Radon Information - Sump Pits and Radon

Sump pits can be a large cause of radon in your home! Any footer drains running into the pit are the culprit. This is because the drain is just a long piece pipe that runs either on the inside of your footer or on the exterior, with holes all throughout it. These holes allow water to come up through and go into the sump, but they can also be an easy pathway for radon because they are open to the soil. This is why we seal any sumps that we see if there are footer drains tied into them. 

We can also use the sumps as a suction point. Rather than drilling a hole in the concrete, we can simply cut a hole in the sump lid and draw from it if there are interior drains. Just as these drains allowed radon in, they are an excellent path for us to get suction all throughout the basement. Imagine the drain pipes as unrestricted highways all around your basement. It allows for a drastic reduction in radon levels!

We have two options for our sump lids. The first is our “economy” option which is solid black plastic and the other is our “premium” choice which is a heavier duty lid with a viewing port, so you can keep an eye on the water level and make sure everything is working right.