On Sep 29, 8:17*am, "Jack" asked about radon
abatement, and immediately the conspiracy theorists came out to
play...


Let's address some issues here.

(1) Radon in high enough concentrations is a legitimate concern,
particularly for people with existing health issues and, apparently,
pets. (Smaller animals, higher metabolism, higher risk.)

(2) Radon is found in higher concentrations in rockier soils,
especially around mountainous or hilly areas with a high presence of
granite (the source of much radon leaching).

(3) The reason we didn't hear about radon years ago or in older houses
is because it builds up in areas not properly ventilated. Old houses
were leakier; new houses tend to be more air-tight to conserve on
energy usage.

(4) You're going to see more houses testing positive for elevated
levels of radon as we have a higher percentage of foreclosures - empty
houses - sitting on the market for months. People aren't going in and
out as much (less air exchange with outside), and the HVAC isn't
running as often to "stir up" the air.

Do NOT make a hyperbolic claim about radon abatement being a scam. I
know of a couple in Colorado whose house tested for something like 120
pCi/L (picocuries per liter) which is 30x the maximum acceptable level
according to the EPA. THAT needs abatement.

Did my own house, which tested at 12-13 pCi/L after sitting,
foreclosed, for 6-1/2 months need to be abated before we moved in?
Probably not, but we had it done anyway because one of our cats has
allergies and asthma and my immune system makes me susceptible so why
take the risk if we were getting a credit for it at settlement?

My one dislike is the noise of the air exiting the pipe on the roof.
We vented it out through the basement wall into the garage and then
through the garage roof. The part of our deck where I have the grill
is where the garage roof is ~4 feet above the deck, so you can hear
the muted roar/rush of the fan venting the air. I'd like to crank the
rheostat on the fan down to a slower speed to see if we can alleviate
some of that white noise on the back deck...

But otherwise, I don't have any problem with the abatement.