Do interior run systems freeze up in the northern latitudes? Systems which are entirely contained within the home until they enter an unconditioned attic and then pass through the roof. I've never freeze ups happen on the slightly more difficult interior installed systems, even on those rare occasionswhen we do hover around the 0° temperature range. Perhaps that technique would help alleviate many of those freeze ups? I thought about the available insulated piping, I just can't see where that would offer a significant difference at -20°.

I'm in Virginia where we don't get the type of cold I was accustomed to in my youth in Wyoming, where -40° was just a winter day. We do not do mitigation but cross train in mitigation and consult on difficult mitigations with several local mitigators, so I've inspected thousands of systems under all types of construction technologies and weather conditions and never have seen an interior system freeze up.

Wally
Radon-Ease
Testing Since 1987

Practicing medicine without a license is a criminal offense.

Practicing law without a license is a criminal offense.

Building homes without a license is a criminal offense.

Perhaps states should consider locking up this particular breed of jack leg up......oh yeah there'd have to be a licensing program for that.....a program that would both protect the public from this shoddy type of practice and inflict a little pain on those that conduct business that way.

Thanks for sharing that! I talk to home owners all the time, asking for my opinion on the homeowner grade devices. Now I have a reasonable facsimile of science I can share with them instead of a loosely assembled list of experiences with the various devices.
Especially, thanks to the Canadian group that pulled this together!

Bob,

What you say is true. By some arguments posted here, we should just do away with drivers licenses, since people still speed. Dr's licenses, since there are Dr's committing malpractice.

I see our profession evolving the way plumbers, electricians and in our state, home inspectors have, with the "journeymen" bringing along the newer arrivals.

There's no way someone can come into this profession after 18-24 hours of CE and truly serve the best interest of their clients and themselves.

I suspect there will ultimately be tiers of radon professionals, the same as there is for plumbers and electricians.

Imagine if the the home had burned down, or the owner had been electrocuted by the 1st system pictured I posted. How far back would the radon industry be set back by the headlines "Radon mitigation systems are dangerous, this family was killed in their sleep by their radon system" ? The news loves to sensationalize.

In our state there are laws..... with no penalties. If there were at least penalties (which were rigorously enforced), perhaps we wouldn't be seeing dangerous systems, perhaps then the malfeasance would be reduced.

With change we can either, Lead the way, follow or get run over.

You can even see the path the air takes from the dirt or mold or whatever the dark streaks are.

I have no words just WOW!

There was a lower attic where the fan resided. The exhaust was nicely concealed in the attic. The home, post mitigation, was 18 pCi/L. Air handler was in the attic, with the exhaust.

It's interesting to note that while the mitigatior had plenty of poly to complete covering the earth in the crawl space, as evidenced by the poly left in the picture, he Chose not to finish the installation. Yes this was a real job. It was resolved after several weeks and the assistance of our radon program director.

Good discussion. This is how things get rolling. Adam, we too offer discounted services and in some cases free services.

My point is, there has to be some way for bad actors to be addressed. Someone who is a repeat offender, in my mind moves through the process of being a civil offender, to a criminal offender. With my one "Stupid" example, think how far backwards the radon industry could be thrown, had I not seen and called out the abborhant way that system was installed. I have hundreds, possibly thousands of pictures showing other trash, garbage, dangerous systems.
What if the homeowner was in the crawl space doing their due diligence inspections, looking for things that needed to be addressed and got killed by electrocution from their radon system? Or the house burned down and the entire family was killed? Can you see the headline "Radon Mitigation Systems Dangerous and May Kill Homeowners!" How adversely would that affect our industry?
To say that an industry, that at it's roots, is a Health Care Industry, shouldn't be regulated in some fashion, TO ME, is irresponsible. In Virginia last year there was a push to deregulate X-Ray technicians! Do you want to be the person in that deregulated office? I should hope not.

To say that no matter what you do there will be bad actors, is true enough. However that's not to say we should remove licensure from Doctors, some do commit malpractice. CDL Truck Drivers still have accidents which kill people. Why bother with building inspections when there are still shoddily built homes? It'll never be an exact science and the folks on this board are probably not the problem. It's the folks that don't care enough to be professionals that will adversely affect us all.

I have had many clients over the years ask, "what does it take to do radon testing or mitigation?" When told, they ask in many cases, Why plumbers and electricians have an apprenticeship program but radon folks just do their 24 hours of CE Credits and become "Experts", while plumbers, electricians and now, in Virginia, Home Inspectors have to do real life field work under the tutelage of a licensed home inspector, instead of trying to become an instant expert after 2 or 3 days of studies? To the general public, it doesn't seem to make any sense. It's a really valid question.


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I have been fighting for licensure in Virginia for years.

When I hear an inspector complain that annual calibrations are a burdensome, expensive and unneeded expense, which I've heard in public at conferences around the country, it highlights the need for licensure & oversight. If someone thinks annual calibrations are unnecessary, you know they aren't doing any QA/QC. I have seen monitors in the field which we documented were 800% off. The inspector stated that the monitor was calibrated within the last year so it had to be correct. Though they had no QA/QC mechanism to determine the precision and accuracy of their equipment between calibrations. Machines break, QA/QC helps us to see that, while the machines are deviating, hopefully before it breaks.

We have been testing since 1985 and AARSTs drive to educate consumers, combined with the marketing monsters that many home inspection firms are, have driven our testing through the roof.

I've seen mitigation systems installed that were an immediate threat to the occupants as a fire hazard or backdraft hazard.

In all likelihood the average Radon Professional, is just that, professional. Laws are made because of the few practitioners who will limbo under the protocols that are there to both protect the public and limit the practitioners self inflicted liability.

Minnesota's experience is a good learning tool. Licensure, oversight and notification have increased testing by a better trained, more professional group. Everybody benefits, except the person who doesn't want to do the bare minimum.
Licensure elevates the radon profession to that, a Profession. The public shouldn't much trust Billy Bobs X Ray, Doctoring, Bait and Tackle, Gas, Gifts and Fine Dining, why should they trust a Jack of all trades, master of none? Someone who fears a credible agency from ensuring that the job they are doing is safe for the public and reduces the chances for bone crushing lawsuits against the practitioner?