Installing a Radon System in a Home with Drain Tile
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- In this video, we'll look at what's involved with installing a radon mitigation system in a home with drain tile. Check out the description for timestamps products used and to learn more about this project.
Products used:
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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Varmint Guard Screen - amzn.to/3oeTcOc
Radon Fan Cord - amzn.to/3DOzanT
Noise Suppressor - americanradonmitigation.com/p...
Radon Fans Mentioned
RadonAway RP140 - amzn.to/3oj0bp9
RadonAway RP145 - RP145 - amzn.to/45iItIv
Fantech Rn1 - amzn.to/3sYx1iF
Fantech Rn2 - amzn.to/3Ot86iT
Festa AMG Spirit - amzn.to/3LFAD46
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Sealants
Great Stuff Pro Gun - amzn.to/3ceQLsI
Great Stuff Pro - amzn.to/2M08t8C
Radon Sealant - amzn.to/3EVj2BK
Firestop Intumescent Sealant - amzn.to/3iPMkpx
PVC Primer - amzn.to/3RbHA0j
PVC Cement - amzn.to/3PbhhVw
Geocel 4500 (for sealing shingles and roofing nails) - amzn.to/449B4tU
Tools
Bosch Rotary Hammer - amzn.to/3pmHz9k
Bosch 5-Inch Core Bit - amzn.to/36ik4Xw
Bosch Dust Collection Attachment - amzn.to/3otHe3v
Milwaukee Saw - amzn.to/2NF3nPu
Favorite Pressure Gauge - americanradonmitigation.com/p...
Level - amzn.to/45QXrWd
Nut Driver - amzn.to/45HvyjM
Remote Control Outlet - amzn.to/3LbV9cu
Pitot Tube - radoncourses.com/form/pitot-t...
Tape Measure - amzn.to/3LaLxP2
Tool Kit Rental - americanradonmitigation.com/p...
Consulting - americanradonmitigation.com/p...
EcoQube Radon Monitor - americanradonmitigation.com/p...
About this video:
Remember that just because a radon mitigation system gets your radon levels below 4 pCi/L does not necessarily mean it's a good system.
First, there is no safe level of radon. Two-thirds of radon-induced lung cancer cases come from homes that test below 4. Our aim is to get your radon levels as low as possible. On average, our customers see their radon levels drop to 0.4 pCi/L after installing a mitigation system.
Second, a radon mitigation system that draws air from your home may also leave you and your family at a higher risk of carbon monoxide. You will see that this home's natural draft water heater was back-drafting. This needs to be corrected before a radon fan can be plugged in. This homeowner installed a power vent water heater to correct the back-drafting situation.
Third, the homeowner was finishing the basement so we could seal cracks, gaps, and openings at the top of the block walls to make the system more efficient. The radon fan will draw more conditioned air from your home if openings are not sealed. This can add hundreds to your utility bills every year. We aim to draw radon-laden soil gas from below your home, not conditioned air from your home.
In most cases, the key to getting your radon levels below 1 pCi/L is to engineer a radon system to create suction under your entire home. We do that by measuring the extent and strength of our vacuum. This is referred to as pressure field extension testing or PFE. We want to use the most energy-efficient fan to achieve our desired PFE.
Timecodes:
00:00 Intro
00:21 Installing a sealed sump basket cover
01:30 Adding diagnostic pressure field extension test holes
01:58 Communication test
02:28 Identifying air leaks at the top of the concrete block wall
03:00 Foaming top of concrete block wall
03:30 Sealing load-bearing walls and cracks in the concrete floor with radon sealant
04:03 Improvements in pressure field extension seen after sealing
04:25 Creating the suction point
05:18 Using a pitot tube to measure airflow required to give us our desired pressure field extension
06:20 Running vent pipe from the basement to the garage
08:04 Installing U-tube manometer and radon system alarm
09:06 Installing smoke sealant and firestop collar around pipe penetration
10:00 Installing the insulated vent pipe in the garage
12:03 Running vent pipe in the garage attic
13:51 Cutting a hole through the roof
14:22 Radon fan selection and installation
17:10 Checking natural draft water heater for backdraft condition
18:21 Radon system wrap up
18:50 Pre and post-mitigation radon test results
www.americanradonmitigation.c...
Visit us at AmericanRadonMitigation.com to learn more, or call us at 612-474-1004.
The products we use in this video are linked below.
