House Failed Radon Inspection?

[LCC]

You should find out what the radon readings in the neighborhood are in general. Is your house having typical readings, high, low for the area?
The County will be your source for this, they keep records on Radon exposures per EPA mandates.
And keep in mind if you buy the house, beside the health risk, you now own the problem if and when you try to sell the house.
Personally would walk away, and consider myself better educated for my next purchase offer.

 

[wheelgun28]

My current house has a Radon system. Its a 4" pipe with a fan that draws from under the basement floor. It keeps a vacuum under the concrete.

I think the Radon thing is over blown myself. Whats the level of exposure and how long are you exposed?

Also, people pay money to go sit in an old mines for hours and take in the Radon. Look up Radon Baths...

My last house when we sold it the buyers inspector tested it came back slightly high. He wanted money for a system, I said no we came down enough already, he still bought it.

 

[rwsmith]

I haven't had o deal with it......

Someone suggested I open my basement windows to air it out and retest. I have a conscience though, so had the fan installed.
The buyers were happy I was upfront, and we're friends 4 years later.

...but Radon is a gas and is seems ventilation would be a simple fix. If the house is on a slab, that could be more difficult.

 

[steelslaver]

Then you can go to a radon mine and sit around for the health benefits.

The Therapeutic use of Radon: A Biomedical Treatment in Europe; An "Alternative" Remedy in the United States

Years ago I had a girl friend who worked in the one near Bolder Montana. Took people down in them and spend the day for health benefits. Lots of Europeans are into it. Wonder what ever happened to her. Was so cute and smart, but went home to meet her parents and the way she treated her mother was a big eye opener. Extracted myself from that one.

 

[glenwolde]

A short term test is only an indicator for performing a longer term test. Radon levels are highly variable. Real Estate agents and home inspectors are misusing the short term test as a definitive answer.

 

[BC38]

Our house tested high - in the 12 pCi/L range, but we are in an area that is known for high levels.
We installed a mitigation system. As others have said, it isn't a fan that moves air from inside the basement to the outside.
It is a fan that creates a slight vacuum underneath the floor slab to prevent the radon from coming up through the slab. A good system includes a fan that creates some pretty serious suction. The meter on the pipe shows it is pulling something like 10 inches of mercury worth of vacuum.
Seems to have done the trick. The levels are well below the recommended max now. As a cancer survivor myself I felt like it was a pretty cheap peace of mind decision.

 

[df06]

We had a house in the Minneapolis suburbs that basement tested over 4.0. We had a mitigation system installed about 30 years ago, seems like it cost $1500. Then the radon test was well under 4.0. Sold the home two years ago. Buyer had it tested for radon before closing. I don't know the test result, but the sale went through without a hitch.

 

[blues7]

Western NC is also an area with high Radon readings. Frankly, I think it's way over hyped. If I ever intend to sell my home, I'll deal with mitigation before I put it on the market.

 

[pennzy]

From lung.org
Radon exposure is the second-leading cause of lung cancer. Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that exists naturally in soil. It comes up through the soil and enters buildings through small gaps and cracks.

 

[ladder13]

And yet people buy houses in the paths of hurricanes, on fault lines, in cities with huge pumps holding back the water and fret over something easily remedied.

 

[Ziggy2525]

From lung.org
Radon exposure is the second-leading cause of lung cancer. Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that exists naturally in soil. It comes up through the soil and enters buildings through small gaps and cracks.

OK, but I'm not sure practically what that means. I live in a high radon area. There's never been an epidemic of lung cancer cases.

 

[hittman77]

Folks earn money by "saving" you from a gas you can't see, taste, smell, hear or feel. But it can kill you. ( ?? )

And it's promoted by the corrupt EPA.

Gotcha.

 

[glenwolde]

I'd take the money for the mitigation system rather than making them install it. Then do a 90 day test and see if you really need it.

 

[pennzy]

Oh oh. Another conspiracy run amuck. The information era is making us less informed not more. Radio active naturally occurring gas is harmful and can't be seen. This is not debated. Like gravity.

 

[ladder13]

Death is the only thing not debatable.

 

[pennzy]

Death is the only thing not debatable.

Taxes also I guess.

 

[max503]

My current house has a Radon system. Its a 4" pipe with a fan that draws from under the basement floor. It keeps a vacuum under the concrete.

I think the Radon thing is over blown myself. Whats the level of exposure and how long are you exposed?

Also, people pay money to go sit in an old mines for hours and take in the Radon. Look up Radon Baths...

My last house when we sold it the buyers inspector tested it came back slightly high. He wanted money for a system, I said no we came down enough already, he still bought it.

If I really liked the house I wouldn't let that stop me.

We had this house tested and it came up slightly over the threshold so we had the seller install the pipe and pump. Retest showed fine.
Many neighbors lived their lives in this subdivision. There haven't been any health issues with previous occupants, many lived here long term.
I think it's overblown - unless the house has crazy high readings.

 

[Ziggy2525]

...
Many neighbors lived their lives in this subdivision. There haven't been any health issues with previous occupants, many lived here long term.
I think it's overblown - unless the house has crazy high readings.

Exactly. The idea that 3.9 pCi/L is harmless, but somehow 4.1 or 4.5 pCl/L is deadly is nonsense. There's an element of risk that increases as the radon level increases.

 

[Dave_n]

In SE PA we sit on a line of "mountains" with high radon emissions. RE Agents tried a number of years ago to have a limit put in and paid off enough PA legislators to do so. If anyone ever spent 30 minutes in NH sitting on the Old Man of The Mountains, then if male, your gonads were exposed to a level way, way above the limit. As mentioned by an earlier poster, there are no records of a Lung Cancer epidemic in SEPA once the level of high volume cigarette smokers died off!! Dave_n

 

[Protocall_Design]

Taxes also I guess.

True, but death can't get any worse than it already is...