14Feb/101
How Would I Pressurize A House To Minimize The Amount Of Radon Gas That Enters The Structure?
I also have a fireplace with a cold hearth. I understand that in a two story home, higher pressure is at the upper level creating a vacuum affect. How do I get higher air pressure to the lower levels of the house?
February 14th, 2010 - 04:03
You don’t pressurize a house to keep Radon out. That requires drawing in outside air, which itself is ladened with Radon, that then allows Radon (it’s heavier than air) and it’s radioactive daughter products to accumulate inside the house.
The correct way to mitigate a house is to install a system that draws a vacuum *under* the slab or on the soil in the crawl space, and then vents above the roof line. This is done by sealing the slab/basement/soil and installing a suction fan with duct made of insulated 4″ PVC pipe.
All of the materials can be purchased from someplace like Infiltec and at your local plumbing supplier, and instructions are available in books that can be found at sites like Radon.com
The very first step is testing. Have you tested your house to know whether any of this is even necessary?