Seal that Crawlspace!

Formerly bare dirt, this crawlspace has been sealed against radon entry.

Thursday on The Dr. Oz Show

Thursday on The Dr. Oz Show

February Job

I had the opportunity to install this radon system recently. It was different from past jobs in that the appearance of the system had to match the home and be unobtrusive, so we painted the outside part to match the house.

I had to exchange my usual 20 ft. ladder for a 24 ft. model, to reach to the high roof.

This smaller Bosch hammer drill was a lifesaver, as far as drilling perfect holes in the brick for the pipe anchors. My large hammer drill would have broken up the brick.

Finished Product

Indoor Section

Radon Communication Test

I did initial testing Saturday to determine if it would be possible to mitigate a large home by utilizing a subslab radon system. This is where we drill one hole (1") where we insert an industrial vacuum nozzle, and then drill a smaller hole at the other end of the house. We then turn on the vacuum cleaner and then go to the other hole where we hold a smoke-stick over it, to see if smoke is drawn into the hole. A positive test means we probably have good air flow beneath the concrete slab.

Failing the Smoke Test

Passing the smoke test

Draining Excess Water

I had installed a huge radon system in the summer, which spanned the width of this home. Due to the route of the pipe between the walls, I did not have the luxury of angling the pipe toward the floor opening to drain excess water from condensation near the fan. As a result, water was building up in the pipe beneath the fan housing, resulting in reduced efficiency.

As a solution to the problem, I built a one-way drain valve (Dranjer) into a section of pipe, and installed it beneath the fan housing. So far, it's been working very well!

Article of the Day

Article Link:

6 Must-Do Tests for Every Homeowner

Recent Newspaper Articles

Here is a recent article on radon from the Tennessean: Free Test Kits