Amazon Store - amzn.to/3LSXNnU
Sump Cover - amzn.to/3qTJnXx
Smoke Pen with Wicks - amzn.to/36avsVh
U-Tube Manometer - amzn.to/2KUDkmq
Air Flow Alarm - amzn.to/3a5o1Qr
Firestop Collar - amzn.to/36dbhWw
Insulated Flex Duct - amzn.to/3Px9d1y
4" x 4" Fernco Flexible Coupling - amzn.to/3t0GZjO
Power Cord Kit - amzn.to/3iOfEfX
Oatey Pipe Flashing - amzn.to/2YiLtnO
Varmint Guard Screen - amzn.to/3oeTcOc
Noise Suppressor - americanradonmitigation.com/product/attic-noise-suppressor-medium/
Radon Fans Mentioned
RadonAway RP140 - amzn.to/3oj0bp9
RadonAway RP145 - RP145 - amzn.to/45iItIv
Fantech Rn1 - amzn.to/3sYx1iF
Fantech Rn2 - amzn.to/3Ot86iT
Festa AMG Spirit - amzn.to/3LFAD46
Festa AMG Maverick - amzn.to/44abEww
Sealants
Great Stuff Pro Gun - amzn.to/3ceQLsI
Great Stuff Pro - amzn.to/2M08t8C
Radon Sealant - amzn.to/3EVj2BK
Firestop Intumescent Sealant - amzn.to/3iPMkpx
PVC Primer - amzn.to/3RbHA0j
PVC Cement - amzn.to/3PbhhVw
Geocel 4500 (for sealing shingles and roofing nails) - amzn.to/449B4tU
Tools
Bosch Rotary Hammer - amzn.to/3pmHz9k
Bosch 5-Inch Core Bit - amzn.to/36ik4Xw
Bosch Dust Collection Attachment - amzn.to/3otHe3v
Milwaukee Saw - amzn.to/2NF3nPu
Favorite Pressure Gauge - americanradonmitigation.com/product/dg-8-pressure-gauge/
Level - amzn.to/45QXrWd
Nut Driver - amzn.to/45HvyjM
Remote Control Outlet - amzn.to/3LbV9cu
Pitot Tube - radoncourses.com/form/pitot-tube-orders
Tape Measure - amzn.to/3LaLxP2
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Tool Kit Rental - americanradonmitigation.com/product/radon-tool-kit-rental/
Consulting - americanradonmitigation.com/product/consulting/
EcoQube Radon Monitor - americanradonmitigation.com/product/ecoqube/
You should be proud. You do great work! You're saving lives. Thanks for the great videos!
That's what it's all about.
It's not me, though. It's my team that makes me look good.
Thanks, Andrew!
Met you in the class in Colorado Springs this week. Fantastic videos, they are a great resource and the quality is top notch. Keep up the good work.
Thank you, Erik!
Love watching you work ! So refreshing to see a contractor take pride and leave a quality product behind!
I appreciate that!
I agree, this is a really well made detailed technical video. Good job @American Radon Mitigation.
Thank you very much!
This is by far, the best youtube video I have seen on radon mitigation system installation! Great job! I absolutely appreciate a company that takes the time to ensure a quality installation along with the attention to detail! Do you come to SD much?
Thank you, Ed. Unfortunately, we do not serve South Dakota.
It's November 23rd 2022 and I have been following you now for just over a month. The problem with watching you work is that your work quality and ethics are so high, you make me not want to trust anyone else to do this project with my wife and kids health on the line. I bought our home in December 2020 in East Stroudsburg PA and learnt about radon in September 2022 this year. I did some research and in October I bought the EcoCube radon tester you recommended in another video. Over the past week I have seen the EcoCube give readings as high as 4.8 pCi/L and I'm freaking out. I have to wait until month end to get someone in to look at it but I'm following you and learning as much as I can. I really honestly wish I could have you come out here and help us because I found so many horror stories of crappy radon mitigation jobs done in my area. The house was built in 2015. You can stand in the crawl space but there is no concrete slab floor, just cheap vapor barrier over rock. I found the radon pipe that runs from the attic into the crawl space, but the pipe only comes out about 10 inches from the flooring in the crawl space and is far away about 15ft from the sump pump. Also the radon pipe does not go through the roof in the attic and the nearest electric outlet is probably about 12ft away. I'm thinking I might need the stronger RN4EC fan because of the crappy vapor barrier and the poor sealing job the builder did in the crawl space.
Hey John,
You may want to consider having crawl space encapsulation done in conjunction with radon mitigation. If sealed properly, you should be able to use the smallest radon fan they make rather than one of the largest fans. You don't want to pull all that conditioned air from your home and exhaust it outside. Your project doesn't sound too complicated, so I wouldn't lose sleep over it.
Charlie Gutridge took one of our radon training classes and is about 75 miles from you. You may want to reach out to him. gutridgeinspections.com/
Very well done. Thank you.
Glad you liked it!
Best video I’ve seen about Radon mitigation
Thank you for your compliment, Reza.
Very good video. Mine was around 11 or 12. I had a passive and got a fan installed. I gave my dad my tester and his is at 29 or 30! He is planning on putting one in at his sump pump. I'll have to tell him to make sure about closing up holes in wall that a company did for water drainage.
Thank you, Jerry! Your dad will want to make sure it doesn't comprise the function of his water management system. He may want to encapsulate the foundation walls and then seal the poly.
What a great and thorough video. You definitely know your business. If you are in Maryland, you will be the first to call. Thank you.
Thank you, Walid. We are in Minnesooota.
You are a true professional. Nice work. A bonus is that you’re so well dressed you could head right to thanksgiving dinner after work 😃
😂 Thank you for the compliment!
You doing a professional job God Bless you 👍👍
Thank you, Lazar. God bless you and your family as well!
Excellent videos!
Why, thank you, Robert!
Great job.
Thank you, Gary.
Nice to see a pro at work.
Thank you, Phil.
Thanks for the video. You provided some info I had not heard when we did our first house, such as the value of sealing the cracks and checking the draft of the gas water heater flue. The radon levels in our current house suddenly jumped up to 5.6 after years of staying below 3.0 so we'll be doing this process again.
