Radon?

[black_2.5RS]

Bought a kit from amazon with my neighbour. Our house was in the normal range (9 yr old house in Aspen). I understand that radon can seep in if there's cracks in foundation and something I plan to do maybe every 5 or so years. Might be over kill but for some piece of mind, I figure it's worth the $100 or so - esp. since my kids spend a ton of time in the basement now.

[ExtraSlow]

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We just got results of the puck tests. It sat for 99 days and we were 56 bq/m3, which I guess is low. @Pacman , want to lend me your detector so I can check a couple of other spots?

Hey, thanks @Pacman , after using your airthings device to get a second opinion for a couple of days, i'm getting a reading of 61 in my basement near my sump pump. The previous puck measurement was from my main floor. having two similar low readings is good for peace of mine. I'll be returning that airthings device shortly.

[nickyh]

I got my test results back today, 9 yr old home in Aspen, 41 Bq/m3 was our 171 test exposure reading.

[bjstare]

My dad bought a handful of RadonEye detectors/monitors, so I grabbed one and have been moving it around the house. So far, various areas in the basement are getting a daily average of slightly over 200, with lows of 50 and highs of 350. Not great, but not bad.

[Zero102]

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My dad bought a handful of RadonEye detectors/monitors, so I grabbed one and have been moving it around the house. So far, various areas in the basement are getting a daily average of slightly over 200, with lows of 50 and highs of 350. Not great, but not bad.

With an average of just over 200 I'd suggest doing a longer term test. Try not to move the meter around and just leave it in one place for 30-90 days and see what the average ends up being. If it's over 200 I'd suggest looking into mitigation. How old is your house?

[bjstare]

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With an average of just over 200 I'd suggest doing a longer term test. Try not to move the meter around and just leave it in one place for 30-90 days and see what the average ends up being. If it's over 200 I'd suggest looking into mitigation. How old is your house?

Yeah, I'm doing short term tests around the house just to see if I have any areas with a really high one day avg, then going to do one or two longer term tests.

House is a '76 in SW calgary.

[Zero102]

Damn, 76 predates the building code requirement for gravel under the slab (I believe that was 82 or 84), and it's old enough to have asbestos in the drywall mud as well as potentially in the flooring if you have linoleum/vinyl in the basement and have to drill through it. The lack of gravel usually means you have to use a louder higher power radon fan if you end up doing mitigation.

The short-term average of over 200 is not cause for immediate concern, it could be 200 one month and 50 the next, and average out to something very reasonable through the course of a year. Keep monitoring for a while - hopefully you just started monitoring during a spike and it goes down.

[98brg2d]

We just got our results back and the average over a 4 month period was 157±20. This is below the Canadian threshold were remediation is recommended and at the USA threshold. We spend a lot of time where the test kit was located so I am a bit on the fence about doing anything. Our basement is fully developed.

What did everybody's mitigation look like? I imagine in an unfinished basement they can do a lot of easy sealing work as well as a pump. Did anybody with a finished basement cut out any drywall to seal anything up or just have a pump installed? I think my build year is 1976/1977. Just trying to get a sense of "average" amount of demo and refinishing.

There are three rooms in the basement where I wouldn't mind cutting drywall as there are some odd ceiling light fixtures installed in cut aways under the windows. These rooms are used much at all though.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I am still getting significant spikes consistent with the weather - when it warms up the radon goes up significantly to 250-350, and it goes right back down to 50-150 when it cools off. Long term average is still under 200 though. Based on this, I probably wouldn't trust a short-term reading when it's really hot our or right after a cold snap breaks.

[nzwasp]

got the airthings device and had it running a couple of days - its showing me a reading of 49. I honestly thought with the cracks in my concrete floor and unfinished basement that it would be way higher. Early days yet.

[Darell_n]

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got the airthings device and had it running a couple of days - its showing me a reading of 49. I honestly thought with the cracks in my concrete floor and unfinished basement that it would be way higher. Early days yet.

Your neighbour with no basement cracks could be at 400. It is very hit and miss.

[nzwasp]

So I’ve got a friend with a walkout basement and he claims that walk outs don’t have or can’t have issues with radon? Seems like bs to me

[bjstare]

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So I’ve got a friend with a walkout basement and he claims that walk outs don’t have or can’t have issues with radon? Seems like bs to me

That's definitely BS. What's his logic behind it? If I pretend it's not there, it won't hurt me?

[nzwasp]

This is his logic “with a walkout there is not chance of concentration if the doors and windows are always open” and “the accumulation takes over 3 months to get to a level where it begins to be a concern”

[bjstare]

Well if he lives in Calgary I guarantee his windows aren't open all the time year round.

Also as noted in the graphs people have posted (and the ones I've pulled from my radoneye), it can fluctuate significantly day to day. It's not like it piles up on the floor over the course of months haha.

He and his family are the only ones losing out by not even testing for this. Seems silly not to. Worst case, it shows he actually has a problem and he can handle it - making the whole household better off... best case, there's no radon and he gets to say "I told you so" haha.

[88CRX]

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This is his logic “with a walkout there is not chance of concentration if the doors and windows are always open” and “the accumulation takes over 3 months to get to a level where it begins to be a concern”

If your basement (walkout or below grade) is constantly exhausting via open window/doors or through some sort of mechanical/radon venting then yes you don't have a concern. However I doubt the odd window/door being opened would ventilate enough to move the higher radon levels out.

[craigcd]

My brother has a walk out basement. He has a dog so the door opens 5-6 times everyday to let the dog in and out. He is in the process of doing mitigation and had higher levels than me (without a walk out).

I am guessing he would def have higher numbers without a walkout.

[revelations]

Radon is highly dependent on the amount of non-permeable soil (eg. clay) under your house and your area.

I recently was working on a wall adjacent to my basement tub and I found open fucking foundation dirt under my basement bathtub as the previous shit heads didnt bother to seal up the the hole dug out in the concrete for the drain.

I stuck my AirThings in the room next to the wall and the measurements did not change even after I closed off the opening (with some plastic sheets). Lucklily, our area has a high concenrtation of clay-based soil.

[revelations]

.

[Zero102]

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This is his logic “with a walkout there is not chance of concentration if the doors and windows are always open” and “the accumulation takes over 3 months to get to a level where it begins to be a concern”

Counterpoint - my house is a walkout. We deliberately had all the windows open for days on end, we have small kids that are in and out all the time and still had crazy high radon.

It doesn't take months at all, look at my chart, sometimes it takes as little as 2-3 hours to go from 50 to 3000.

(Not trying to start an argument with you, just trying to provide some ammunition)