Radon mitigation - who did you use? cost?

[Ariakas]

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What's an acceptable level of Radon? I got the Airthings unit and after a week I'm averaging basically 200 so far. The app says anything over 100 is bad, Canada says 200 is bad, and US has a whole bunch of other guidelines. Also, is it a bitch to mitigate in a finished basement?

I would say 200 is on the high side. I have a finished basement when I installed my radon mitigation system, I went with Great West Radon. I had to move some furniture so they can pull the carpet up in the far corners of the basement, they drill a hole and made sure the sub slab depressure was good with the fan they supplied. Ideally you should seal all cracks in basement but obviously not possible with finished basement, they sealed the cracks that's visible. My radon measured around 400 in basement, it gets worse in winter since windows are closed. I did the mitigation last Oct, I've been measuring since the mitigation and long term average is 10. I've seen days where my 1 day reading is 0. Another benefit is the basement is dryer in the winter and feels warmer as air is continuous sucked out from underneath the slab.

[Rarasaurus]

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I would say 200 is on the high side. I have a finished basement when I installed my radon mitigation system, I went with Great West Radon. I had to move some furniture so they can pull the carpet up in the far corners of the basement, they drill a hole and made sure the sub slab depressure was good with the fan they supplied. Ideally you should seal all cracks in basement but obviously not possible with finished basement, they sealed the cracks that's visible. My radon measured around 400 in basement, it gets worse in winter since windows are closed. I did the mitigation last Oct, I've been measuring since the mitigation and long term average is 10. I've seen days where my 1 day reading is 0. Another benefit is the basement is dryer in the winter and feels warmer as air is continuous sucked out from underneath the slab.

Sucking cold air off the basement floor through the little cracks is a benefit i always thought of too. For this reason i think skipping sealing is not that bad. Checking slab pressure in other corners also seems a bit overkill. If the system goes in and the readings are 10 then the problem is solved. Of course if the readings dont drop you may have pressure problems but i assume that is rare.

[bjstare]

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Attachment 94543

I just DIY'd it on Friday night and it's dropped from almost 600 bq/m3 to 21 bq/m3 by this morning (Airthings Wave does trailing 24 hr averages each hour). I had the exterior rough-in on my house like @nagooro so it only cost me ~$400 in parts and tools. I got the fan and other radon specific bits from Radon West and the pipe and couplings from Canadian Tire. I bought a PVC hand saw too, it would have been easier if I had a reciprocating saw, but I managed with hand tools.

User name does not check out.

[nagooro]

Radon west did our mitigation yesterday, nothing really negative to say. They were professional and the install was clean. They used the rough in going below the house, but replaced the exhaust on the side of the house to a properly rated one (schedule 40?). Used a smoke machine to check for major leaks and sealed a few in. The fan was pulling in quite a bit more air than it needed to, so they installed a damper.

[OTown]

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Radon west did our mitigation yesterday, nothing really negative to say. They were professional and the install was clean. They used the rough in going below the house, but replaced the exhaust on the side of the house to a properly rated one (schedule 40?). Used a smoke machine to check for major leaks and sealed a few in. The fan was pulling in quite a bit more air than it needed to, so they installed a damper.

How much did they run you at final tally? I dont have a rough in.

I've got an Airthings and im getting a LT Average of 175, sometimes peaking over 200... so I'm a bit on the fence about it.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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How much did they run you at final tally? I dont have a rough in.

I've got an Airthings and im getting a LT Average of 175, sometimes peaking over 200... so I'm a bit on the fence about it.

They told me 90% of the time they don't use the builder rough-ins as they're in the wrong spots, so it doesn't affect the cost either way.

My readings are exact same as yours, 185-200 (long term 1-year avg), so I haven't been in a rush but that's still double the recommended range so I plan on getting it mitigated in 2021 sometime.

[HuMz]

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They told me 90% of the time they don't use the builder rough-ins as they're in the wrong spots, so it doesn't affect the cost either way.

