Radon Systems - Anyone DIY?

Back in March of 2020 I started working from home a lot more frequently, and it appears this may continue for the foreseeable future.  To be more productive in this endeavor, I set up my home office in the basement, away from distractions and with everything I needed to do my job. 

You can probably see where this is going.

When we bought this house, we did not do a radon test, and it's always been something in the back of my mind.  I mentioned it to Mrs. VCH this past weekend, and she said that it was always something that was on _her_ mind too.  We just never talked about it.  So I decided to do something.  Maryland offers low-cost radon test kits, so I ordered one.  Afterwards, I was surfing around the 'net and discovered these neat little AirThings devices that continuously monitored radon levels.  I ordered one of those, and set it up in my basement office last night.  Came downstairs this morning and saw the initial reading was about 30 pCi/L.  The "safe" level varies depending on source, but is anywhere from 2.7 to 4.0.  So we definitely have a radon problem, especially since I'm spending ~8 hours a day in the basement.

Our house was built in various stages between ~1850 and 1900 or so.  The basement was originally a stone foundation, but a previous owner built up cinder block walls around the inside of the original foundation to support it.  I'm assuming the original floor was dirt, and it's concrete now, but the "slab" was just ~2" of concrete just poured over the dirt by some previous owner.  It's uneven and cracked in several places.  

I watched a bunch of youtube videos on radon remediation.  Usually they use a sump pump pit to attach the pipe to and run the fan outside and up over the roof.  I can do all this myself, but I'm more concerned with the connection to the "foundation" of my house, such as it is.  I've seen recommendations to drill a 4" hole in the floor and connect a pipe to it, and to the fan.  I've seen others to dig a ~20 gallon sized pit / sump in the basement floor and connect the suction pipe to the pit with an airtight lid. 

On my house, as far as I know there's no french drains or air conditioning return vents or anything else funky, and I'm fairly sure there's no moisture barrier under the concrete floor.  I really do not want to get into pulling up and redoing the floor in the basement, and can't pour a new floor over the old as the headroom down there is already marginal (like 6', and lower in some places)

Anyone had any luck in installing a radon system in a house without a sump pump, or an older home in general?  Pics?

I paid an outfit who specializes in radon mitigation to just do it for me. Radon levels dropped from an average of ~17 pCi/L to <1.00. They had a team of 3 experienced workers and it took them hours (about half a day) to get it all done.

I would not have wanted to tackle that job myself. Well worth the cost.

I don't know if your situation will be tougher than mine. I had a gravel-floor crawl space that needed to be covered and a sump pump that needed to be sealed. However, my house was built in the 90's and the concrete floor is intact. As I understand, you would need to seal up *all* of the cracks in your floor.

DISCLAIMER:  not an expert, didn't stay at holiday inn express last night.

with every house i've bought, i have had a 24-hour test done with a counting machine in the basement and all doors and windows closed on the entire house.  according to the testers, any "not sealed" time, even just opening and closing the front door to go to work, can dilute the radon concentration and foul the test results.

i conclude from this that ventilating the basement via an open window is probably enough to reduce radon concentration to passable level.

then again, i've heard that exposure to radon gas is the #2 cause of lung cancer.  so maybe don't FAFO.

I'd support the comments of BeerBaron and AngryCorvair:

1. Radon is bad stuff.
2. Any ventilation makes a big difference.
3. For venting, things have to be sealed up well.

We didn't test when we bought. A year later, I tested and the basement was around 40! Yikes.

We paid a local, independent radon mitigation company $1,300 for everything. The company is registered with our state (Colorado) which means they are required to give a lifetime warranty. Took two people a full day and they did a very nice job functionally and aesthetically. Parts were probably $300?

They went from a sump hole through a crawl space out the garage up the wall into the garage attic, did the electrical connections, and then an approved vent out the garage roof.

A key benefit is we now have a certified system for resale, plus comfort knowing it was done right. Our Amazon continuous radon monitor now shows 0.2 to 1.9.

Did not DIY, but did have a radon remediation system installed in a 1928 house with no sump pump.

 We've since sold the house and the details are foggy. IIRC the buyers wanted to hit a target that was below the "safe" level the initial system had hit and we ended up having revisions done.

I don't think there was anything done to the floor beyond poking holes in it for the tubes, but i did not involve myself in the details. IIRC there was no significant breaking up of the basement/foundation floor.

EDIT: and agreed with the above. The process was more reasonable than expected, and doing it right seemed very important.

I test my house every couple of years.  After the first test and looking into mitigation, I was told that my levels were borderline and to try to lower them.  My open well and two sump pumps were the major causes of mine, plugged them up and retested.  All is well now.

A little light reading.

Well, berkeley.  The meter is now up to 40 on the long term average.  

That's a little terrifying.

volvoclearinghouse said:

Well, berkeley.  The meter is now up to 40 on the long term average.  

I would call in a professional for that.

volvoclearinghouse said:

Well, berkeley.  The meter is now up to 40 on the long term average.  

a friend lived off 27 in Damascus, their numbers were in the thousands IIRC before they installed a system.  under 1 after.  something in the rocks up there, i guess.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

volvoclearinghouse said:

Well, berkeley.  The meter is now up to 40 on the long term average.  

a friend lived off 27 in Damascus, their numbers were in the thousands IIRC before they installed a system.  under 1 after.  something in the rocks up there, i guess.

The EPA map shows us in the deep red zone.

https://maps.health.maryland.gov/phpa/eh/radon/

I saw one guy in PA had a reading of like 3000.  They told them to GTFO out of the house until it was remediated.

I suspect the "natural ventilation" of our house being old and drafty is actually helping somewhat.  I bet newer houses are even worse, because they are so "tight".

Commenting to come back to later. 

So, ah, as someone who works in the basement and hasn't had a test done since we bought our 1980 the house in 2012, which detector do you all use?  I like the one that VCH linked above, anything better?

In reply to WonkoTheSane :

AirThings seems to be the most respected brand for continuous home testing.

I ordered this one off of Amazon. Looks like the same as what VCH listed.

Groovy, thanks for confirming.  I think Santa will be bringing one.