Ways Radon Can Be Mitigated from Your Home

Do you have high levels of radon in your home?

While having radon that goes beyond safe levels in your home is cause for immediate action, you shouldn’t overreact. You can rely on local companies that provide radon abatement service to help you bring it down. They have both the equipment and know-how to mitigate this harmful gas.

Contrary to common belief, though, turning on your air conditioner will not help at all.

However, there are some DIY techniques you can choose to do before the radon mitigation company arrives:

DIY Radon Mitigation Techniques

These approaches are not as quick and effective as having professionals do it for you. However, it can help you to lower radon levels before they arrive:

• Seal cracks and openings. Radon seeps into your home through these cracks. You can fill all entry points with urethane foam.
• Open windows on the lowest level. If weather permits, open the windows on the lowest part of your house. These could be windows on your basement or the ground level.
• Avoid turning your exhaust fan on. If you have an exhaust fan, do not turn it on since it will attract more radon inside. The pressure inside your home is lowered when your exhaust fan is running, attracting radon like a magnet.
• Turn on ceiling fan with positive ion generator. A fan can help circulate air in your home, and if you have your windows open, they can easily be sucked out. However, a ceiling fan that has a positive ion generator can be more effective, it can charge radon particles making them heavier and harder to get inhaled.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends taking action to reduce radon in homes that have a radon level at or above 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) of air. If levels are still high after you do radon testing again, it’s best to have radon mitigation and abatement companies take care of the issue.

How Radon Abatement Companies Can Help

There’s various radon mitigation system that can be installed in your home. The system that a technician from your radon abatement service can use will largely depend on the type of home you have:

Active Suction

Do you have a home that has a concrete slab basement? Radon gas can build up under your basement’s foundation. Small cracks from wear and tear can allow radon gas to slip through.

An active suction system makes use of a vent pipe that goes all the way up past the roof. When its fan is turned on, it sucks up radon and disperses it outside, effectively removing its harmful effect in your home.

Passive Suction

This type of system acts as a preventive measure while the house is being constructed. It works on the premise of creating different air pressure in rooms. This variation of pressure allows air to circulate naturally, preventing stagnant air to build up. It stops the air from accumulating and thus ceasing radon build-ups.

There’s also a duct system that sucks any possible radon build-up and directs it outside of the house. Passive suction can still be installed in existing homes to help prevent future radon problems. However, it’s not recommended for older homes because they cannot accommodate ventilation changes.

Pressure Systems

This is not a type of equipment but a set of best practices you can do to mitigate radon build-up in your home. It’s one of the DIY radon mitigation techniques described in the section earlier. In a nutshell, it involves creating varying pressure inside your home so you can allow the circulation of air.

This is the least expensive option since you don’t have to buy any tools or equipment.

Sub-Membrane

If your home has a crawlspace or has dirt or loose gravel for a floor, your radon abatement service may choose to go with this approach.

The crawlspace or floor is covered with a heavy plastic sheet. A channel is set up underneath the plastic sheet to help guide radon out of your house. It effectively flushes any harmful gas while keeping it from escaping.

Trust Your Local Radon Abatement Service for Mitigation

While you can perform some steps to lower radon gas in your home, you can always call companies that specialize in radon abatement. Aurora and other cities usually have several experts in the area who can handle the situation well.