Encapsulation and Radon Mitigation
StelloDesignSolution
| Posted in General Questions on
I am renovating a home in WNC which needs to be encapsulate for mold and mildew abatement. It also has been tested positively for Radon. Does a proper encapsulation take care of the radon issues? If not, can you prescribe the proper steps to take?
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Replies
Can you clarify what is being encapsulated? Where is the mold and mildew located?
I am doing a thorough encapsulation of the crawl space to include a 12 mil barrier, taped at all seams, covering all of the masonry walls, and installing a whole house crawl space de-humidifier.
If you have elevated radon levels, a good first step would be to hire a certified radon contractor. See Martin Holladay's article, "All About Radon" (https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/all-about-radon) for additional information.
If you have high humidity in your crawlspace, it would make sense to convert it to an unvented space. There a quite a few articles and discussion threads on this site that address crawl space isuues. A good place to start is another Martin Holladay article: "Building an Unvented Crawl Space" (https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/building-unvented-crawl-space).
Stello,
The two articles that Steve Knapp linked to are a good place to start.
If you know that you have elevated radon levels, it makes sense to get a radon mitigation contractor involved. I would not depend on the contractor who has agreed to insulate your crawl space for these details. A crawl space contractor may or may not have a good understanding of radon issues.