What can I do to mitigate radon while waiting for a full radon mitigation system?

Question

Before people jump all over me, let me state; I am NOT trying to fool a test! We already had the tests done 2 days ago and it came back at 6.8 pCi/L, which is high enough to cause concern. The only reason we did this test is because my wife and I work out of our home with basement offices and pretty much live down there a good 16 hours a day. We've had health issues for the last 2 out of the 3 years we've lived in this house. I won't go into details as my question is simply about mitigation.

I live in Aurora CO and there is a LOT of radon issues here. The mitigation places are all backed up weeks / months behind. I'm not willing to be exposed to radon levels like this even one more day.

I have just the regular 1960s basement window wells. Should I put fans in there in a couple of rooms? Is it better to suck air in from outside or force it out from inside? Is this possibly going to make the radon worse until I get the mitigation installed or better? Also, any advice in selecting a good mitigation installer or is it pretty much just run of the mill common sense? The places i'm looking at all do follow-up tests and grantees.

Further information: We had the house tested for mold and other allergens. Nothing there. Not surprising since it's Colorado.

Answer 1

Radon doesn't cause persistent coughs, and certainly doesn't cause miscarriage. Radon is a non-reactive, radioactive gas that can increase your risk of lung cancer after being exposed to it for long periods of time (years to decades). Reducing the radon levels in your home will do nothing to stop your cough or any other chronic health problems.

Mold on the other hand can certainly cause allergic reactions, and mold is commonly found in basements.

Even at the radon level you're measuring the risks are relatively low. Assuming you don't smoke, if you lived in your current home your entire life you'd have an additional 1% chance of getting lung cancer. And that assumes you live in your current home your entire life. Even these risks are estimated risks, not measured ones.

If you look at the risks, a level of 4 pCi/L is the equivalent risk of dying in a car crash. But yet nobody seriously advocates not driving. The point being, we accept this level of risk all the time without serious issue.

http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html

Answer 2

First Radon is a pretty serious thing if you are working that much inside your basement. I have seen Radon levels in basement stay consistently at 4 times what is in the upper levels. Your 6.8 reading is high but not alarm bells until you get a few readings that high.

Initial steps:

• Open windows. Better than using fans is trying to create a convection pattern in your basement where the air is moving. Is your basement open enough to make this happen. Are your windows on sliders and easy to open. Get your basement aired out. Also don't close the doors by the steps. Let the basement air convect up to the upper level. Air flow is key.
• Seal any cracks that you have in your basement using caulk or epoxy sealants.
• Have your basement retested periodically over the next few weeks/months. I would say every 2-4 weeks.

If your future tests aren't dropping below the 4.0 pCi/L range than you need mitigation for sure. If they are falling below 4 then you need to figure out if you can keep up the good habits (airing the basement out continuously) even when the weather isn't great. So if your Radon levels drop with just improving airflow and sealing, then you need to test it every couple of months on its worst days. Radon levels can fluctuate greatly from day to day in a home (I had a house tested at 7.5 one day and two days later and me not touching airflow it was 4.3) so there is no way of knowing the "worst" day. But you can approximate during the winter "we haven't opened the windows in 3 days because it's cold as hell so let's test for Radon".

Now as far as mitigation, for most homes this will involve running a PVC pipe from your basement to the outside of your house - most of the time venting out your roof/attic. Sometimes the air cleaner is installed in the basement and sometimes in the attic. It probably involves opening a few walls. It is definitely a DIY type of job but that is a different question that would require a ton of details. I have installed Radon mitigation systems in basements in one day with just my son helping. A mitigation company will charge you anywhere between $800-2000 depending on the access to your basement floor (finished areas cost more), access to running the venting, how big your house is, if you have a circuit available to handle the electricity for the system, and what kind of system you want (you can get them at big box for $100-500 usually). DIY this could be a $200 job - it is just labor intensive - mainly patching drywall in your house.

How to get a good contractor? I would make sure they are certified to mitigate Radon. You can also call your local city hall and talk to the building inspector for local businesses that are certified or a suggestion. Radon mitigation is a lot of common sense (seal your basement and pump air out of it) so it doesn't take long talking to a contractor to tell if they understand how to do the job.

Answer 3

If you are trying to mitigate it, mitigate it; if you can't get a company in to do it, do it yourself. You need to suck it out of the soil under/around the house before it enters the house (indeed, you'd like to change the air leakage to "from the house to the soil", not vice versa) and you do that by reducing the pressure under and around the foundation - by using any existing drain pipes or sump, and by adding holes, and sucking with a fan - a radon fan. You can buy them on the internet...

Sump, no sump? If sump, seal and suck. No sump, or to cover areas away from sump, drill holes and suck. Easy-peasy approach (and quite common for retrofit) is to put the pipe/fan mostly outside the house. If you want to call it a stop-gap and have it checked over and/or improved by a pro later, fine. But if it needs doing, do it, don't just fiddle with opening windows.

Mind, if you feel this affected by working in your basement 16 hours a day, there's a really obvious solution which is to use the basement for storage or the like (bomb shelter should make a nice root cellar) and move your offices out of it. Priorities, folks - working at home should not mean that your boss is a jerk who makes you work in a basement 2/3rds of the day...you'd be better putting your bedroom in the bomb shelter by those numbers - half the time in high-radon (and/or mold) environment (and you won't miss the view while you're asleep), though "neither in the basement" seems a much better approach at least until the basement problem(s) are solved.

You could even follow a trend and use your bomb shelter as your server room - computers don't mind radon or even mold that much (and the heat off the computers might even help with the mold) - just run network cables up to daylight for anything you actually DO with them. They don't require much face-to-face time, normally, and they'll be bombproof ;)