High radon level in house....

[babygrant]

There's a man in our town who's wife died of lung cancer caused by radon.  He started a nonprofit organization to help people test for it since our community seems to have high levels of it.  He's offered up free testing and we jumped on the offer.  Our levels came back at 4.1 picocuries per litre.  From what i've read, ANY level exceeding 4.0 picocuries per litre really should have ventilation fans put in the floor etc.

I'm freaking out now.  We had a renovation job from hell last year which was supposed to cost us $6,000.00 and ended up costing us almost $40,000.  We are still trying \to get out of the hole from that disaster.  It's ranging from -10 to zero here during the day, so there's no way we can open up windows to get any extra ventilation in.  The equipment that would need to be installed to help vent the radon from under the house would be around $2500.00 and we defenitely do NOT have that money.

Anyone have any words of wisdom?

[Vancouver Mommy]

First of all, I'm sorry for the stress you're experiencing. Second, I encourage you to try and remain calm until you have more information. I do not know much at all about radon or home renovation, but I do remember reading about a link between radon and granite countertops - in a very small percentage of granite. That might be a good place to start. Makes me want to have my house checked.

[babygrant]

Well the thing that really scares me is that we bought this house off my inlaws.  My husband grew up in this house, so he's only been out of this house for one year total when him and I first move in together.  So for a total of 27 years he's lived here.  He's a smoker which makes radon levels even worse for him.    Also, until we did our major renovation job, our basement was just a big dirt heap.  It had no concrete foor which would've been HORRIBLE for radon since it comes up from the ground.  I cannot imagine what the levels were BEFORE.

[KimPM]

A single test does not give you the big picture.  Values can fluctuate wildly depending on the weather (pressure changes the amount of gas pushed up from the soil).  What you want is the *average* level at 4.0 pCi/L and below.  At 4.0 pCi/L, it's not super large, really.  And 4.1 pCi/L is really close to 4.0, so I wouldn't sweat it.  What you can do is during the warmer months, keep a window (or several) open.  Venting is the solution.  It's what the "remediation" efforts do anyway.  I'd also get a bunch more readings.  You can get some cheap canister tests at a hardware store, or perhaps order them online.  These record the average level by their very nature.  Get a bunch of these average levels measured to get a better picture than just the single result you have now. 

FWIW, the "ideal" is to have the level equal to the outdoor level, which runs around 1.4 to 2.0 pCi/L.  Ideal is not usually achieved, even with remediation.  Anything under 4 is considered good.  Like I said, 4.1 isn't that bad either.

I have an electronic radon monitor that takes readings periodically.  This gives the instantaneous reading at each interval.  It's very interesting to see how the weather can wildly vary the instantaneous readings, so you could even get a reasonably varying average result.   If you get a bunch of canister test readings (done at different times) similar to 4.1 then you can be pretty confident that's your typical house level.  And it's not too bad, especially if you ventilate whenever you can.  If it were, say 10 pCi/L, then I'd worry.

The other issue is how the test is performed is very critical.  While the test is running, try NOT to ventilate the house, including bath fans, as much as possible to get a "worst case".  Where the tester is placed is important.  It must be in the lowest occupied (not unfinished basement) level of the house, but not too close to a wall, window or door.  You're also not supposed to run a test during a storm or other extreme weather.  You should see the wildly fluctuating results from that.  These reasons are why it's good to get more than just one test, to double check.  The canister tests are pretty cheap.

I'm not sure the dirt floor vs. concrete floor makes much difference.  There are minute openings and joints in the concrete that the radon gets through.   It depends more on the amount of radon in the rocks/soil under your particular house.  Could be vastly different for your house vs. your next-door neighbor's house.  Although, there are general trends for particular locations.

For more info., check the epa.gov website on radon.