My readings are exact same as yours, 185-200 (long term 1-year avg), so I haven't been in a rush but that's still double the recommended range so I plan on getting it mitigated in 2021 sometime.

I am curious how the builder rough-ins would be in the wrong spot. I could see if your exhaust pipe is also roughed in, and it isn't high enough, or exits near another intake vent. However, with the slab pipe, I would have thought it doesn't matter where through the slab you go.

My readings are in the 2-400 range (last few weeks) and was going to do this using the builder rough-in myself, but I'd hate to go through all the effort just to find out the pipe through the slab is in the wrong spot.

[The_Rural_Juror]

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I am curious how the builder rough-ins would be in the wrong spot.

Some builders are dumb dumbs. Like putting the rough-in in the middle of an undeveloped basement, closet...

[Mitsu3000gt]

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I am curious how the builder rough-ins would be in the wrong spot. I could see if your exhaust pipe is also roughed in, and it isn't high enough, or exits near another intake vent. However, with the slab pipe, I would have thought it doesn't matter where through the slab you go.

My readings are in the 2-400 range (last few weeks) and was going to do this using the builder rough-in myself, but I'd hate to go through all the effort just to find out the pipe through the slab is in the wrong spot.

This is how Radon West answered the question when I asked if having a builder rough-in affects the cost:

"Regarding Rough in – over 90% on the installs we do we test them and end up abandoning them as the static pressure is higher of the R/I pipe and we get a better system curve by coring a separate hole. We typically do not use them but the good gravel and poly you have is benieficaly to achieve very low static pressures. Usually we are looking for shortcuts of air in a newer home, or an unbalanced natural building pressure."

[black_2.5RS]

We used Great West Radon and found they were great. Prompt, clean and delivered for the fee they quoted. Work was done early as well. Cant even see the holes they drilled into our flooring so color match was right on.

Our numbers dropped from the low 200’s to around 40. I think you can get a discount or something if you reference my name (if you’re interested - PM me). Worth a try anyways.

We also got a quote from radon west and they were more expensive but not by much. Maybe $100. I found that I had to hassle them a lot (as in reminder for the appt, they were late for the appt, didn’t send the quote when they promised).

[Waldi]

Another one for Radon west

[Positron]

Just curious for those who've had their radon mitigated and have continuous monitoring like airthings wave, how are your levels after the mitigation? Do still experience spikes of less than 100 bq/m3?

Which fans do you have the rn1, 2, 3 or 4?

Thanks

[revelations]

I used the Airthings to monitor and map rooms in the basement (and the rest of the house) for areas that were prone, and then fix accordingly. Usually a week of pre/post monitoring.

I found a couple of openings in the mechanical room and one below the basement bathroom vanity that I sealed with concrete caulking substance. Had the Airthings reading 400+ right by one hole and about 100 after sealing (caulk takes weeks to cure properly).

Over all though, the basement is <100 most of the time (where my office is).

[realazy]

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Just curious for those who've had their radon mitigated and have continuous monitoring like airthings wave, how are your levels after the mitigation? Do still experience spikes of less than 100 bq/m3?

Which fans do you have the rn1, 2, 3 or 4?

Thanks

I used the rn2 as that was the recommended diy fan by radon west. My levels went from high 500s down to below 20 on average. I have seen 1 spike this winter to 90. Keep in mind airthings readings are trailing 24 hr averages.

[nagooro]

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Just curious for those who've had their radon mitigated and have continuous monitoring like airthings wave, how are your levels after the mitigation? Do still experience spikes of less than 100 bq/m3?

Which fans do you have the rn1, 2, 3 or 4?

Thanks

I have an airthings home. Levels are typically 20 +/-10, used to be in the 3-400's.

[pheoxs]

Bumping this, bought a house and reading online I think radon is something I should test for just to be safe? Are the self test kits any good or does anywhere rent a detector I can set up for a while? Any advice would be appreciated.

1959 3-level split house. Crawlspace is all concrete but there is a ~8" diameter rock filled hole in it where they replaced the sewer line from the kitchen reno to the main (I think?). No idea if that makes a difference but reading online holes = bad.