Radon Mitigation, Without the Runaround

Pressure under the home can pull soil gas up through porous concrete, sump openings, crawl spaces, cracks, seams, and small gaps around pipes. It is usually not one single hole. That is why systems are designed around the whole foundation, not just a visible crack.

Yes. Elevated radon is a common, fixable home issue. A properly designed mitigation system creates a lower-pressure path under the home so soil gas is pulled into a pipe and vented outside. Most installs are finished in one visit after Bill has looked at the home.

No. American Radon Systems specializes in mitigation. Illinois licenses testing and mitigation separately, and testing is handled by licensed measurement professionals. EPA also points out the conflict of interest when the same company tests a home and then sells the fix, so keeping the two apart is deliberate. Bill can help you understand a result and point you toward the right next step. If you already have elevated results, send them over with your address.

Most homes use sub-slab depressurization: a fan and pipe pull soil gas from under the foundation and vent it outside above the roofline or in a code-compliant location. A U-tube manometer on the pipe shows the fan is creating suction. The exact layout depends on basements, crawl spaces, slabs, sumps, and finished spaces. Bill designs for the home you have, not a one-size layout.

Most residential installs are completed in a single visit, often a few hours once the plan is set. Bill looks at the home first so materials and routing are right. Real estate closings get scheduled around the calendar when you tell us the date early.

Yes. A healthy mitigation fan runs continuously, and it should not be switched off in winter or while you are away. Whenever it is off, soil gas has its normal path back into the house, and the system gives no protection until it is running again. In our experience, running it year-round adds roughly $60 to $125 a year to the electric bill, depending on the fan and your rate. A light steady hum can be normal. If it gets loud, rattles, or goes silent, call Bill; that is a service call, not a switch.

Yes. Many Illinois homes need more than one suction point, especially split-levels and three-step ranches with a basement plus crawl space. Slab homes get their own approach. The goal is every foundation area covered and a clean pipe route that looks like it belongs.

Often yes. An open sump is a common soil-gas path. We typically seal the sump with a lid that still allows pump service and access. Sealing alone is not a full mitigation system, but a proper lid is usually part of a good design when a sump is present.

We plan routing carefully. Where the layout allows, pipe may go through a garage attic or interior chase and out the roof. When the cleanest path is outside, it goes on a side or rear elevation and is finished to read more like a downspout than a mistake on the front of the home.

Passive system activation starts at $900. A full new system runs $2,000 to $2,500 for most homes. A few homes need much more, up to $4,000 to $6,500 for a gravel crawlspace that has to be sealed or a home with more than one foundation type. Fan replacement on an existing system is $575. Bill looks at the home first, then gives you the price before work starts, and that number does not change unless you change the job. See our cost page for what moves the number.

If a fan we install fails during the first five years, we replace it at no cost to the homeowner. The service visit, labor, and replacement fan are all included. A replacement fan installed under warranty receives its own five-year term. Ordinary fan replacement outside warranty is $575, including the fan, the visit, the labor, and a new five-year term. No trip charge. Details, including transferability, are in your customer packet after install.

That is usually a passive radon system: rough-in piping that Illinois has required in new residential construction since June 1, 2013, under the Radon Resistant Construction Act. It is not the same as a completed active system. If a test is elevated, activation adds the right fan and finishes the system so it pulls correctly. Bill checks whether the existing pipe is usable first.

Yes. American Radon Systems holds Illinois radon mitigation license RNM2018212. Anyone hired to perform radon mitigation in Illinois must be appropriately state licensed. Illinois exempts a person doing measurement or mitigation in the dwelling where that person resides. Measurement and mitigation are separate professional license categories; American Radon Systems provides mitigation, not testing.

Illinois exempts a person doing radon mitigation in the dwelling where that person resides from the state radon-license requirement. That exemption does not make a mitigation system simple or risk-free. Proper suction design, combustion and electrical safety, sealing, discharge placement, local codes, and post-mitigation testing all matter. American Radon Systems recommends using a licensed professional for a compliant, documented system and does not present DIY work as equivalent to a professional installation.

Yes. American Radon Systems is fully insured, including general liability and workers compensation, and performs mitigation under Illinois radon mitigation license RNM2018212. If an HOA, lender, or property manager needs insurance paperwork, mention it when you call; Colleen handles insurance requirements and HOA coordination.

Sealing by itself is not a fix. Illinois guidance does not recommend sealing alone because it has not been shown to lower radon levels significantly or consistently; soil gas finds the next opening. Sealing matters as part of an active system, where the sump lid and openings are closed so the fan’s suction stays under the slab instead of pulling room air.

Because the fan’s suction has to reach every part of the foundation that touches soil. A basement and an attached crawl space need separate suction points or suction areas, and a large, sectioned, or extra-thick slab can need a second point to pull evenly across it. Bill looks at those details before the system is designed and quoted, and the runs tie into one system with one fan wherever the layout allows.

Yes. If your post-mitigation test is still 4.0 pCi/L or higher, we come back and do the additional work at no charge to you, and we pay for the professional retest afterward. That is the guarantee on the standard systems that make up nearly all of our work, and Illinois requires it to be spelled out in the written proposal you accept before we start. Your proposal is the place to read the exact terms for your home.