So a few weeks ago Stogie came over and we framed up my basement over the weekend. (Major props to Stogie, btw) Looks great, walls and doorways are clean and we even framed up some closets, too. I'm really proud of it.
So like I usually do I take to the interwebz and read up on everything related to a project I'm doing, to the point of obsession. At some point one of my wife's friends said "have y'all tested for radon?" and I just looked at her like she was nuts. So I read up about it and get scared enough to go buy a cheap radon test. I put it in my basement, closed everything off, and left it there for the instructed amount of time. Sent the test in and got the results back today... and it's high. So of course now I throw my hands up in frustration, as I was ready to get it wired and all. Supposedly the EPA recommends taking action if the results are over 4.0 pCi/L and my results were 7.6. It says to test again if the results are high and I will, but does anyone here have any experience with this? Should I now be worried about my upper floor, too? In the Spring and Fall we open our windows quite a bit to air things out. Or, is this mainly something I should be concerned with in the basement before I put anymore money into finish it?
I've noticed a crack where the basement floor meets the wall all around the basement where it has settled. I patched the part we framed with hydraulic cement, but I'm guessing one of the things I'll need to do is patch the crack all the way around the basement. The floor drain on the basement floor is supposedly another avenue for radon to get in. The next step I suppose is a ventilation system or some measure of moving air. The website says there are companies you pay to come mitigate radon, too.
This was just not part of the plan!