I'm glad you found it helpful, David. I'm reminded of a home we worked on last year. The house has a finished basement, aside from the mechanical room, a block foundation, and interior drain tile with waffle board between the edge of the basement slab and the block foundation. Without doing any sealing, we would need a very large fan to barely reach our furthest test hole. So instead, Jon and I spent a couple hours sealing the waffle board and block tops in the mechanical room. The sealing allowed us to use a smaller radon fan and saved the homeowner $458 per year in operating costs. Sealing is often overlooked because it's easy to install a large fan to overpower the leaks rather than spend time sealing them.
Thanks for watching, David!
@@AmericanRadonMitigation I was an electrician, and thought I had some leftover 4-in schedule 40 pipe, but I just discovered it's only 3-in. With prices as high as they are these days (and they are out of the solar system!), do you think it would be okay to use only 3-in? Our home is not very big, but it's on a slab. And the foundation has been collapsing little by little, I'm afraid. It's causing all kinds of trouble, and I think it might be why the radon levels are coming up.
It's hard for me to say without knowing your home's layout and soil type and without doing any pressure field measurements.
Though I will not be installing the radon system myself, you certainly provided a lot of valuable information as to how it is supposed to be done! Thanks for an excellent video!
Thank you, Carl. I'm glad you found it helpful. Happy Thanksgiving!
Damn, I wish you trained me. So clean and well done.
Thank you, Bo. Kansas State University and Rutgers have some fantastic trainers. The Optimal Mitigation and Advanced Diagnostics (OMAD) course has three of the best trainers in the country. We will be posting a video about it when they announce the course dates. You can check them out at radoncourses.com
Very nice work 😎👍
Thank you, Ed.
Very good job
Thank you, Uren!
This was an excellent video. Very well made and informative. Thanks brother.
Thanks for the compliment! Can I ask if you are a radon mitigation contractor or a DIYer?
@@AmericanRadonMitigation You bet! I am filing for my MD Home Improvement Contractors License and have an NRPP class scheduled in order to open my own radon mitigation company in the next few months. I’ve always wanted to own a business and this is a great time and market to get into.
Good for you! Are you planning to attend the radon symposium in the fall?
I wasn’t aware of it. When and where is it to be held?
It's October 11-13, 2021 in Bethesda, Maryland. There are classes you can take on Sunday as well. Here's a link to the event details aarst.org/symposium/event-details/
Good video - but I have a gravity sump and not a pump. How can I stop the air from coming in the gravity fed drain line without stopping water from draining out?
Thanks, John. You can create a pee trap or add a check valve at the end of the discharge. I'd be careful if you are in a cold climate, though.
Check valve www.radonaway.com/drain-check-4-pvc
Jesse. This is a great video. You do thorough work and know all the details. How do you tell if Radon is leaking through the foundation walls in addition to the floor? Or do you just seal the walls with a Dry lock type product.
Thanks,
Roy
Thank you, Roy. We have never had to seal foundation walls in order to reduce radon levels.
Sealing block walls would be more of an issue if you had cinder block walls vs concrete block walls and interior drain tile. Cinder block are less dense and therefore might allow conditioned are to be drawn through them. I think they are more commonly used in the southern states and not in Minnesota. Block wall depressurization is also an instance where you would want to consider sealing block walls. This method is very rare though.
Really interesting for the installation (U.S.A. north) and the different fan companies and their airflows , the difference in canada everything is inside AAA +++
Thanks for the compliment, Philippe!
Extremely helpful. One question - is there no concern about rainwater falling into the exposed pipe in the roof? Is there a U fitting that could be recommended for the end instead?
Good question, Manu. The short answer is no. There's no concern about rainwater entering the system here in Minnesota. Rain caps increase the discharge distance from surrounding areas and increase the likelihood of system freeze-ups.
Several pages cover this in the radon standards. Here's the link standards.aarst.org/SGM-SF-2017/26/index.html
Awesome video! Curious if you still dig a pit even though you tied into the draintile? Pretty sure my tiles run along the outside.
Hey John,
When the house has interior drain tile, I dig a pit large enough so that I don't have to worry about soil getting into the hole I cut in the top of the draintile.
Back in the day or in some of our earlier videos you'll see that I dug large suction pits even with drain tile. I now think that is unnecessary based on the pressure field testing we perform.
If you have an exterior drain tile system that comes into a sump basket in your house, you may want to run a temporary system drawing off of the sump basket to see if that lowers your radon levels. You can see us talk about temporary radon mitigation systems here czcams.com/video/TyCUneMCcLc/video.html
Thanks for watching!
Jesse
Thanks for the reply! I could try a temporary as a test to see what happens. I already sealed off the basin with a Jackal cover so I have a 3" hole I could use to vent. Right now I just have a threaded plug in there. Surprisingly just covering it lowered levels from 12 to 8pci/L. Only prob venting there permanantly is we don't want the piping and fan visible outside (near patio) so looking at SSD on opposite side of house running up thru garage then attic. If I find drain tile when I open the hole i'll tap in but think it's outside. Best I'll be able to do is use smoke for pressure field testing though. It won't be optimized but at least I can verify if it extends across the basement. Thanks for posting such detailed videos! Super helpful.
