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Post by Cher on Dec 19, 2006 19:08:29 GMT -5
Has anyone else here ever tested for Radon? We recently did and just got the test results back. Anything between 4 and 10 is considered too high ... ours is 6.8.  Just what I wanted for Christmas, to know my home is trying to kill me.  |
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Post by rockyraccoon on Dec 19, 2006 19:23:47 GMT -5
i don't even know what radon is cher. what is it?
kim
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
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Post by MichiganRocks on Dec 19, 2006 19:26:17 GMT -5
It's a radioactive gas.
Sorry to hear thatCher. I often wondered about the home that I grew up in. Radon is not uncommon in the area.
Ron
ps.
Damit! Why don't I see the spelling errors until after I post?
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Post by Cher on Dec 19, 2006 19:56:04 GMT -5
It comes from decaying uranium in the soil and leaks into your house through cracks in the basement, cement slab or whatever you have your house built on. Mississippi has very low levels of radon Kim, less than 3% of the homes have levels above 4.
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Dec 19, 2006 20:17:26 GMT -5
OK... that's a little scary Cher... What can be done to get rid of it? Obviously you can't stay there with all that... Hope this gets resolved soon!
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spikeict
fully equipped rock polisher
Alba gu bra! In Promptu
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,413
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Post by spikeict on Dec 19, 2006 20:24:46 GMT -5
Hmmm, while I knew a little about Radon gas, I didn't know what caused it until now. Suddenly I'm thinking about all the pre 1940 vaseline glass (made with Urainium then) I have. The Urainium levels have been tested safe but I don't know about Radon levels. I will do some controlled tests. thank you Cher.
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Post by Cher on Dec 19, 2006 20:25:29 GMT -5
You can't completely get rid of it but you can reduce it to acceptible levels by adding extra venting pipes from the basement to outside. I should try and move my puter upstairs to my bedroom, that would be my safest place to stay until it's fixed but I'd go crazy.
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Dec 19, 2006 20:30:45 GMT -5
Better crazy than sic though... !
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Post by Cher on Dec 19, 2006 20:31:11 GMT -5
You can check to see how your state is from here. www.radon.com/radon/radon_map.htmlClick on " detailed radon level information at both the state and county level" to get to the map page. It even breaks it down into counties. {edit} click on the text link on the side, I think the map is screwed up. There was an article in our local paper about testing for radon and you could pick up a radon tester for only $2.00 at the county human rights (welfare) office so we stopped by and got one. Check and see if your's offers it otherwise they cost about $15.00. |
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Post by cpdad on Dec 19, 2006 20:32:36 GMT -5
golly...my first thought also was about you cher..{auto-correct: MOV files not allowed}e on upstairs...whatever ya gotta do....kev.
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earthdog
Cave Dweller 
Don't eat yellow snow
Member since June 2006
Posts: 2,731
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Post by earthdog on Dec 19, 2006 20:36:34 GMT -5
Thats why now in a new home, when they pour the basement floor, the contracter must put down, plastic sheeting, then pour the concrete over the plastic.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Dec 19, 2006 21:04:26 GMT -5
what made you think to test for this cher? i checked our state by counties and 8 show levels in the 4 pCi/L and above. we're the lowest of those 8 with 25%.
kim
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Dec 19, 2006 21:10:27 GMT -5
Check out this "health spa" in Montana, where people go to intentionally expose themselves to extremely high levels of radon gas. You go and sit in an old uranium mine that isn't vented so that you can inhale radon gas. Apparently there are a bunch of these in Europe too. Obviously dangerous, I guess anything can be marketed as "healthy" if you know how to advertise well ;D. -Don www.radonmine.com/ |
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Post by Cher on Dec 19, 2006 21:39:06 GMT -5
Kim, everyone up here figured that with the hard rock we're on, all the iron ore, that there wouldn't be a problem with it. My hubby saw the ad in the paper about getting the kit for $2.00 and was just curious so he went and got one.
Don, that's unreal. I can't believe people pay for that. Maybe, I should sell seats in my basement. ;D
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KG1960
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2008
Posts: 512
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Post by KG1960 on Dec 19, 2006 21:55:55 GMT -5
It is also best, if you want accurate information about radon levels in your house, to make several reading throughout a year. The levels can vary greatly with season and atmospheric conditions (atmospheric pressure, ground water levels, etc.), so if you have only one reading, you don't know if that is a higher than usual reading (for your particular house) or a low one. The levels in any particular house are dependent on the very local geology of what the house sits on. Your neighbor may have almost zero reading because his house is on a thick impervious clay layer and your house may have high readings because it's sitting a sand channel letting the gas easily seep through. Remedies can be as simple as sealing cracks in your basement or sealing a sump, but could involve more extensive work. Try this link for more info: www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html |
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Post by joe on Dec 19, 2006 22:30:34 GMT -5
Yeah I tested a few years ago. I got around a five. It's too expensive to put in a sub foundation vent system like my next door neighbor has. I figure lots of other things will kill me quicker anyway.
Cher if they did the measurement in a crawl space it should only cost a few hundred to set up a pipe and fan to vent it.
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erbojones
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2006
Posts: 659
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Post by erbojones on Dec 20, 2006 14:02:52 GMT -5
We have a big radon issue here in Cornwall - I've just had to order the protective sheeting for my sister's house that we are building. Its far worse in the west of the county - something about the granite maybe...
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carpqueen
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2006
Posts: 93
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Post by carpqueen on Dec 20, 2006 14:31:41 GMT -5
We were selling our home and the buyer was from downstate where radon is a big deal, I guess. So he wanted our home to be radon tested before he would close on it. Well, low and behold, our home tested a smidge above the minimum of 4 that was allowable (4.6). Before he would close, we had to put a $1200 system in to eliminate the problem. After over two years of the house being on the market, we said that we would do just about anything to sell it. So that came out of our marginal profit, but that's OK. We now keep a radon detector in our current home and so far we are either at 1 or 0. Apparently, this gas can come in a hole as small as a pinhole and is a silent killer. There was some state agency that we contacted that gave us the "veins" of radon across the state. It was interesting.
CQ
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Terry664
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2005
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Terry664 on Dec 20, 2006 17:13:27 GMT -5
In the 70's we tested for Radon and were told our levels were so high we had to leave, because to correct ours we were told by the city, we had to completely tear out our basement and repour over some kind of barrier, which was going to cost more than our house. We ended up losing the house and having to pay for it.
Terry
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Post by Cher on Dec 20, 2006 17:34:31 GMT -5
It is also best, if you want accurate information about radon levels in your house, to make several reading throughout a year. The levels can vary greatly with season and atmospheric conditions (atmospheric pressure, ground water levels, etc.), so if you have only one reading, you don't know if that is a higher than usual reading (for your particular house) or a low one. The levels in any particular house are dependent on the very local geology of what the house sits on. Your neighbor may have almost zero reading because his house is on a thick impervious clay layer and your house may have high readings because it's sitting a sand channel letting the gas easily seep through. Remedies can be as simple as sealing cracks in your basement or sealing a sump, but could involve more extensive work. Try this link for more info: www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html We're going to order a couple to put in different areas of the basement and here on the main floor to see how the readings are. And you're right, my neighbor probably doesn't have any. We do have a heavy layer of clay in the area which would have been removed when they dug the basement. |
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