Radon Professionals Discussion

The Executive Stakeholder Committee for the AARST Consortium on National Radon Standards is reviewing priorities for standards topics to engage and initiate in 2015.

Topping the list of requests are standards for new construction (e.g., multifamily, schools, large buildings) and continued elaboration on standards related to device quality and traceability.

Has there been any research into radon mitigation on homes with wood basements?
We have been working on a home with treated wood 2x8 basement walls and treated wood 4' frost walls on the walkout side.
The lack of compaction has created voids under the floor that allow good sub-slab communication but multiple fans and penetrations have not been able to reduce the radon level consistently below 4 pCi/L.

The home started at 800 pCi/L and has been as low as 2 pCi/L for a few weeks but has varied between 5 and 30 pCi/L on longer term radon monitor measurements.

Hi,
A question was posed to me, and I wanted to get the opinions of those who know better than me.

Is there a move from recommending sub-slab depressurization to positive pressure HVAC as our preferred method of keeping radon out of schools?

I recieved a call from a lady living in Jackson, MI that she had her townhouse checked for Radon and it was found to be 6.4. She asked if we could mitigate her place and since I never quote over the phone, I went to look at her situation. The basement of this 2 storey townhouse was finished except for the furnace and utility room. In the furnace room, I observed a 2" sch 40 pipe exiting from the sealed sump crock which had radon written on it, and followed this pipe to the ceiling. I was able to again observe this pipe passing up thru the garage attic through the roof.

Friends and colleagues:

I am looking for any data of ventilation rates in residential high-rise
buildings, and possible radon in them, for a literature review and short
paper.

I have two studies now, by Tom Pugh of FL A&M (5 buildings, 5 units) and
Bill Brodhead working in NC (1 building, 5 units). They both show low
ventilation and elevated radon levels in units above the 3rd floor. The
source is likely to be concrete, but I'd like to find more data.

EPA R4 Mapping Workgroup Requests Input

Queston: I have a special condition where I have a walk-out basement and a
perimeter drain tile that empties to atmosphere through a hillside. (no sump
crcock) My mitigation tech wants to connect to the drain tile to lower the
Rn level in the home.

I can't see this working very well to pull negative pressure from the sub
slab area.

Any recommendations?

Thanks,

Bill Barnes

Call for Work Group Participants:
Design of EPA Radon Device Performance Study

Contact Jani Palmer at palmer.janise@epa.gov by Monday, April 19th if interested

EPA is designing a device performance study collaboratively with other radon stakeholders. Members of the Work Group should be prepared to openly discuss the study design and identify issues and concerns that may affect their stakeholder group.

Hello all,

I am brand new to the radon industry. I worked for a homebuilder that went belly up a few months ago, my parents were realtors for many years, and I have always been interested in radon. I am interested in starting a testing & mitigation company in. My hope is that someone on these forums may be able to help point me in the right direction to some good resources where I can continue my research. I am interested in learning about anything to do with the industry that you would like to share with me, including:

I don't use charcoal canisters, but I have questions (from a lab) regarding charcoal canisters that I am hopeful subscribers can answer.