RADON

What is Radon?

Radon is a radioactive gas often found in the ground in many areas. It’s a daughter-product of uranium. The greater Kansas City area is in a belt where the Radon levels are higher than average.

Why is it bad for me?

It’s obviously not a good idea to breathe radioactive gases, because it can give you lung cancer. While I’m not currently involved in Radon remediation work, I definitely take this threat very seriously. I’ve heard some people say that they’ve never seen a death certificate with Radon listed as the cause of death. But that seems to be a very naïve response. What person in their right mind would elect to spend a lot of time in an environment known to contain radioactive gases?

How does Radon get from the ground into my house?

It comes up from the soil through openings in the common areas in the basement, foundation walls or crawlspace.

How do I know if I have Radon gas in my house?

You can either have a Radon testing company test for it or you can buy a test kit yourself. Any more, when you sell a house in our area, the Radon testing is pretty much mandatory for the seller to have performed.

How do I get rid of it?

The required remediation process pretty much depends on the levels of Radon found in the home. I see a lot of those Radon ventilation systems installed at my customer’s homes. These are the types where they drill a hole in the basement floor and run a piece of plastic pipe under the floor. That pipe is run outside where it goes into a fan assembly. Then they run a vertical pipe up from the fan assembly and the air is blown out through the top of the pipe. So they’re placing the area under the basement floor in a negative pressure when the fan runs, which is 24/7.

Does it matter which company installs the Radon remediation system?

It wouldn’t if they all did good installations. But like anything else, that simply isn’t the case. Some take shortcuts that I just don’t like at all. There is at least one company here that does really good installations and doesn’t take those shortcuts. I like this because:

1. They always include a fluid manometer in the basement. This device is a U shaped, clear plastic tube that lets the homeowner see at a glance if the fan system is operating. If the colored fluid in each leg of the U shaped tube is at the same height, then the fan isn’t working. But if the fluid in one tube is higher than it is in the other tube, the fan is working.
2. They take steps to prohibit water (from rain and snow) from entering the top of the pipe and going straight down into the fan outside the house.
3. They provide a means for the service person to turn off the power to the fan from outside the house to prevent them from being electrocuted. This is code mandated in many municipalities.

And there are companies that don’t do all these things and sometimes don’t do any of them.

Areas Served

Greater Kansas City including:

Johnson County, Kansas     Kansas City, Kansas       Kansas City, Missouri

Fairway, KS

Lake Quivira, KS

Leawood, KS

Lenexa, KS

Merriam, KS

Mission, KS

Mission Hills, KS

Mission Woods, KS

Olathe, KS

Overland Park, KS

Prairie Village, KS

Roeland Park, KS

Shawnee, KS

Spring Hill, KS

Stanley, KS

Stilwell, KS

Westwood, KS

Westwood Hills, KS

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