Thank you so much for this top-notch content. I'd like to convert a passive system to active that uses my sump pit, but I thought I read that you don't recommend using active sump pits for radon mitigation systems. Is that right, and if so, why?
Thank you for the compliment! I believe this rule eliminates the chance that the radon piping gets and stays disconnected by someone replacing a sump pump.
Check out section 402.1.2.4 of the radon standards. standards.aarst.org/RRNC-2020-1022/10/index.html#zoom=z
Great info. I am going to encapsulate my crawlspace myself and put a dehumidifier in there to reduce humidity (There is no way I can afford to hire this out). This means I will be closing off all of the vents and putting insulation on the walls then plastic foundation wall to foundation wall. The intent is to rid our space of mold which has become a problem. Should I test for Radon before/after/both?
I spoke w/ one contractor and he stated that after doing this, I should put in a vent fan that would pull the air from underneath the plastic and remove the soil gasses out. The fan would move about 150cm of air per minute. Would that be sufficient? The area is 1,000 sqft. That said, I have never seen anyone use a vent fan for this but I also haven't been at every house either. Don't scold me about hiring someone to do the radon remediation and am open to hiring that out if affordable. I am fully aware of the dangers of Radon but money doesn't grow on trees either.
Yes, I would be curious what your radon levels are before and after encapsulation. Be sure to test the room above the crawlspace.
When encapsulating a crawlspace we seal a six or 12 mil cross-laminated vapor barrier to the top of the foundation wall and lap it one foot onto the dirt.
We then install Radon Tee backfilled with clean rock. That is then covered with a strip of RadonAway's Vapor Mat.
A piece of vapor barrier is then cut to fit over the dirt floor and taped to the vapor barrier that is attached to the walls.
We then measure how much air we need to move with the pitot tube rig shown in the video to achieve our desired pressure field extension in our test holes.
After that, we install the appropriate size vent pipe with a valve and tie it into the rest of the radon system.
The valve allows us to damper down the airflow coming from beneath the crawlspace vapor barrier.
We then spend time checking for leaks in the vapor barrier and seal them to limit the loss of conditioned air from the house.
We typically only need to pull 5-10 cfm from a crawl space if we can get a good seal to the foundation wall.
If foam board installation is already installed on the foundation walls it tends to be much harder to get a good seal. This makes the system less energy efficient.
150 CFM is a lot of air to pull from beneath your vapor barrier. Keep in mind most of that air would likely be coming from your home and is air you are paying to heat and cool.
You will also want to use a fan that is capable of working in moist conditions, like a radon fan.
I would reach out to experts in your area before doing this project. I'd hate to see you create other issues while attempting to fix another.
The AARST radon mitigation standard will come in handy.
standards.aarst.org/SGM-SF-2017/index.html
Good luck!
Can you explain more about the pitot gauge and how you know you need 4” and not 3”?
The pitot tube allows us to measure how much air we need to move to hit our target numbers in our test holes. We also measure the static pressure to see how much suction we have to apply to achieve that airflow as well. I didn't show that in the video to try to keep it simple.
The pitot tube is made by Kansas State University by Bruce Sneed and Chad Robinson. You can purchase them by contacting K State radoncourses.com/online
Bill Brodhead does a much better job at explaining pressure drop and airflow in pipe than I ever will be able to.
Here are a couple of links that you may find helpful.
www.wpb-radon.com/Piping_pressure_drop.html
www.wpb-radon.com/pdf/PVC%20piping%20Pressure%20drop%2096.pdf
Ever consider using a condensate bypass? I have similar system tied into underfloor drain tile using an RP140 fan. First two RP140 fans failed, both at about 3-4 year mark. Read up on common causes for failure and condensate bypass was often mentioned to extend life. Installed that and now current fan has lasted about 10 years and still going.
Radon was about 5.8 before installation and is now consistently measuring in the 0.8p range.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Do you have an exterior system? If not, is there a significant amount of uninsulated piping above your radon fan?
We offer a condensate bypass as an optional accessory on exterior systems where it's common to have 10-20 feet of piping that produce condensation.
However, there likely isn't much condensation when there are 2-3 feet of piping above the fan, of which only one foot isn't wrapped with insulation.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation Interior - fortunately there was a nice void near garage to travel from basement into attic and out thru roof. About a 12 ft run within attic - 4ft horizontal and 8 ft up.
Within void - all piping is on interior side of insulation. Within attic - all piping is insulated. I used the foil faced wrap insulation on mine - I prefer the slide on insulation like you used but was out of stock at the time.
Awesome video , would like to know when you installed the 4inch pipe into the core drilled concrete do you insert the pipe under the slab ? Or install it the size of the slab ? Thanks
Thank you! The bottom of the pipe sits one inch below the bottom of the concrete slab. Nowadays, I use a Bosch 5-inch core drill bit to core the hole. Then a 4-inch PVC coupler with a shim to wedge it in place. The hole is slightly larger than the PVC coupler. Finally, I cut the shim flush with the floor and run a bead of radon sealant to create the seal.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation thank you !!! Appreciate it that you answered back and quickly too 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
@@kmobthm You're welcome!
