sealing sump pump cover

If I have a radon mitigation system in place and I just had a sump pump installed does the pump need to be sealed shut?

Reply to
Sharon
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Yes and connected to the radon mitigation system.

Reply to
trader_4

Do you know if radon was found in your basement? Or if the system was just put there to be cautious?

I don't know if the second category exists but I'll bet it does and I'll bet it's common.

Was the system installed when the house was built? If so, I think it was just precautionary and meant to be a selling feature

Since it's open already, I'd consider getting a radon test kit and testing for radon. Some basements have it but aiui, 80% don't. Even if some in your area have it, that doesn't mean you will.

" Even homes in areas considered at low risk for radon can have high radon levels. About 15 percent of homes in the U.S. have radon levels above the 4.0 pCi/L, the level at which the EPA recommends fixing your home." another estimate is 20%, and in Minnesota 40%. (Of course the first estimates should have included Minnesota, so the higher it is there, the slightly lower it is elsewhere.)

IIRC there were two kinds of kits, and the quick ones weren't as good as the 30-day kind. At the end of 30-days you can seal the sump if ened be and ventilate your basement thorougly. Though the gas disperses on its own and eventually works its way out of your house on its own, as long as it's not being resupplied. It's a bigger problem if you spend a lot of time in your basement.

After the 30 days are up, fall is a good time to open the windows. (You can't be ventilating the basement during the test period or that will ruin the test.)

I see the kits are 10 to 30 dollars and they have them at lowes, ace, and I'm sure Home Depot. They have to sit acc. to the instructions for

30 days and then you send them back to be "developed" and they write back to tell you if you have radon and how much. Whether I was sealing the system again or not, I'd want to know. I had either none or very little.
Reply to
micky

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