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Radon Mitigation System - Fan in Basement? bdinger 11-01-2006
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Posted by on November 1, 2006, 5:32 pm


I am currently in the process of selling my home. A radon test
revealed that my radon is at a level of 6.9 pCi/L. The buyers
interested in my home are requesting that a mitigation system be
installed.

I currently have a passive mitigation system. It consists of a pipe
that starts below the basement floor, runs through an interior wall of
the home, and vents above the roofline. My thoughts were that a fan
could be installed in the basement on this existing pipe. (Installing
the fan in the attic is not an option, as the home has vaulted ceilings
and no suitable location for an attic fan.) I got an estimate from
someone who stated that law and/or regulation now states that the fan
cannot be installed in a basement. This means that I would need to
reroute my existing pipe and have the fan installed on the exterior of
the home. Is it true that law and/or regulation now prevents the fan
from being installed in the basement on an existing passive system? (I
live in the state of Pennsylvania, if that has any bearing on your
response.)

Thanks in advance for any responses!


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Posted by The Reverend Natural Light on November 1, 2006, 6:31 pm


Could you install a fan at the top of the pipe? I've seen fans at
infiltec.com that are weatherproof and wouldn't look too funny sticking
up off the roof of a house.

Have you offered cash? $500 back at closing could make the buyer
overlook it and then you don't even have to worry about whether or not
the fix works.

-rev




bdinger@comcast.net wrote:
> I am currently in the process of selling my home. A radon test
> revealed that my radon is at a level of 6.9 pCi/L. The buyers
> interested in my home are requesting that a mitigation system be
> installed.
>
> I currently have a passive mitigation system. It consists of a pipe
> that starts below the basement floor, runs through an interior wall of
> the home, and vents above the roofline. My thoughts were that a fan
> could be installed in the basement on this existing pipe. (Installing
> the fan in the attic is not an option, as the home has vaulted ceilings
> and no suitable location for an attic fan.) I got an estimate from
> someone who stated that law and/or regulation now states that the fan
> cannot be installed in a basement. This means that I would need to
> reroute my existing pipe and have the fan installed on the exterior of
> the home. Is it true that law and/or regulation now prevents the fan
> from being installed in the basement on an existing passive system? (I
> live in the state of Pennsylvania, if that has any bearing on your
> response.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any responses!


Posted by on November 1, 2006, 7:38 pm


On 1 Nov 2006 14:32:06 -0800, bdinger@comcast.net wrote:

>I am currently in the process of selling my home. A radon test
>revealed that my radon is at a level of 6.9 pCi/L. The buyers
>interested in my home are requesting that a mitigation system be
>installed.
>
>I currently have a passive mitigation system. It consists of a pipe
>that starts below the basement floor, runs through an interior wall of
>the home, and vents above the roofline. My thoughts were that a fan
>could be installed in the basement on this existing pipe. (Installing
>the fan in the attic is not an option, as the home has vaulted ceilings
>and no suitable location for an attic fan.) I got an estimate from
>someone who stated that law and/or regulation now states that the fan
>cannot be installed in a basement. This means that I would need to
>reroute my existing pipe and have the fan installed on the exterior of
>the home. Is it true that law and/or regulation now prevents the fan
>from being installed in the basement on an existing passive system? (I
>live in the state of Pennsylvania, if that has any bearing on your
>response.)
>
>Thanks in advance for any responses!

I put mine in the basement, vaulted ceilings here too.
I know it should not be that way but OH WELL !!
When they first came out the fan went into the basement. I think they
just wanted to make it hard for a homeowner to do it on their own. I
also have a radon gas detector. Beets nothing and it seems to work, it
was like 89.99 when I got it now about 119.95. I think the newer one
will show 0.0 to 999.9 shows the level of radon gas in pCi/L. Mine
only shows whole numbers.

But I am guessing if I ever sell some inspector will point it out.

The Pro Series 3 Radon Gas Detector is the only radon gas detector on
the market designed for use by the homeowner. This Series III Radon
Detector was evaluated by US EPA and meets performance criteria for
the continuous radon protocol.



Posted by dpb on November 2, 2006, 10:33 am



bdinger@comcast.net wrote:
> I am currently in the process of selling my home. A radon test
> revealed that my radon is at a level of 6.9 pCi/L. The buyers
> interested in my home are requesting that a mitigation system be
> installed.
...

I don't actually know law/requirements but the EPA radon site should
help.

But, this is one I'd try to get out of by buying the potential buyers
off -- let them deal with it to whatever level they're comfortable. If
go ahead and do something yourself, then I'd want a contractual
agreement up front that what it is you're going to do is going to be
acceptable irrespective of the outcome of any further test, otherwise
you're in an open-ended loop. As noted, it would be far simpler for
you to take a small hit and be done, but whatever you decide, don't
just do something just hoping it will be accepted by a potential buyer.
A piece of carpet replaced or similar cosmetic/structure is one thing,
something like radon remediation _could_ escalate into a real hassle
depending on the situation. You just want to make it a closed-ended
deal.


Posted by hallerb@aol.com on November 2, 2006, 10:56 am


I am in PA, in a hot radon area:(

What they do is put a pipe up outside along the downspout to vent the
radon, not beautiful but normal procedure around here

perhaps the fan could go on the top of the existing pipe or just at the
roofline?


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