Great video and extremely informative. Tested the radon levels last week with results around 10 in the basement and 5.8 on the main floor. We have a drain tile system with sump and 4" of crush stone under the basement floor, so we could go at the sump with an outside fan or bore through the basement floor and go through the garage and roof. We had a basement deep egress window installed this year with a drain connection to the outside perimeter drain. I am assuming that we are going to be "sucking" air from the egress window drain connection. How do you address this type of situation?
Thank you for the compliment!
In the radon courses we always teach if you can’t seal a leak, get away from it.
You might have to put your suction point in a different location to do this.
We don’t advise sump suction. Especially if you have a sump pump.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation Thanks for the reply. So homes with basement egress windows with drains connected to the outside perimeter drain tile need a different approach than sump pump suction. Looks like I will be looking at a suction point in the basement floor solution instead. To bad you don't service the Waukesha WI area, I would hire you in a heartbeat! Regards, Richard
@@PPCTSLLC We actually just started servicing Wisconsin.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation all the way the Waukesha/Pewaukee WI area?
@@PPCTSLLC Yes. We would do a FaceTime estimate and factor in travel and lodging.
Could you give a little more detail on the PFE? What made you realize you needed 4" instead of 3"? That you weren't getting to 5 Pa?
I feel like pressure field extension is easier to understand if you can see it.
This part of the video may help you understand what we are talking about when we talk PFE. czcams.com/video/TyCUneMCcLc/video.html
A 3-inch pipe starts to choke airflow around 60 CFM. We needed to move 80 CFM to get our target of -5 pascals, so that's why we used the 4-inch piping.
We could have used 3-inch pipe and a larger fan, but that would have resulted in a higher operating cost for Sean, the homeowner.
How do you tell where to core. Can it just be the closest run to the garage and how long if a run can it be. Was planning on using sump pit and going on outside of house but i like the idea of going through garage for aesthetics and sump pit is opposite side of garage
We run a sewer camera in the drain tile and use the locater to find where it is. We can also see how deep the drain tile is if there are any water traps, and if it's plugged or compromised.
Back in the day, we guessed. In our area, the footing for a house is 20 inches wide, with a 12-inch block foundation wall. That means there should be 4 inches of footing on each side of the wall. The drain tile is typically next to the footing, except where it goes around a corner. So if that's the case, I would core the hole about 7-8 inches from the wall. I believe a poured concrete foundation wall is 8 inches thick.
The footings are not always poured square, so they can be pretty far off sometimes. You can also drill small holes to find the edge of the footing or drain tile as well.
A sewer camera takes the guesswork out of it, but they are fragile and expensive.
Remember that the walkout wall is rarely drain tiled and has lots of settling.
How do your local HVAC guys usually address the water header back drafting? I just had a system installed in NE Indiana, and apparently I'm the first person in the area to have this issue. It could also be that I'm the first person to test, after watching your video!
That's a great question, Sean. They typically end up installing a power vented water heater.
They could also add more make-up/ combustion air, but I haven't seen them take this approach. I installed this at my sister's house, and it took care of the problem. Unfortunately, we can't add these for our customers since we are not mechanical contractors and can't pull the permit required to do so.
Hi. Great video!
Why do you place the fan in the attic as opposed to in a basement and then just run the exhaust pipe through the attic?
Great question!
The radon fan and pressurized portion of vent piping can’t be in a conditioned space so that if a leak occurs, it won’t be leaking radon into the home. Check out sections 6.5.2 and 6.5.3 of the standard standards.aarst.org/SGM-SF-2017/27/index.html
@@AmericanRadonMitigation A similar question - could the radon fan be installed lower down in the garage rather than in the attic space above it? Would it make a difference if the garage had a ceiling or was open to the roof? It would be easier to service the fan and, in my case, putting the fan about 5 feet off the floor would let the cord reach an existing outlet.
Yes, you could place the fan in an unconditioned garage as long as there's no living space above the garage. However, I think it looks tacky, so we always put them in the attic.
What is the highest pico curies you have seen? My basement tested 31 pc/l and upstairs bedroom tested 9 pc/l. I have a blockwall basement and I think it's all getting drawn up from the openings in the blockwall, do you see that often in blockwall basements?
The high radon level I have seen here in Minnesota is 76.5 pCi/L.
We have never had to install a block wall depressurization system to fix a home, and we have a lot of concrete block foundations here. However, if you engineer a mitigation system that creates suction under the entire footprint of the home, you will fix 99 percent of homes.
How do you typically know where to bore your hole to find the drain tile under the basement slab?
We run a sewer camera in the drain tile and use the locater to find where it is. We can also see how deep the drain tile is, if there are any water traps, and if it's plugged or compromised.
Back in the day, we guessed. In our area, the footing for a house is 20-inches wide, with a 12-inch block foundation wall. That means there should be 4-inches of footing on each side of the wall. The drain tile is typically next to the footing, except where it goes around a corner. So if that's the case, I would core the hole about 7-8-inches from the wall. I believe a poured concrete foundation wall is 8-inches thick.
The footings are not always poured square, so they can be pretty far off sometimes. You can also drill small holes to find the edge of the footing or drain tile as well.
A sewer camera takes the guesswork out of it, but they are fragile and expensive.
Keep in mind that the walkout wall is rarely drain tiled and has lost of settling.
I hope this helps, Adam.
You need a 90° elbow at the end of pipe on roof to keep rain and snow from running down the pipe and ruining the fan motor and collecting in pipe.
