Types of Radon Mitigation

Active Suction

• If your home has a basement or slab-on-grade type construction, radon gas can build up under the foundation and enter through small cracks. One common and effective mitigation technique involves placing a pipe through a hole drilled in the foundation, attaching a fan-powered suction system and venting the pipe to the outside. The fan runs slowly, creating just enough low pressure to prevent radon from accumulating under the house.

Sealing

• Your contractor should seal any cracks in the basement floor as part of the radon mitigation process. This extra step improves the effectiveness of active or passive suction systems and limits the loss of conditioned air from your home through the vent pipe.

Passive Suction

• Builders construct some homes such that natural differences in pressure between different parts of the house create suction without a fan, preventing radon from building up. This can work as long as the radon vents through a duct and not through the rooms of the house. If the soil under the house produces high levels of radon, passive suction may not be enough to alleviate it.

Pressurization

• If you can keep the doors and windows closed most of the time on the lower level of your house, the pressurization method might work for you. Instead of drawing air out from under the basement by suction, this technique builds up pressure by forcing air in from above. The pressure prevents radon from seeping up from the foundation.

Submembrane Suction

• If your home has a crawlspace with a dirt floor, you can mitigate radon by sealing the floor with a heavy plastic sheet, pumping the air from under the sheet and venting it outside. As with the active suction method, this uses a powered fan to actively move the air out, preventing radon from accumulating.