In new home construction, the home buyer is often offered the opportunity to purchase a passive Radon system for an additional cost or upcharge. It is important to understand however, that these passive systems do not by themselves remove harmful radon gas from the home. While they may provide the radon gas with a location to vent out of the property, this is inefficient, and often times ineffective. Most often, the installation of a passive system at the time of the original construction of the home is largely intended to reduce the costs associated to installing an active radon mitigation system should subsequent tests of the home later indicate that the home has a harmful level of radon gas infiltration.
What you may not realize when purchasing this passive radon system from your home builder however, is that while the US EPA and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania require that anyone installing an active radon mitigation system be properly trained, certified and licensed by the State, there are no training or certification requirements made on the home builder when installing a passive system.
As a result quite often these passive systems are installed in such a way as to make them unusable or ineffective. In fact we have found that as many as 90% of these passive radon systems are installed in such a way that the passive system cannot be used. As a result it is more than likely that it will be necessary to install a completely separate active radon mitigation system should the need arise.
If you are building a home and considering the installation of a passive radon system, we recommend that you engage the expertise of a licensed radon mitigation company to work with your home builder to make sure that your system will be installed properly.
Disaster Blaster is properly licensed and certified for the installation of Radon Mitigation Systems. Please contact your local Disaster Blaster office should you have a radon problem and we would be happy to assist you.
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