You'll see that according to the AARST standard that a strait discharge is preferred.
Check out pages 16 and 17 of the standard standards.aarst.org/SGM-SF-2017/17/index.html#zoom=z
About to tackle this project myself but having a difficult time deciding on 3" vs 4" ducting. I have an 1100sq ft basement slab with corrugated tile underneath and on the edges all leading to sump pit that I will be sealing and extracting from. sub slab is a mix of limestone and just earth. Using a RadonAway RP145c and entire run will be only 15' mostly vertical. Seems like in Canada 4" is typical but I see many US installations with 3". My main concerns are 1)airflow and 2)noise. What are your thoughts?
Go with 4-inch. It will be quieter and less likely to freeze in the winter.
In addition, you can move almost twice the air with a 4-inch pipe. It is typical for a drain tile depressurization system to move over 80 CFM, and you'd likely have a hard time achieving that with your current fan and 3-inch pipe.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation thanks for the reply, I actually finished the project last night and yes I made the decision already to go with 4" and very glad I did although it required me retro fitting it to the Jackel sump dome by cutting a new discharge hole. I'm using a RadonAway rp145c. I'm super pleased with how whisper quiet the entire system is but more importantly, at 0.5" WC, according to the charts in the manual, I am getting about 125cfm which I think is more than adequate. So far in the past 24hrs my numbers on my Corentium meter have dropped very sharply!
Nice job. How is the airflow alarm powered?
Thank you!
With a coin battery. We prefer to use the newer alarms that plug in to avoid nuisance alarms, though.
Nice video,is the water wont get in?The contractor just installed to our house & he did not put any cover or wire mesh at the end of the pipe through the roof
Thank you. Check out this video and the radon standard linked in the description for more information. czcams.com/video/MOK5eAPH3SU/video.htmlsi=9FeZO8IFOuh-TFpI
Roughly how much does this cost? I just had my crawlspace encapsulated and equipped with drain tile and sumps and am testing for Radon now.
Every home and contractor is different. Therefore, you will receive different estimates. You could expect estimates to range between $1500 and $15000. Check out this video before hiring a contractor: czcams.com/video/0EqUxNx1y7Y/video.html
I have a 2 story with a walk out so it seams like a 3 story house in the back, would it be better to vent it about 8-10 feet off the ground instead of going above the roof. How fast does radon dissipate? If I pump it above my house, assuming its heavier than air, will it come back in the house through open windows if pumped above the roof?
I'd avoid an external radon system whenever possible. What you're proposing would not meet the radon mitigation standards here in the United States. Check out the exhaust discharge requirements in section 7.4. standards.aarst.org/SGM-SF-2017-X/16/index.html
@@AmericanRadonMitigation thank you. This confirmed my suspicions about the gas and how it might re-enter the home if it is not properly spaced from windows and other openings.
How does rain water stay out of the fan especially during power outages?
Good question, Todd.
There is a small amount of rainwater that does get into the radon fan. It then drains through the radon system vent pipe and into the soil below the home. Rain caps and horizontal discharges are not recommended and can be an ice magnet in northern climates.
Here's the standard where it addresses these issues. Rain caps are on the next page.
standards.aarst.org/SGM-SF-2017-X/17/index.html
Hi, how do I know my home radon eye is still working properly? How long do they last? Do they need to be replaced over time?
I'm not sure how long they last. You could always cross-check it by placing another radon monitor or test kit beside it and comparing the results.
Since radon is much heavier than air, why does it need to be exhausted out above the roof? Why not exhaust it at or near ground-level some distance from the house?
There are concerns that there could be re-entrainment back into the house causing elevated radon levels.
I’m not sure how you could exhaust it some distance from the house without having freeze up issues or how you would drain the condensation.
You would also want to avoid exhausting next to a dog kennel, an air intake, a deck, or a patio.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation Thanks.
if your radon is so close to the wall, how do you make sure to clear the concrete footing?
We now use a sewer camera and locator to find the drain tile.
Here in MN, the house footings are 20-inches wide. A 12-inch wide concrete block foundation would mean you have 4-inches of footing extending beyond the inside and outside of the block wall. The drain tile is next to the footing, so if you core 6-8 inches from the block wall, you should hit the drain tile.
I already have a passive system in the house we bought. How much roughly would it cost to add a fan in the attic?
Where are you located?
Western Pennsylvania just north of Pittsburgh
The house was built in 98. They have a 4 inch passive running up thru the roof. Radon test when we had it inspected was like a 3.1. 48hr test. The inspector said it would be easy just to add a fan into the attic. But what he described and the incredible amount of detail you put into your work In the vid tells me it’s not that simple if I want to get the best out of my system. Great work btw
@@darksim73 Thank you. Most companies here in Minnesota charge 400-800. We’ve heard they are in and out within an hour.
It is fairly common for us to spend a day activating a passive system. We typically charge between 1500 and 3000 depending on what options the customer might want. Often times we find that the passive system was not installed correctly and needs to be modified.
We are about to post a new video that shows us activating a passive system. Stay tuned as I’ll have it up by next week.
A lot of french drain systems have waffle/dimple board installed at the bottom of the wall which then extends down into the drain area. How do you handle this situation when installing a radon mitigation system? Is sealing the dimple/waffle board the only solution?
