Anyone ever had a radon test completed?

I've this for about 5 years, and it still seems to work well.
http://www.amazon.com/Safety-Siren-...AY64/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327438245&sr=8-1

When I bought the house last year, I had the test done and the readings came back at 64 parts--yowza. Anyway, had the previosu owner put in a radon mitigation system, which lowered it to less than 1. Good to go. A side story is that the previous owner died of lung cancer right before closing and his widow ended up completing the sale. Kind of made me wonder.....Of course, he was a chain smoker as well.......

Going up that much is odd. I've been involved in hundreds of home transactions and 15 is on the high side of what I have ever seen in 11 years. The highest one ever being a home that sat vacant for over a year and was basically sealed up. Anything above 4.0 should be mitigated. (your state law may vary) If your basement has been closed up it will tend to read a little high but not that high. I vote retest. FWIW, a mitgation system is roughly $700 installed here in Indiana.

Geology can change. Test it again. I'd do it myself.

daveswoodhauler said:

Thanks for the info folks. I'm going to go with a retest and see what I come up with. I can see the amounts varying a bit, but not 10 fold. Will post back later when I can pick up another test.

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Tell us where your located. Maybe we can do a little digging as to the radon levels in that area.

We had ours tested during the home inspection. Levels were 2.0, and this is a 200 year old house with a stone foundation leakier than a sieve. All depends on the local geology.......

Radon is very dense, but its still a gas. If present, I expect the potential is there to seep into even tightly finished basements. Some radon comes from the radioactive decay of uranium and there is a small percentage of uranium in many types of shale. If your foundation is dug into bedrock, especially shale, then that could be a potential source.

I don't know much about the home tests for Radon, but is it possible that some out-gassing from the recent construction could be giving a false reading? Just a thought.
Otherwise, I would consider retesting several more times to establish a known concentration and then go from there.

homebrewz said:

Radon is very dense, but its still a gas. If present, I expect the potential is there to seep into even tightly finished basements. Some radon comes from the radioactive decay of uranium and there is a small percentage of uranium in many types of shale. If your foundation is dug into bedrock, especially shale, then that could be a potential source.

I don't know much about the home tests for Radon, but is it possible that some out-gassing from the recent construction could be giving a false reading? Just a thought.
Otherwise, I would consider retesting several more times to establish a known concentration and then go from there.

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Just to let you know where I'm coming from, I've been performing radon testing for over 20 years in conjunction with my home inspection business. I'm licensed to perform radon testing here in IL.

RE: outgassing causing radon levels to rise. The answer is NO. Radon is radioactive gas. Building materials don't contain radioactive gas (except maybe some stone used for fireplace mantels, etc.) In my opinion, you don't have worry about granite countertops causing a radon problem. The EPA opinion for granite countertops is here. http://www.epa.gov/radiation/tenorm/granite-countertops.html

To the OP, try the American Lung Association for tests that you can do yourself. They will often have free (or close to free) radon test kits available. Since you already did a test, you may want to consider doing a long term (alpha trac) test that takes 3-6 months. If the testing company is using electronic monitors that are calibrated and cross checked (as most protocols call for), then I wouldn't think they're wrong. More likely, something changed the pressures in your house. Radon in home is caused by 3 things:

A source (the type of soil under your home)
A pathway for the source to enter (cracks, or other openings in floors or walls)
A pressure differential (remodeling, ventilating, etc. can change pressures inside a home)

Do you have some type of ventilation fan that runs more frequently? Is there something that would cause a negative pressure in your home? Perhaps a new chimney or stove that has a better draft than in the past.

Feel free to PM me for some further discussion or thoughts.

Just happened to think....as stated before any significant increase in radon can mean a change in pressure differentials. Is there any fracking going on near you?

If you have a oil boiler, I have seen folks duct the bypass damper down to just above the floor. In theory with a hot stack the damper is always drawing and its enough to vent the Radon. I know of one person who dropped their reading by about 90% this way.

Ducting the damper to the floor sounds like a good idea - long as you have a good chimney draft going on that is.

Keep us posted on further developments.

get the electronic one...

I think the inspector might be on to something....

Any other changes to your house at all? Add a bathroom or kitchen exhaust hood thats more powerful? Get new windows anywhere else? Were there lots of drafts in the basement before you insulated? Just wondering if its a pressure differential thing.

We live in an all insulated concrete home (2 story + basement) with only a basement walkout door. We have all radiant floor heat (no air circulation). We live in Iowa (supposed to have the highest levels of radon on average in the US). We decided to get ours tested this last fall. The company who tested, stated that the standard 2 day test is not a good indicator of real radon levels since atmospheric pressure, wind, weather, temperature, moisture, etc, etc all affect the results and so any 2 day period could be higher or lower than the average. They said it is only used for real estate transactions, so we went with the 90 day test. It came back at 33.1. Ouch! Wife and I freaked out and got a radon abatement system installed. We are currently re-testing. Did notice that the house cools off slightly quicker now that we are continuously pumping out the air, but well worth not getting lung cancer. We probably wouldn't have been able to tell but the house is pretty efficient so noticeable.

On the other hand, you could charge people to visit you
http://www.radonmine.com/