What to watch for when finding radon gas
(This is Part VII and the last of the series from Neil Roy on radon gas)
Radon mitigation is any process used to reduce Radon gas concentrations in the breathing zones of occupied buildings or radon from water supplies.
Mitigation of radon in the air is accomplished through ventilation either collected below a concrete floor slab or a membrane on the ground or by increasing the air changes per hour in the building treatment systems using aeration or activated charcoal are available to remove radon from domestic water supplies.
The first step in mitigation is testing. The radon map shows areas that have radon concentrations. Homes and building site in these area should be tested for radon. This is why it is necessary that we test homes that we live in.
Radon cost
The cost association with radon mitigation vary from community to community and home to home. The market can play a role in determining your cost.
The age and construction style of the home can determine the complexity of a radon mitigation system.
The important thing to know is that there is a one size fits all situation when it comes to installing a radon mitigation system that works to reduce radon levels.
Components-radon specific vent, fan schedule 40 PVC pipe, high quality waterproof sealant.; test-90 days; labour-drill holes in wall, foundation, install radon mitigation system. More than one suction point will add cost to mitigation. Crawl space has to be sealed with an air tight vapour barrier that requires much more labour hours and material to install. The lowest price is not always a good idea. If a contractor is significantly lower priced than other, it may indicate a lack of experience, lower quality materials and ultimately an underperforming mitigation system.
Lung cancer-don't base decision on price when dealing with cancer causing radon gas.
The goal of mitigation work is to get the level below 2 pCi/L. Homes with course gravel or crushed stone below the slab are easier to fix than homes with a dirt crawl space or a slab directly on dense soil If you hear a hollow sound when you tap on your basement floor, that's a good indicator that you have a nice layer of stone beneath, with dense soil under the slab, you will need a more powerful fan.
Real estate
Paying for radon detection and mitigation before buying a home.
If you're buying a house in an area where radon is commonplace, request in your purchase offer that the seller pay for a radon inspection, many sellers are willing to do so, even in seller's markets.
If the inspection turns up elevated radon levels, don't be shy about making your offer contingent on seller paid radon mitigation. If the seller balks at that stipulation, which can lengthen the escrow period, consider requesting that the seller cover a portion of the closing cost equal to the expected cost of the mitigation system and then install the system after moving in.
We have home inspections now to tell you what you are buying.
We will have more requests in the future to tell you about your home whether it is safe or not in regards to radon testing.
If you were to buy or rent a home would you not like to know something about the home. Testing is the only way to know about radon levels.
I'm selling a home; what should I do?
Recommend that you test your home before putting it on the market, if your home has an elevated radon level, it is recommended you take action to lower it. Save the test results and all information you have about steps that were taken to fix the problem. This could be a positive selling point. A radon problem can be fixed,
Beyond reducing the risk of lung cancer, radon mitigation cal also protect the value of your home. When radon gas is extracted from beneath a building it also removes moisture, methane or other gases present.
This can be quite advantageous for a home owner who has a damp basement. Canadians are becoming more aware of the dangers of high radon and may ask about radon levels in a home during the purchase or rental application process. It is also possible that some potential buyers will add radon clauses to contracts, knowing a home's radon level can help avoid road blocks during read estate transactions.
Water
Drinking water containing radon also resents a risk of developing internal organ cancers, primarily stomach cancer.
However, this risk is smaller than the risk of developing lung cancer from radon released to the air from tap water.
Radon is only a concern if your drinking water comes from the underground, such as a well that pumps water from an aquifer, though not all water from underground sources contains radon.
Community water suppliers to provide water with radon levels no higher than 4,000 pCi/L which contributes about 0.4 pCi/L of radon to the air in your home. Test your drinking water for radon-if you have high levels.
The most effective treatment you can apply is to remove radon from the water right before it enters your home. This is called point of entry treatment. There are two types of point-of-entry devices that remove radon from water.
1. Granular activated carbon (GAC)
filters (which use activated carbon to remove the radon). This technology will remove 95 per cent of the water borne radon. It works by absorbing the radon onto the surface of activated carbon. There, the radon continues to decay and give off radiation. However, the treatment equipment is usually not located the living area of the home. Although the granular activated carbon system has few moving parts and should have a long useful life, radon build up over long periods of time becomes a low level radioactive source requiring special disposal. This technology has a lower end front end cost but there are costs associated with disposal of radioactive build up after many years.
2. Aeration device (which bubbles air through the water and carry radon gas out into the atmosphere through an exhaust fan). This most commonly accomplished with an air diffuser mounted at the bottom of the storage tank filled with water to be treated. As the air bubbles rise through the water, they strip radon and carries it to the top of the tank and through a vent pipe to the roof line. A greater level of success as much as 99 per cent removal, can be achieved when selecting a unit that utilizes a mister or nozzle located at the top of the tank to fill the along with a bubbler. This technology has a higher front end cost than granular activated carbon but has no associated disposal cost.
Neil Roy is vice chairman of the board for the Saskatchewan Housing Authority in Maple Creek, Sass. He is a certified mould and air quality inspector.