Yes, it's the only good solution if you want the system to be energy efficient.
I really despise that stuff and wish the aftermarket drain tile companies would stop using it. A finished basement poses a real headache since you can't seal it without cutting open the wall.
The top of the waffle board is left open and is intended to catch water running down the wall's inside surface. While this is rare, it does happen.
If you simply seal the top, the water would end up in the basement instead of in the drain tile system.
To seal it properly, you should install a vapor barrier that extends from the top of the foundation wall and is tucked in behind the waffle board. Then you can seal all sides, seams, and the waffle board.
This allows the waffle board to function as intended.
Obviously, this is easier said than done since anything on the foundation wall needs to be removed to accommodate the vapor barrier installation. This includes plumbing and electrical.
If you have gravel under the slab, you might get by moving your suction point to a more central location to get away from the air leak.
If you have sand or clay under the slab, a central suction point likely won't do much for you.
I am reminded of a customer we installed a system for a month ago. His radon levels were below 2 pCi/L before having drain tile installed and were around 10 pCi/L after.
We ended up foaming the top of the waffle board since he hasn't ever had water running down the inside surface of his block wall foundation.
I asked him to check with the drain tile company to ensure it didn't void their warranty before we got started.
They said it was ok as long as we didn't plug the weep holes when we sealed it.
I would recommend getting this in writing.
I hope this helps!
Jesse
@@AmericanRadonMitigation Thank you for your very thorough and helpful response. This is great information. One more followup question, but is there any type of testing that can be done after the fact to ensure there is no depressurization happening? Is that the smoke pen test that you show in your videos? We also have a fireplace in the space and so a bit worried about creating a draft related issue.
@@jeffs1068 You're welcome, Jeff. We cover how to check for back-drafting on a gravity (natural draft) water heater in the last couple of minutes of this video.
I'd have a qualified technician check your fireplace as I'm not familiar with how to do that.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation Thanks again for your help!
@@jeffs1068 You betcha, Jeff!
Be sure to subscribe if you’d like to be notified when we put out more nerdy radon videos. 🤓
What is the point of making a new sump cover? Just to reduce the amount of inside air drawn into the radon system?
Yes, some choose to seal the slot in the sump cover with metal and caulk. However, I'm not a fan as I think it looks unprofessional. We also have to provide a 4-inch access port.
I also like being able to see through the polycarbonate cover.
Look a easy work but is not u need a lot tool and effort to done running all 4" pvc good work btw
Thank you for watching!
My new radon fan draws 2” of pressure but seems to draw very little air. Removing the lid from the near by sump pit makes no difference. I dont think our radon levels are dropping like they should. Any comment? Thanks
What model of radon fan do you have?
American Radon Mitigation I have a Fantech Rn2. Unit is pulling about 1 1/2” now. It was 2” for quite a while. My meter says 217 BQ long term and 194 7 day. But some warm weather has arrived so are windows are open often. It seems a cool day when the furnace runs short term levels spike to 345 Bq. I know not to dwell on short term readings but the LT and 7Day seem high to me considering some windows are open much of the time. Thank you for your comments.
@@parkland4530 It sounds like the fan is not moving much air and is operating near the top end of its static pressure. That's not necessarily a bad thing though. We've found that the key to getting your radon down to outdoor levels is to get vacuum or suction under the whole home. I'm guessing that your radon system isn't achieving that now. This video may help you understand what I'm talking about a bit better. czcams.com/video/TyCUneMCcLc/video.html
American Radon Mitigation Thanks for your opinion. I tend to agree. The installer says to give it some time but I am not that confident. Being so close to the sump pit I would have thought it would have found a way to draw from a large area. Anyway we will see. Thanks for your opinion.
D'Arcy Keast I would expect a system connected interior drain tile to be at a much lower static pressure. You could try pulling the tube on the u-tube manometer out of the pipe and letting the oil settle for 10 minutes. The oil should be equal on both sides and at zero. If it’s not at zero you can slide the u-tube up or down to re-zero it. Then plug the tube back into the pipe. Does it still read a static pressure around 2-inches?
If not, my guess is the system is not tied into your drain tile system. You could always cut the pipe near the floor so you can look into the suction point to see if the system is drawing off of the drain tile.
The moment you turn on a properly designed radon mitigation system you stop radon entry through the slab. You have to wait 24 hours to start a radon test so that the air in your house can be exchanged with fresh air. This gives the radon that’s already in your house time to dissipate. There is no need to wait longer than that.
We sometime hear about contractors telling the homeowner to wait a long period of time to retest when they don’t know how to get the radon levels lower. I’d get recommend you find a contractor that knows how to do diagnostic testing to assess your system.
Good luck!
My house inspection was done last week by a local radon mitigation company. I live in Indiana.They have straight away told me that they will use 3inch pipe not the 4inch. And they are asking me to decide if I want the pipe/radon system to go through the Attic or outside of the home. Could you please suggest which option is better. The price difference is only 200 dollars, that is not a concern.
Hey Kiran. I wouldn't put an external system on my own house unless it were the only option.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation Thanks for the response. I will go with internal one though our garage Attic. Also could you please suggest 3" Vs 4" pipe to go with ?
You're welcome, Kiran.
