great result once all is done.
Sorry to hear about your experience, that’s frustrating! We are in Wisconsin so we see just how much radon levels can swing up in the winter time. A long term radon test can give you a good idea of what you are on average being exposed to. That sealing will for sure help with your suction. I hope your mitigation goes smoothly!
Great explanations in the video! Quick question - the 6.8 pCi/L before level - was that peak or average? (and same question for the 1.4pCi/L after results). Thanks again!
Thank you, we are glad it could help. So both readings were from short term tests showing the average radon readings over 2 to 4 days. Using short term tests is a good way to get an idea at where your radon levels are during any given time of the year, especially during the winter when they are at the highest. A long term test can give an overall view of your average through out the year.
Great video and well produced! If my slab is on top of gravel / crush is it still advisable to dig up as much as I can of it through the suction hole? Will this improve airflow?
We are so glad the video helped! When we have gravel we will typically dig out at least a bucket so the suction hole has room to pull air. To dig more can always possibly increase air flow and helps when you have a large square footage basement with no drain tile.
Thanks for a great DIY video... I have a lot of cracks in my basement.. Which sealant do you suggest to repair those gaps before I proceed with Radon pump
Thanks @Govind Paul, glad it could help! What we use is a silicone and urethane caulk. Here’s links to 2 different brands on our website we use on mitigation jobs: shopradon.com/products/RadonPro-Sealant-by-RadonAway-p145313404 shopradon.com/products/Titebond-Radon-Sealant-p145313441
@@healthyairsolutions5950 thank you so much for your quick reply... As I am very new to the sealant... I am not sure which one should I order from these 2 for my basement floor crack repair.... Or should I order both and apply one over other...
So the Radon Pro sealant is the better quality because it uses urethane. We would recommend using that. You only need to apply a bead and then smooth it out into the crack using a piece of cardboard like you see in the video. Please don’t hesitate if you have any other questions! shopradon.com/products/RadonPro-Sealant-by-RadonAway-p145313404
@@healthyairsolutions5950 thank you once again... it is so unfortunate that this product is not available in Canada :( Can you please suggest some alternate
Sorry for the delay! We can’t say which brands would be available in Canada, but if you look for a caulk that has a silicone and urethane combination that would be the one you want.
Hi @dougmaverick3287, here is a link to two different sealants we use and along with backer rod that is often helpful in sealing bigger cracks. shopradon.com/products/Sealants-and-PVC-Cement-c36410015
Every situation will be different but there is usually settling that occurs under the slab that can help with air movement. This settling often happens along the footings, which is why we often will place our suctions pits along the exterior walls. Even with packed clay, you can often pull a certain amount of air through it. This is not guaranteed tho which is why digging the suction pit out is very important. We have often experienced that digging out even an extra bucket helped us to reach an opening that increased our airflow greatly. Doing some suction tests with smoke can tell you a lot about what you are dealing with under your slab.
A house naturally draws air up into it due to the stack or chimney effect. Often when we put a test hole in a slab and use our digital manometer we will see positive readings, meaning air is pushing up into the home. But after installation of the fan and sealing the basement those numbers are brought into the negative. This means that the radon that would have naturally been drawn into the home is now being drawn up by the fan and evacuated and safely dispersed above your roof line. The proof is after the installation of your system you do your retest and see what your current radon levels are. No need to worry, this is the most effective way of lowering your radon.
So I sealed all my cracks with concrete patch but I’m still getting readings of high radon? Is concrete patching supply from Lowe’s not effective in reducing radon?
So sealing your cracks in the concrete helps only alongside a mitigation system. It helps with increasing the reach of the suction that the radon fan is able to accomplish. Do you have a mitigation system installed?
A shop vac has more power than a radon fan. From the reading we get with our test we can know that the communication is there or not and depending on how far down into the negative the readings reach with the shop vac, we can get a good idea of how the radon fan will do. We will test again once the fan is installed and even if we get a fraction of what the shop vac was reading we feel good that the radon levels will come down sufficiently.
One question, other than thew cracks in a basement floor, what about the joints between the floor and the concrete form walls of the basement where air can move also. I have read you are not suppose to seal those. any feedback?
Thanks for your question. If the joints run all the way through then they should be sealed. If not you will be sucking out air from the home and lose the negative pressure the fan creates.
@@healthyairsolutions5950 Thanks for the response, so if we are running 4.7 pCi/L and the basement is approx 1800 SqFt then which fan would you go with?
@@3dparagon To make a fan recommendation for you I would need to know: Do you have a sump basin with drain tile? What do you have beneath your basement? (ie sand, clay or gravel) If you prefer you can go to our website and fill out our questionnaire and we will email a recommendation. Here is the link: www.indoor-air-health-advisor.com/do-it-yourself-radon-mitigation.html
There are times when people will start to hear gurgling coming from their radon pipe in the basement and the reason being there suction pit has gathered water. But in most cases, especially with rain or snow melt the water will dissipate back into the ground. Only in a few cases have we had water that stayed and we then had to move the suction point. In these situations, if your water table rises then you will want to look into getting a sump and tile system installed.
I started my hole in the corner of a finished slab basement built in the 90's. I'm at least 12" from each wall. So far almost a foot of solid concrete. Maybe in a footing, would you try a new spot or keep going?
Yes that sounds like you are hitting the footing or a place where excess concrete was dumped. You can start drilling holes away from the spot in 4 or 5 inch increments until your drill bit hits dirt. Then make that the edge of your suction pit.
I agree that is a possible. So either way you have to continue moving your holes away from the wall till you find a thinner section of concrete. It is very hard to dig your hole out if the concrete is too thick.
How about you guys rent out that digital manometer for its full retail price as a deposit there's a lot of us out here that would gladly return it to you and desperately need it. Second question is that Shop-Vac has a lot more suction than these little radon fans what's your thoughts on that? I commented on your other video but we're sitting at 32 when the maximum safe levels eight so I have a lot of work ahead of me
@Jthumper Thats a good question! So it being a pretty costly device we don’t really have a system of renting it out, it might be something we should look into. Looking at your other comment tho from our other video, if you have a situation with drain tile you can use a shop vac hose and stuff it into the drain tile in the sump with some bags in the tile to seal it up. Then if you drill a hole along the perimeter on the other side of the basement you can use a smoke pen to see if the tile is there and if you are getting good air movement. Using the shop vac we will see higher readings of air movement than we do with the radon fans but its simply telling us that there is air to move and we can also tell what fan to use by how hard the vacuum is sucking. Often we see good readings after the fan is installed, not as high but enough to know the system has a good chance at working. But you can only know for sure when you retest. Keep in mind to, that even with a reading if 32, if you have drain tile run around the majority of your basement and if you use the correct fan for your situation, that number can drop well below 4. We have seen it happen many times. The key is to always test after you install your mitigation. For more information you can fill out a contact sheet on our website www.indoor-air-health-advisor.com/contact-us.html Let us know how the mitigation goes! We wish you the best with it and are here to help if you need it!
We bought a $40 digital manometer on Amazon. (Autool brand) I would not recommend this for professional use, but since I'm a DIY'er it is more than good enough for me.
