Radon system? DIY…

1 pCi/L equals 37Bcq/M3. We topped out at 32pCi/L but were often around the 20 mark.
There were some very helpful installers who were willing to give advice to diy’ers
 
I've often wondered just how bad the radon is, and odds of someone getting lung cancer from it. We are in a very high area but have never tested it. Our house was built in 1969. It has about 1600 sq ft of unfinished basement, and about 800 sq ft of gravelly loam crawl space. I always wondered why the original owner did that big of a crawl space instead of digging it out like the rest of the basement.

The original owner lived here almost 40 years and is in his 90's now and still doing well. He stopped in a couple years ago on a cross country trip just to say "hi". And my next door neighbor who's been in her house for the past 53 years is in her 80's and is doing fine healthwise as well. She moved out of her house last year and put it on the market earlier this year and was under contract, then it was suddenly back on the market........and then the radon guy was there installing a system. So I figured it was higher than "acceptable" levels.

But still wondering about the actual risks if these folks are both fine into old age. We've been here 20 years now.
 
5MilesBack said:
I've often wondered just how bad the radon is, and odds of someone getting lung cancer from it. We are in a very high area but have never tested it. Our house was built in 1969. It has about 1600 sq ft of unfinished basement, and about 800 sq ft of gravelly loam crawl space. I always wondered why the original owner did that big of a crawl space instead of digging it out like the rest of the basement.

The original owner lived here almost 40 years and is in his 90's now and still doing well. He stopped in a couple years ago on a cross country trip just to say "hi". And my next door neighbor who's been in her house for the past 53 years is in her 80's and is doing fine healthwise as well. She moved out of her house last year and put it on the market earlier this year and was under contract, then it was suddenly back on the market........and then the radon guy was there installing a system. So I figured it was higher than "acceptable" levels.

But still wondering about the actual risks if these folks are both fine into old age. We've been here 20 years now.
Click to expand...

Some people smoke cigarettes their whole lives, and are seemingly fine.
I don’t think anyone can argue the negative health impacts of smoking cigarettes.
 
spike camp said:
Some people smoke cigarettes their whole lives, and are seemingly fine.
I don’t think anyone can argue the negative health impacts of smoking cigarettes.
Click to expand...
Are there other health risks with radon other than cancer? Seems like that's all I ever hear about.

They say that smoking "causes" cancer, but my dad smoked a pipe several times a day for most of his life and never got cancer. He had COPD........perhaps radon can cause that as well?????
 
My father built a cabin in 1978 over a root cellar from an old farmhouse. The cellar was built from granite boulders picked out of farm fields. Had a radon test done in the cellar, readings were the highest the tester had ever seen. Was abated with a single 4” pipe with an inline fan oriented vertically with the end about an inch above the floor exhausting outside. Has been running continuously since early 1980s, readings in the cabin are minimal.
 
Readings have dropped significantly. They topped out in the 5s and spent all day around 1.9-2.3. I’ll keep watching a few more days. I bought all the components, but if it stays in the green I’ll return everything.
 
I bought a radon exhausting fan. core drilled a 4 or 5" hole into the basement floor inserted pvc pipe. The fan is outside the house so I can't hear it. I do have a vacuum gauge installed to see if the fan is still working, its been chooching for about 9 years now.

I am actually about to setup a test here to make sure its still being effective
 
5MilesBack said:
I've often wondered just how bad the radon is, and odds of someone getting lung cancer from it. We are in a very high area but have never tested it. Our house was built in 1969. It has about 1600 sq ft of unfinished basement, and about 800 sq ft of gravelly loam crawl space. I always wondered why the original owner did that big of a crawl space instead of digging it out like the rest of the basement.

The original owner lived here almost 40 years and is in his 90's now and still doing well. He stopped in a couple years ago on a cross country trip just to say "hi". And my next door neighbor who's been in her house for the past 53 years is in her 80's and is doing fine healthwise as well. She moved out of her house last year and put it on the market earlier this year and was under contract, then it was suddenly back on the market........and then the radon guy was there installing a system. So I figured it was higher than "acceptable" levels.

But still wondering about the actual risks if these folks are both fine into old age. We've been here 20 years now.
Click to expand...

You can buy a test kit and then have it shipped to a lab for test. Fairly cheap for peace of mind
 
5MilesBack said:
Perhaps I should have done that when I replaced all our under slab waste and drain lines. Would have been easy then.
Click to expand...

Core drill is the "cleanest" look, but you could use a hammer drill and chisel bit to cut a square and fill the gap around the pipe with some steel wool and expanding closed cell foam
 
Thanks for the help guys! Numbers are hovering around 1.2 and still dropping since I turned it on 2 days ago. Pretty easy diy project if you have a sump!
 

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Hey all you electricians. The radon fan is wired into a switch that’s coming off a gfci outlet. Dedicated outlet from breaker, nothing else on the circuit.

Ran great for 36 hours and then started tripping the gfci. I bypassed the switch and it’s running fine for the last 6 hours.

Should I just replace the gfci with a standard outlet because the gfci are more sensitive, or is there a more sinister reason it’s tripping?
 
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