We determine pipe size based on how much air the system will be moving. If it's more than 60 CFM, we use 4- inch pipe. Large pipe will not hurt, but may be overkill if you aren't moving much air.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation Ok Thank you. Really appreciate your time and helping me out. Thanks again!!
Absolutely!
how many drills you own bro?
Just six. 😂 Two right-angle drills, two rotary hammer drills, a hammer drill, and a regular drill. A core drill setup will be the next one.
Do we ever have enough tools?
By the way, we just got the Milwaukee Super Hawk with the 6.0 batteries, and the thing is incredible!
Why not run the radon fan into the sump pit since it ties into the drain tiles anyway ?
Thanks for the question, Tony. Check out the informative advisory below figure 7.1.2 in the standard standards.aarst.org/SGM-SF-2017-X/11/index.html
@@AmericanRadonMitigation Thanks! If one of the concerns is leakage, is it a bad idea to install the new hole and tie into the drain tile in a location that’s right next to the sump pit? Does it need to be a certain distance away? Great videos btw!
Thanks, Tony. You don’t need to be a certain distance away from the sump pit. There are a few exceptions, but generally you would tie into the drain tile close to wherever you exit the house to avoid long pipe routes.
And here was I, wondering all this time what to do with all that radon mitigation gear I had in the garage. Now, thanks to your clear video, I know how to use my industrial four inch concrete hole cutter, my pitot tube with the blast gate, all the sophisticated construction vortex vacuum stuff and associated plumbing, my two DG500 pressure gauges, 'trades only' caulking gear and non-toxic caulking, the pressure-measuring tubes and bottle stoppers and all that jazz that we all have laying around at home. Thanks. Now if only my basement were a squeaky clean, hermetically sealable box made of bright smooth concrete and cement blocks instead of an earth floor and fieldstone foundation, topped off with a two hundred year-old brick and oak timber house.
😂
Whee you guys located at
We serve Minnesota and the Western Wisconsin area.
radon
What if the house is so old and has no drain tiles?
We have several videos showing how to mitigate homes without drain tile that you may find helpful.
Drain tile with no interior exposure isn't complicated; it's easy. What would be much more useful is on mitigation with drain tiles that have interior exposure (e.g., waffle-board between the walls and floor).
A drain tile depressurization may be less complicated than a sub-slab depressurization system in most cases. However, we find many homes with compromised drain tile systems that require quite a bit of troubleshooting to get full pressure field extension. We worked on one last week that added about six hours of labor to the project. Look for a video about this in the next month or two.
The waffle board is the worst, especially in a finished basement! In that case, we find sump suction or drawing directly off the drain tile (not the rock around it) is best. Seal what you can. Cut drywall if the homeowner allows to access to the waffle board. Multiple suction points will help immensely with PFE and energy efficiency.
@@AmericanRadonMitigation: Thanks. I'd look forward to seeing that sort of installation.
This is the problem with this now the sump pump is disabled and there is no drainage for water in the basement. So you don’t have gas ,but you’ll have a flood.
There never was a sump pump installed in this home. However, one could easily add a sump pump by cutting a hole for the sump discharge piping and a cord grommet.
It is common for homes to have drain tile with a sump basin and not have a sump pump. Typically, we see these homes on top of a hill or where the native soil drains well, like sand.
An air pipe is going to freeze??
Similar to a glass of ice water sweating. The condensation formed when the warm, moist soil gas touches the cold pipe can start to freeze to the pipe's inner wall. This ice can build up and block the opening, rendering the system useless until it thaws.
We don’t do any of that in TN
It probably doesn't get cold enough for your systems to freeze like it does in Minnesota.
Why would you make it so they can't add a sump pump
Great question!
A sump pump can be added by removing the Lexan cover, cutting holes in the cover for the sump pump discharge pipe and cord, and then re-sealing the cover.
You can see how we seal the sump basket when there's a sump pump in this video. The portion you might be interested in starts at 3:27. czcams.com/video/yY0G7TIUZIY/video.html
17:07 Look at all that overspray on the roof. Get yourself a piece of cardboard with a hole in it.
That's a great idea! Thank you!
Doesn't make sense why you would run the pipe into the garage, then up to the attic when you could just run the pipe out of an exterior wall and be done with it. It's bad enough people have to pay outrageous amounts of money to do something that never had to be done before, and then you make it as expensive as possible. RIDICULOUS !
Michael, here are the top three reasons why we avoid external radon systems whenever possible.
1. They are incredibly ugly.
2. They typically have a shorter fan life.
3. They are susceptible to freeze-ups in the winter, leaving the homeowner with elevated radon levels until the system thaws and starts working again.
Ultimately, it is up to the homeowner. Most of our customers opt for an interior route to maintain aesthetics and lessen the chance of elevated radon due to a frozen system.
Here's a video that shows some examples. czcams.com/users/shorts7HGT6lqjyvo?feature=share
Nice job,unnecessary, but nice job.
Thanks, Dennis.
All the extra diagnostics and gadgets you use is only making customers more concerned for no reason. Pressure field extension is good enough. But the things you do is going way to far and is only making my work harder because customer watch these videos and are not satisfied. You are doing way too much.
Can I ask what you guarantee to reduce radon levels to?
@@AmericanRadonMitigation 75%