Radon pump install

[fatjay]

When my wife was pregnant, I gave up my office in the spare bedroom and moved to the basement. My basement radon levels were about 0.38 in the summer, with the basement windows open. US limits are 4.0. A 1.0 reading is about 2 cigarettes a day as far as cancer goes. Since closing up the basement for the winter, it went up to about 1.3.

Although I checked yesterday and for some reason it went up to 4.08. So I got a radon pump and some pvc and some wire. The pump was $172, along with $190 in pvc, switches and wire I already had.

I put the pickup in the sump hole, ran pipe along the back wall, up, out a hole, to the pump, and up the wall. I installed a switch with outlet so I can turn it off in warmer weather when I have the house more opened up.

 

[mrmikey]

I'd put a cover over the sump, bet it would lower it even more by putting a negative pressure under the slab.

 

[fatjay]

I'd put a cover over the sump, bet it would lower it even more by putting a negative pressure under the slab.

I have a floating slap on top of lots of cracked concrete, i'm pretty sure the radon is not only coming up through the sump pit. Although I don't know, so I'm open to new knowledge.

 

[WinterDeere]

More typical install would be to core-drill a 4" hole opposite corner of basement from that sump, dig (shop vac) out some dirt, fill with crushed stone, then plug suction pipe in there and silicone in place. Will create a negative pressure over entire slab, with sump being primary inlet (not outlet) to sub-slab space.

 

[jyoutz]

I had one installed this past summer in our basement. They drilled the slab and installed like winter Deere described. The fan is on the pipe that goes under the slab and exhausts outside. You did well with your pricing. They installed 2 units, on on each side of the basement and I paid just shy of $4500.

 

[fatjay]

I'm not sure I could create a seal around the sump pit without replacing the sump pump itself. That thing almost never gets water, it has to do hurricane levels of water, but when it does, water does get in the basement, and travel to that pit, so it may not be in my best interest to seal it.

 

[WinterDeere]

Don't seal the sump pit. You drill a separate hole for the radon suction pipe, and seal around that.

 

[fatjay]

That makes a little sense. But wouldn't that just be like sucking on the ground? I have no idea what is under my slab. I'd imagine it would just pull full vacuum all the time.

 

[WinterDeere]

That makes a little sense. But wouldn't that just be like sucking on the ground? I have no idea what is under my slab.

There should be 4" - 6" of 2A crushed stone beneath the slab.

I'd imagine it would just pull full vacuum all the time.

Yep... that's the idea! If pressure below the slab is less than pressure above, no radon gas from the ground can be drawn into living space.

 

[4570Man]

That makes a little sense. But wouldn't that just be like sucking on the ground? I have no idea what is under my slab. I'd imagine it would just pull full vacuum all the time.

The slab would have to be on clean stone to work. If the slab is on dirt or crusher run it wouldn’t be able to move any air through it.

 

[fatjay]

The slab would have to be on clean stone to work. If the slab is on dirt or crusher run it wouldn’t be able to move any air through it.

The house is 59 years old, i'm pretty sure it was not built on clean crushed stone. I know the patio I have dug under which was part of the original house was just on dirt.

 

[old and tired]

Wow, I wish I had readings that low. My high mark was 116.4 (same monitor) - Normal readings is 7-8. If I let the basement "breath" (open doors), I can get it down to 4-5.

At my age, it doesn't matter... I do have a fan to try and keep it under what it was.

If you are worried, add more fans....

 

[fatjay]

My buddy is on shale and he says his number was in the 30's, after a $2500 system he's down to 2-3. He says he still doesn't feel comfortable spending an extended period of time in his basement, which is a shame because it's huge.

 

[fatjay]

After 24 hours, the 24hr average has dropped to 1.54 from 4.08. I'm going to keep an eye on it the next couple days to see what happens.

 

[WinterDeere]

The slab would have to be on clean stone to work. If the slab is on dirt or crusher run it wouldn’t be able to move any air through it.

That statement holds true, no matter from where he's trying to pull pressure, existing sump location included.

