Fed up with Radon

[john]

When you say drill, your talking about under the slab into the dirt right ? Im guessing home depot has these 20 foot extensions ? im already having decent results with only about a 3 foot penetration. But your method seems more logical.

Dirt grass...you mean something like hay ?

I was thinking about cutting out a wire fence just underneath the hay so no animals get caught in there....or decide to call it their home.

yea, but they'd probably ask..

Something I just thought about... when they run the septic lines...they dont run them under the foundation do they ? Trying to think if theres something under there that I might hit with the drill. Because the whole is pretty close to the septic pipe. Im just not sure exactly where...doubt it would be under the foundation right ? Probably a super noobish question.

[willshak]

They're not supposed to be. The fields are usually in the back yards, especially when you have a well, which would be in the front yard, or in any case, at the opposite part of one or the other.

[john]

even if they were...they wouldnt be underneath the foundation of the house right ? I doubt anything goes there.

btw, anybody know where to buy a 10 foot drill bit extension ? The biggest one I see online is 1 foot. Not quite sure how Haller meant a 20 foot extension. I'd be satisfied with 10 feet.

[Mark]

also I forgot to mention in terms of pressure differentials...you want no hvac RETURNS to be open in the living space near the ground floor, have them open in the upper floors..... the returns pull air and will lower the pressure in the living area which can draw in the radon...

Mark

[hallerb]

meant a 20 foot

electrician drill bits have extensions available, local home depot sells them. at least 3 feet have seen 6 feet and longer. can also try a electrical ssupply house

you want to avoid hitting a sewer line.

if i were you i would just spend the bucks and have the pros install the system for 800 bucks. around here its generally a few thousand.

I have a water problem here, installing interior french drain, part of thats already in under our new furnace.

our french drain will drain to daylight near the curb, which will hopefully fix our radon problem too. never had it teasted but all narby homes have it.

[john]

Yea but most of that is confided within the concrete isnt it ? I always thought the sewage lines from the house to the septic go out through the side embedded within the concrete ... ? Or do the lines actually go underneath the slab as well ?

Like I said , theres many complications with that. If I were to install it outdoors , the fan would have to be outside...and temps get to -10 faurunheit in the winter here. Fan wouldnt last long. Plus this is an unusual installation. The only estimates I ever got were for doing the mitigation system inside....in the garage area. Which wouldnt work anyway. Not sure if anyone would even work with my current situation.

[hallerb]

Plus this is an

sewer lines nearly all underground, slab most likely 4 inches, sewer pipe 4 inch diameter.

lines generally underground, and under slab.

our neighborhood pittsburgh has radon fans, most outdoors, temperatures blow zero. fans appear to run fine.

if your selling the home, fan life expectancy will be next owners problem.

one neighbor here put fan in basement, ran exhaust line up thru chimney originally used for furnace. it was wierd seeing plastic pipe being inserted in chimney.

[john]

The reason im so determined with this method is because its working great so far as is....without any drill extensions. The levels have come down in

48 hours since I opened that area up under the slab.....from 5.4 pcI (48 hours ago) to 3.9 pcI (currently)....and continues to fall. I've had closed house conditions the whole time....the only other time i've seen it drop that quickly is when I had the windows open. So its definately working... This may even be good advice for any of you to give to others if you know their having a radon issue.

crap...thats the only issue I have then currently. The area where the house pipes run out to the septic are right in that area. Maybe if im careful and just use the extension bit (without anything sharp on the end of it) i'll be ok. Thats all cast iron and clay piping under there im sure....right ? Wouldnt be easy to drill a hole into there.

[hallerb]

have come down in

all. =EF=BF=BD I've had

older homes have clay pipe, cast iron very rare. newer homes have plastic pipe. clay pipe would drill pretty easy

you could do the vent hole in more than one place.

[john]

Thats interesting. Thought I read somewhere that they never use plastic under the house so that it could support the weight of the house and not crack. Or something like that.

But like I said, my levels are down to 3.5 now and still dropping. Im so pleased right now. Thanks Haller and others for the help.

My dad brought up a good point on the phone last night...saying I should buy a plastic elbow connection as well so that the pipes will bend upwards when installed. Im going to home depot soon...not sure if i'll do the drilling or not. if so, i'll be careful.

[hallerb]

e drilling

you want the pipe to slope downward away from home.... since radon is heavier than air

I would do a second one....... just to be on the safe side.

this is called passive radon control. no fans no power and nothing to maintain

[john]

Mission complete and levels have still been lowering since finishing it up yesterday afternoon.

pic -

I couldnt get 1 inch PCV piping under there so I used 5 1/2 inch PCV pipes painted black. And used five 45 degree angle plastic elbows close to the slab connection. I put a long thin rock on top of the pipes before pouring the dirt in. So far so good.

Haller, this so called Passive Radon Control wouldnt pass inspection if I said im using it for radon ?

And when you say radon is heavier then air. Dont you mean lighter ? So that it could escape out ?

[hallerb]

=EF=BF=BDPCV pipes

r ? =EF=BF=BD So

radon gas is heavier than air, you want the pipe utlets pointing down.

looks like yours are up in air:(

at home sales time buyer will have radon test. if it comes back ok, then why worry?

you shopuld probably tell them what the pipe does, but the buyer will be more interested in the level.

[hallerb]

radon is much heavier than air and actually pushed up from underground.

the proof of this is.

if radon were lighter than air, a plain vent to the roof with no fan would carry it away