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Radon rough in question

5 years ago


Hello, I just bought a new house built in 2019. In the basement there is a 4" green pvc pipe coming up out of the floor about 18" or so and then capped. I was told this is radon rough in.

When i look down the pipe it tees to both sides. To the right of the pipe about 6-8 Feet Which is the corner of the basement there is a sump hole with two pipe entrances Which i believe is a loop all the way around the slab (Cannot confirm)

Does this sound like a radon rough in? The sump had a little water in it but was super nasty like grey water. Stunk wicked bad. I shop vacced it out to see if water will return. There are no signs of this being a wet basement but i am not 100% positive considering the couple inches of water in there. the house is built up on a hill.

How can i tell if this is radon rough in? I was expecting the pipe to go down in to dirt that i would have to dig out. The sump cover fits snug but is not gasketed or air tight.

Comments (5)

  • 5 years ago

    If it's for radon, it's usually installed in free-draining gravel and has holes in it. Then a slight vacuum can depressurize the underslab area. The sump pipes should be in a loop under the slab and/or outside of the footing, also in gravel. The sump system should be air tight so it doesn't bring radon into the house. The dirty water seems to show you don't get much groundwater into your sump.

    HU-785762142 thanked Seabornman
  • 5 years ago

    Thanks for the response. I talked with The builder who said the radon pipe is tied to the drain tile which is looped around the inside foundation perimeter and meets at the sump in the corner.


    there is also a separate drain tile system on the outside perimeter of the building that goes to a daylight drain at the bottom corner of the hill.


    Does this sound right? My sump cover is not air tight to the best of my knowledge so i would need to find a solution to make it air tight. I still want access as well as there is no sump pump. Also do i caulk in The control lines in the basement floor and if so with what?

  • 5 years ago

    If the radon piping system and fan are not installed and running, I don't know if what you plan to do makes a difference, but yes, control joints and perimeter control/expansion joint would be caulked, and you'd have to figure best way to seal sump. There should be polyethylene under slab, s doing interior control joints may be overkill, but it's not much caulk. Maybe tape up the radon pipe. After that, do a radon test.

    HU-785762142 thanked Seabornman
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Thanks for the response. So I plan on running an active radon system from the existing roughed in pipe, up thru the roof, with the radon fan in the attic. Our levels were in the low 20s so i think an active (fan powered) system will be necessary.


    Mainly I was asking if it makes sense/is good practice to use the drain tile as a means of collecting the radon gas, as this appears to be the intended purpose (verified by the builder) with what I have for existing rough in. The drain tile appears to stay dry by the way.


    I was expecting to see the pipe go directly into the dirt. I was surprised to see a tee at the bottom of the pipe. I didn't know that the drain tile can/should serve dual purposes.

    Would it make sense to install the system and then preform a test before trying to seal control joints/basin cap, etc?

  • 5 years ago

    Radon fans don't have very high cfms, and air will follow path of least resistance, so I would at least caulk the perimeter and seal the sump before testing. Kind of surprised house was able to be sold without the finished system. When my house was retrofitted, all that was done was to cut a hole in the slab, insert pipe and hope there was enough gravel (1960s house) to pull air throughout the entire basement. It worked, so you should have no trouble achieving good results with your system.

    HU-785762142 thanked Seabornman
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