House inspection questions

[jeepguy03]

So I'm currently in the process of buying a house (put a deposit down) and went through the home inspection process. The inspection failed for radon and well water tests. The house I currently live in tested clean back when buying it, so never went through this before. The inspection company says a radon mitigation system would need to be installed, and since the water tested with high uranium, some kind of reverse osmosis system would also need to be installed. I have never known anyone that had this done, but from an initial search there seems to be a wide range of prices. For the water system especially, it seems like there is a cheaper "under sink" filter that can be put in for drinking water, but the real solution is an entire house system that filters everything.

Anyone have experience with this? Cost? The realtor of course is convinced that getting a couple hundred bucks credit from the sellers will cover this, but I feel like this goes way deeper than that. Should I steer clear?

Appreciate any advice.

 

[cliffish]

a couple hundred bucks will not cover it. I would want a top notch whole house water filter system. As for the Radon, not sure how that works, but usually involves some sort of fan exchanging air from basement and also below the basement ground system.

 

[lBasket]

Wow lots of radioactivity at that house

 

[tworley]

I can't comment on the water.

Most CO homes have a radon mitigation system. Of course, the two homes I've bought didn't have one. When we sold our first house, the lack of a radon mitigation system came up during inspection. We had one installed for 600 hundred bucks to finalize the sale. We saved a bit of money though as the sump pump in the crawlspace was usable to install the radon chamber and was in the corner of the house, so very little plumbing, and electrical was able to tie into the sump pump. The house we moved into also didn't have a system. IIRC, this one was about $1200 because the same radon contractor had to start from scratch; drill thru the concrete floor in the basement to install the chamber, install a bit more complicated plumbing, and run new electrical.

 

[jeepguy03]

Thanks for the info so far. I'm calling around to companies in my area to get estimates, and I'm a little pissed at the realtor claiming a couple hundred bucks credit could be a solution for what seems like a much larger issue.

 

[LukesfirstJeep]

We installed a radon system in our home 20+ years ago for a cost of several thousand dollars. Maintenance cost has been very low. There's a fan, about the size of a PC cooling fan that runs 24/7. Other than electrical costs, I have replaced the fan once in 20+ years.

AI sources say $2500 for whole house osmosis system.

How badly do you want this house?

 

[Chris]

Our home in Wyoming came back for radon in the basement. We made the sellers pay for a radon mitigation system that was several thousand dollars.

 

[cliffish]

We installed a radon system in our home 20+ years ago for a cost of several thousand dollars. Maintenance cost has been very low. There's a fan, about the size of a PC cooling fan that runs 24/7. Other than electrical costs, I have replaced the fan once in 20+ years.

AI sources say $2500 for whole house osmosis system.

How badly do you want this house?

Does it have to be R/O or just a filtration system? Water better be cheap in CT as "Typical Residential Systems: Most standard under-sink units operate at a 1:4 or 1:5 pure-to-waste ratio (meaning 4 or 5 gallons wasted per gallon purified)." That is just under the sink. I don't think I would want to shower or even take a crap in Uranium water!

 

[jeepguy03]

So the reason I'm looking at this house is more land (4 acres vs .5 I have now), larger house, and a nice 2 car garage. I definitely like it, but this may be a show stopper. Finding anything with 2.5+ acres is tough in my area that isn't an hour + from my job.

The issue is I doubt the sellers are going to fix anything, it was difficult to get them to agree to a small credit for an aging water tank I could replace myself. From talking to contractors these systems will cost thousands of dollars. If it was just the radon, I could see it, as I had a friend put one in his house, but having to put in both of these systems seems like a really expensive endeavor to do it correctly.

I've also read the water system can have a big impact on the septic system as well once installed.

 

[cliffish]

if y

So the reason I'm looking at this house is more land (4 acres vs .5 I have now), larger house, and a nice 2 car garage. I definitely like it, but this may be a show stopper. Finding anything with 2.5+ acres is tough in my area that isn't an hour + from my job.

The issue is I doubt the sellers are going to fix anything, it was difficult to get them to agree to a small credit for an aging water tank I could replace myself. From talking to contractors these systems will cost thousands of dollars. If it was just the radon, I could see it, as I had a friend put one in his house, but having to put in both of these systems seems like a really expensive endeavor to do it correctly.

