You mentioned there are numerous hairline cracks in hollow block basement wall(s).
so while these pump n pipe systems can certainly help lessen Radon gas that is under a basement floor, they cannot help lessen any radon gas that can certainly enter through cracksn other openings in basement walls, especially block. With…Poured, ya better watch out for them rod holes that are often only plugged with a cork that will disolve in a lil time. And some will leak/allow radon to enter pretty quick…careful.
back to block walls, whether there is a visble crack on the inside or not, what matters most is whether there are cracks etc on the Outside of the hollow block wall(s). Block walls often have hairline to 1-2++ Inch wide cracks on the outside and one may not see any or one hairline crack on the Inside of basement.
Again, this is where water first-enters INTO the hollow blocks and, because of gravity this water will drop/travel down within the cells of blocks and most often enter at/near/along the cold-joint,cove and onto floor.
Yeah, when Many see this water at the bottom of wall and floor coming in, they very often think/assume its because there is a problem with the drain tile or problem under the floor, some even bs `n say its due to hydrostatic pressure under the floor and this is NOT true!!! 90% of the time they are mistaken!
Anyways, through these openings on the outside radon gas can enter into the hollow blocks and if the top of walls are uncapped or, have open JOINTS Between the solid blocks then, Radon can easily travel up `n into first floor, it sure can. No sump system can do anything about this,sorry.
And radon `n water/moisture can also enter through tiny little openings/pores on the outside of block walls or when the parging that was done becomes loose,cracked.
To stop mold, they say…we must stop/eliminate the water/moisture so, when this water enters basement walls it increases the chance of mold, sure does:mrgreen: …90% of basement leaks/seepage is due to OUTSIDE openings. Gotta go outside to stop/prevent the water from entering cracks etc, to help stop radon gas,efflorescence,termites and quite a few other of our lil buddys.
Heres another place radon,water,insects can enter :-k ....a brick ledge that is Often poorly sealed and often, underground a bit. Yep, keep raising that grade and NOT sealing the brick ledge and any bricksn mortar joints that`ll be underground is a… Mistake, Not a good recommendation.
Radon can enter from the soil Through these un-sealed underground ledges, doesn`t matter what kind of basement wall there is. If/when it enters high at that point its…Inside the house. So ya may want to, much more frequently, recommend to Your clients to, seal/tuckpoint,caulk,waterproof ANY openings instead of raising & sloping the grade or longer downspout extensions etc.
These Surface water diverting techniques do Not seal openings that allow all this shtt to enter peoples homes, Got Milk? :mrgreen:
Oh, i been hearing pretty often lately that, diverting some surface water 5-10’ away from a house can/will lessen hydrostatic soil pressure, lolol.
Not exactly folks, sorry. Ya think by diverting SOME-Surface water/rain away will somehow keep the same water from going into the rest of the soil several feet away from/around a founadtion? hahaha!
Eh, this amount of surface water that ya diverted several feet away is still going to percolate into n through the surrounding soil and, expandn create hydrostatic pressure for pete sake. Geez, rainwater will still go into the soil that is 10’,20’ 30’ away from the basement walls! And, its going to expand! lolol If you were lucky enough to divert ALL water several feet away from the entire DEPTH of a basement wall, ya really think the adjoing 10-20’+ isnt going to expandn create pressure? Cmon ya good HIs. Think. ](*,)
And what about tree roots that grow along & against basement walls? :-k
GC…the last time i played a Blank-tape at Full blast the mime next door went nutzzzzz
