Return-Path: Received: from ernst.mach.cs.cmu.edu by K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU id aa04456; 13 Sep 92 11:15:30 EDT Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 10:24-EDT From: Alessandro.Forin@ERNST.MACH.CS.CMU.EDU To: bovik@K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Fixing radon problems Message-Id: <716394283/af@ERNST.MACH.CS.CMU.EDU> I have received the following responses to my enquiry as to how to go about reducing radon levels to tolerable levels, should you find them to be too high ( a rather personal judgement call in itself, it seems ). My personal problem was/is with the house I am buying. It was tested at 7pCi/l in the basement, >3 in the first floor and >2 in the second floor. Part of the problem for me is the centralized heating/A/C system, which diffuses the gas all around house. Although these levels are not "horrible", the material from the Radon Project at Pitt [found in a testing set I bought myself at a hardware store] convinced me that I really do not want to live in a house that has more than 2pCi/L of radon in it. I have spoken with Roger Wood of Best Inspect (his phone is 412-443-8378) who did the re-testing, and his recommendation for radically curing the problem is to install what they call an @b(Active System). As he explained to me, this basically consists of drilling a hole in the basement, putting a pipe in it, and installing a vent that will suck the air from the pipe outside the house. This procedure will cost you about $850, and is guaranteed to fix the problem once and forall. As an alternative first step, you might consider trying for a @b(Sealing Work). This is not guaranteed to succeed, but if they do catch all the leaking points it will cost only about $200, including re-testing. This money is then applied against the Active System cost, should the sealing not be sufficient. I am not thrilled at the notion that this solution is not 100% guaranteed. The (very informative) message about Ray Towe came in too late, else I would have probably picked him instead. sandro- Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 11:00-EDT From: Thomas.Gross@N3.SP.CS.CMU.EDU To: Alessandro Forin Subject: Re: Fixing radon problems ? Did you measure the radon level more than once? Before going into shelling out a lot of money, I would make sure you really have a problem. tg Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 13:16-EDT From: Donald.Lindsay@GANDALF.CS.CMU.EDU To: Alessandro Forin Subject: Re: Fixing radon problems ? >So does anybody have (dis)recommendations for how to reduce the radon >levels to acceptable levels ? If you're selling the house - the solutions all involve venting/airflow/ dust reduction. If you're just worried about health - it's a media scare. The scientific evidence does *not* show that the high-exposure health hazards can be extrapolated to the ultra-low-exposure regime. (The radon in a home is measured in pico-curies. Pico???) Don From: Michael Reed To: af+@ernst.mach.cs.cmu.edu Subject: radon mitigation Date: Fri, 11 Sep 92 15:01:43 -0400 I highly recommend Enviro Tech USA. Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 20:30-EDT From: Daniel.Rehak@KIEL.EDRC.CMU.EDU To: Alessandro Forin Subject: Re: Fixing radon problems ? The way to reduce the level is to stop it from coming in. Simple solutions, for low levels (10-20) involve sealing cracks in basement floors. For higher levels, you need to get it out of the basement before it enters. This involves sealing the basement floor so none gets in, and then adding a suction pump/fan which pulls the air out from under the floor and exhausts it to the outside. The exhaust must be located so there is no chance for the air to reenter upper level spaces. This often means the vent and fan are on the roof. The idea is that radon is heavier than air, and stays low. It is possible to seal the floor well enough to cut all infiltration, but it is impossible to seal most common basement walls, they are too porus. To do it right, you need a licensed radon contractor. We built a new house and expected high levels so we installed a piping system under the floor. Now we need just hook up a fan, rather than dig up the floor. We have been working with Ray Rowe of Hardico-Pgh, and he has been very informative. Ray Rowe, 771-7974 Hardico-Pgh 734 Fairston St. Pittsburgh, PA 15204 331-7348 Let me know if I can answer any other questions. - Dan Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 02:37:01 -0400 (EDT) From: "Joseph S. Mertz" To: af+@ernst.mach.cs.cmu.edu (Alessandro Forin) Subject: Re: Fixing radon problems ? people in the department of engineering and public policy here at cmu have created materials concerning the understanding and remediation of house radon. they had a hypercard stack, but i'm not sure if that is still around. they may still have a booklet, however. just call the receptionist in EPP at x2670. --joe mertz