So a client has asked me what this pipe is coming from the basement floor. The floor is covered in wood and it looks like the piping has a electrical box on it. It’s not PVC, but Aluminum. There is a whining noise coming from the pipe. Neither the client or I have seen the property and he is inquiring by a picture that his realtor sent him. Not sure if there is concrete under the plywood floor in the basement. Just wanted to get a head start on researching this for him. Any help is appreciated! image|375x500
Ok !
In a homes inspection world anything is possible. And anything is possible…
Your guess is just as good as all others…Yep!
What do you really want from us?
Hi, thanks for the reply. I’m just fielding ideas really. Nothing specific, just thought I’d pull from the greater goods experience.
That is totally find.
However, We won’t write your report.
What would be you narrative/comment in your report?
Well, since I haven’t seen it in person, I’m not sure what it would be. I need to identify what it is first. However, if the whining noise is persistent, I would recommend a qualified professional to look at it. It could have a fan in it that’s going out, or something to that effect. Just fielding ideas of what it might be. I’ll have a better idea when I’m there but I am just trying to provide some options to the client before Sunday’s inspection to provide good customer service. I did let them know that I wouldn’t be able to have a definitive answer until I could see it in person.
If you don’t know what it is, just report that and refer your client to the homeowner.
Make sure you look for any labels and get good pictures of them so you can look it up on Google after the inspection but before you send the report.
All you can do is try to identify it. Best of luck to you.
It may be a Radon mitigation system. I’m sure when you inspect and investigate to should be able to ID it. As larry said,google is your friend!
Good Luck and let us know what you discover.
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Thank you for the feedback!
That electrical box is feeding an inline fan which is most likely a home made radon system as Joseph said. Notice the arrow on it which indicates direction of air flow.
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Thank you for the input! I guess I have never ran into a homemade radon system! I’ll read up on them to see if that is what it is!
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Thank you. When I search google I couldn’t find any systems that weren’t made of PVC. That might have helped with my concussion! 
I agree with others that this should help mitigate gasses from under the slab.
I would not make the comment on effectiveness of this system but I would recommend to perform radon testing.
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I am taking InterNACHI’s Advanced Radon Measurement Service Provider Course and came across this in the SOP. “The Inspector shall inspect for radon fans installed in the conditioned space of a building, in any basement, crawlspace, or other interior location directly beneath the conditioned spaces of a building.”
If this is a DIY Radon Mitigation System wouldn’t this a defect"?
Or I guess since there isn’t a fan installed, it wouldn’t be, but the homeowner should be warned that fans for Radon Mitigation Systems should not be installed in any of these listed locations. Then it would be, correct?