I've also read the water system can have a big impact on the septic system as well once installed.

You will be wasting 4 gal of water to each gallon of usable water, you will overrun the septic in no time. Only way around that is to have an outside discharge just for the RO system waste...not sure on legality of that?

 

[jeepguy03]

if y


You will be wasting 4 gal of water to each gallon of usable water, you will overrun the septic in no time. Only way around that is to have an outside discharge just for the RO system waste...not sure on legality of that?

Actually one of the guys I talked to did mention that, and he was like basically you would need a separate septic system for it, not to mention the filtering tanks in the basement filtering the uranium now would contain radioactive material. Just seems like a bridge I don't want to cross. I've already had some instances of cancer in my family as it is, I don't get the warm and fuzzy from this.

 

[lBasket]

Actually one of the guys I talked to did mention that, and he was like basically you would need a separate septic system for it, not to mention the filtering tanks in the basement filtering the uranium now would contain radioactive material. Just seems like a bridge I don't want to cross. I've already had some instances of cancer in my family as it is, I don't get the warm and fuzzy from this.

I wonder what the lender thinks about uranium in a well. I remember there being well requirements when I was buying my last house, but I didn't really have to read in detail since I didn't have issues like this.

 

[BlueC]

The inspection failed for radon

My first question would be what is the level of radon measured, and over how long. The two main sources say 2 and 4 are the generally safe limits. If you're talking they tested the house and it's running at 4.5, I wouldn't bother with it, just open some windows now and then.

For the systems, they're common around here. Recently I've been seeing install cost from $1,500-$3,500, it just depends on what needs to be done, what equipment and what warranties.

 

[BlueC]

For the water, is public available?

 

[jeepguy03]

My first question would be what is the level of radon measured, and over how long. The two main sources say 2 and 4 are the generally safe limits. If you're talking they tested the house and it's running at 4.5, I wouldn't bother with it, just open some windows now and then.

For the systems, they're common around here. Recently I've been seeing install cost from $1,500-$3,500, it just depends on what needs to be done, what equipment and what warranties.

The test was done over a period of 48 hours with a machine in the basement taking readings. The EPA recommended level is 4.0, the house tested at 33.6.

For the water, is public available?

It is out in a rural area. The only option would probably be bottled water for drinking, which will get expensive quick.

 

[lBasket]

The test was done over a period of 48 hours with a machine in the basement taking readings. The EPA recommended level is 4.0, the house tested at 33.6.



It is out in a rural area. The only option would probably be bottled water for drinking, which will get expensive quick.

There is always the cistern option, I know there are neighborhoods out here with no water rights and that's what they do. I wouldn't move there, though

 

[Apparition]

My first house that I bought failed the radon test, I asked the seller to remedy it and they did.

You don't have to care what it costs as long as someone else pays for it.

I did pay for a follow up test to confirm that it was "mitigated".

 

[BlueC]

The test was done over a period of 48 hours with a machine in the basement taking readings. The EPA recommended level is 4.0, the house tested at 33.6.

That's excessively high. I'd have it retested and for a longer period if you plan to pursue this house. If that level is accurate, I think a radon system is mandatory.

 

[pc1p]

Radon is common here in PA too.

For air intrusion, you typically use a sub-surface vent fan that pulls air from BELOW your slab and vents through a vent above the house. It's not difficult to do your own, and there are plenty of good resources on YouTube and similar, but does require some knowledge of plumbing, wiring, etc. As a result, many just pay a vendor to do it for them (usually $2500-4500).

For water treatment, I do not believe the RO is the common treatment method. IIRC, the most effective systems are aeration and/or GAC (granular activated charcoal) ventilation.

 

[BlueC]

My first house that I bought failed the radon test, I asked the seller to remedy it and they did.

I'd pursue that too. In his situation, the seller and listing agent are now in a position of having known, documented issues and they can no longer play dumb. I'm not sure about the water, but the excessively high radon levels will make that property ineligible for FHA, VA and/or USDA lending until a mitigation system is installed. That alone will knock out a chunk of potential buyers.