Cracks In Basement Floor Radon

Step 1 radon easily flows through opening voids holes joints and cracks in the basement.

Cracks in basement floor radon.

Sealing the cracks in the floor of your basement may be all that you need to do then again maybe more work will be needed. Epa protocol dictates that all basement floor cracks be caulked with polyurethane caulk when a house is being mitigated for radon. Caulking basement floor cracks coating basement walls or floors with waterproofing compounds sealing the tops of open drains installing caps on sump pump holes and covering bare crawlspace floors with plastic are a few techniques that can dramatically lower radon levels. Inject the crackweld resin into the crack to wet the surfaces and make them tacky.

Radon gets into your home through. Sealing the basement floor can help but just sealing the cracks is unlikely to reduce your radon levels in the long term. Cracks wider than inch should be sealed to help keep water moisture soil smells and radon gas from seeping through the basement floor. 1 cracks in the basement floor 2 construction joints 3 cracks in basement walls 4 gaps in suspended floors 5 gaps around service pipes other floor penetrations 6 cavities inside walls 7 the home s water supply.

Properly executed mitigation turns the sub slab under the basement floor into a vacuum making it nearly impossible for gasses to enter living spaces through such cracks. As required by all mitigation methods seal or caulk polyurethane all such openings airtight. In 10 to 15 minutes scrape off the surface to make it. It can occur when the concrete mix is too wet or hasn t been properly cured.

New cracks can occur as the basement ages. Sealing radon out can be the simplest solution. Caulk has a limited life span especially in basements where constant moisture changes can be expected in cement foundations and floors. Even the best sealing efforts can easily miss hair line cracks that can add up to significant radon gas entry points.

Diy foundation wall crack repair kits. The concentration of radon should be checked both before and after the concrete is sealed. Keep in mind though that the acrylic and other soak in sealers marketed as radon mitigation systems are untested solutions. For permanent solutions please review our line of crack and joint repair kits.

Spalling or flaking is ugly but doesn t require repair. Most basement cracks do not present a radon gas risk but you should beware the possibility. In any event use a polyurethane concrete caulk. Please follow these basic steps.

This is not as you might think to keep radon and other earth gasses from entering the home following mitigation. Hopefully you will not have to install the exhaust system we mentioned. Thoroughly saturate the sand with crackweld resin to fill it to the surface. Push dry silica sand into the crack to fill it.