 

[WinterDeere]

The house is 59 years old, i'm pretty sure it was not built on clean crushed stone. I know the patio I have dug under which was part of the original house was just on dirt.

One of the businesses my father owned in the 1980's did radon remediation, and we did a whole neighborhood of houses built in 1953. All had a good layer of crushed stone under their concrete basement floors, so there's hope for you.

 

[chim]

You're missing the boat if you don't seal off that sump. You want to have negative pressure under the slab. My one BIL had a pro do a system and they used a piece pf plexiglass or Lexan and silicone caulk. I've installed three radon systems. One here and one for each of two different sons. Fortunately these were done before I retired so the PVC pipe was sourced from the freebie pile at work. The fans and accessories were purchased from Val Riedman and I'd recommend him for any needs. If you send a sketch of your place he'll give you guidance:

Do It Yourself Radon Mitigation Help Guide

A do it yourself radon mitigation system is doable but you will need to have some expert advice to get good results.

www.indoor-air-health-advisor.com

My 2 story place has a roughly 30'x30' main basement and another 16'x25' concreted crawlspace. I drilled a hole for a 4" SCH40 PVC near the center of the main basement on the unfinished side of a wall and another for a 3" PVC in the crawlspace. I removed about a 5 gallon bucket of stone and dirt from each hole and left the void. A homemade auger (modified cut-off screw-in trailer anchor) made it easier to work through the holes in the concrete. Piping is 4" with a 4x3 wye to pick up the crawlspace where the pipe passes through to go up through a closet and the dead space above the garage to the fan. Then it goes straight up through the roof. Fan's been running continuously since about 2010. Pic below is from 5 minutes ago. Looks like some blue juice may have evaporated over the past 13 years

One son had a raised rancher. There was a wall separating the garage and finished part of the basement, and on the finished side there was a set of steps with a storage space under it. There was minimal stone fill under his slab. We made the hole in the storage space floor, went out the wall into the garage and up through a closet and into the space above the first floor ceiling.

The second son has a rancher with a daylight basement on one side. We drilled his in the utility closet in the basement where his well pump accessories, water heater, sump pump etc are located. We were able to get through a floor joist to the garage and up through the garage. This was the only one with a sump pump and it was sealed with what looks like a factory-made black plastic cover. When we drilled the hole in the concrete, there was no crushed stone there. He checked with Val and he recommended a different fan with a greater pull.

I haven't kept the numbers, but all 3 were very successful in reducing the radon readings. I used a core machine and made the holes just large enough for the pipe and a little butyl duct gasket gum between the pipe and the concrete made a good seal.

 

[fatjay]

48hr post startup and i'm at 0.70. I haven't ruled out coring out the concrete slab a foot over from the pipe and creating a sealed off hole that the pump can suck from, but i do wonder how much better I can get from 0.70 for the added expense and price.

My friend has a sealed off system professionally installed and he hasn't gotten below 1.5. However, my office is in the basement and I spend a lot of time there, radon is a very real concern for me. If I can get to 0 or even 0.35 that's even better.

 

[WinterDeere]

48hr post startup and i'm at 0.70. I haven't ruled out coring out the concrete slab a foot over from the pipe and creating a sealed off hole that the pump can suck from, but i do wonder how much better I can get from 0.70 for the added expense and price.

My friend has a sealed off system professionally installed and he hasn't gotten below 1.5. However, my office is in the basement and I spend a lot of time there, radon is a very real concern for me. If I can get to 0 or even 0.35 that's even better.

Yes, you will reduce levels, just by eliminating how much can leak up through that hole. If nothing else, you're creating a net-negative pressure locale, such that the majority of air leaking out of the house is thru that pipe, at least when the clothes dryer or range hood aren't battling against it.

I suspect penalties of running that rig as-is will be cooler rooms at some distance from the pipe (or thermostat), as you're probably drawing more air into the house to feed the radon blower. Maybe also increased heating costs.

By just sealing the pipe to the sub-slab region, as previously described, you help to eliminate these issues. That is one of the reasons I previously recommended penetrating the slab on the opposite corner of the basement from the sump, rather than right next to it.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

My reading has been creeping up.