Loud and annoying noise from sump/ radon pit, cause and solution

[GON]

Visiting Daughter and told radon service tech is coming over to address a loud and annoying noise from the radon system. The system is installed in a basement bedroom.

Daughter asks me to meet the radon tech when he arrives. He will not need to come in the house.

Tech arrives, and states needs to come in the house. Tech inspects the radon/ sump pit, and states there is water in the sump pit, and the sump pump is bad.

I found it funny the tech could state the sump pump was bad, without pulling the pump. The pump is ten feet deep, and to deep for a visual inspection. Water sitting in sump pit is normal, until water reaches a height for float to provide power to the pump and engage the motor to discharge water.

Tech tells me a new pump is needed, and he can take care of the pump replacement. I tell him I will take care of the pump replacement myself. He states he will return after pump replacement, to recall the cover, at a $250 service charge.

Of note the radon system has a ten year warranty, parts and labor.

I quickly identified the source of the noise. Cracks in the sump pump cover, and multiple aged caulk jobs from prior poor caulk jobs. My SIL stated he had never touched the pit cover, caulked anything, and nobody had ever serviced the radon or sump pump. This is a new construction home (now five years old).

I send the technician on his way and get to work. Inspecting the sump pump plate, I notice a half dozen hairline cracks, and very sloppy caulk jobs, of different materials. Noticed I said sump pump plate, and not radon plate.

There are specific plates for radon/sump pits. Instead of installing the specific plates, the radon installer was lazy and used the sump pump only plate. He cut a hole in the sump pump plate, installed a radon tube, and caulked this all up.

First thing I did was install gorilla waterproofing tape over the hairline cracks. Next I cleaned the plate with acetone, and then recaulked. Finally, I ordered the proper radon plate, and will install on my next trip to Colorado.

What could have easily have been a $1,000 usd job, and fixed wrong, cost about $25 in materials (not including ordered replacement plate.

Let the caulk set overnight. Morning test confirmed the proper sealing with caulk eliminated the noise.

Really tough to trust anyone.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

Good for you. Castle Rock area?

Wife has a couple of step-relatives in Littleton area and her father (civil engineer) lived in Fort Collins area since 1980's. Fortunately the Littleton group has a son engineer whose father was a machinist and master furniture craftsman. Son works for a large housing developer in the area (and manages another project development for them in Florida) who has access to skilled craftsmen, so getting quality work done is not an issue for them. Father now has several health issues and can no longer do a lot of his old construction work anymore (77 yrs old).

We had plumbing and garage door issues in Fort Collins when we helped with my FIL's end of care months in 2014 and had issues with finding a true honest plumber. We ended up doing some work mitigation ourselves as a result. Had to pay for additional radon mitigation before selling house, and that person was honest, we think. Garage door repairman was excellent. He was a local fireman who advertised and we stumbled upon him. He did garage door work on the side, on his days off. Honest, fair price, prompt, on time work.

I have read a lot about contractors/workmen in those areas having high prices and cutting corners, so of course, it is buyer beware out there, for sure.

 

[AZjeff]

So it's a combo water sump and radon collection pit? Didn't know that was a thing. Had to have a radon system installed to sell a house in Pa years ago and no offer was made to use the existing sump hole.

It's good to be handy, nice fix.

 

[Lawnman23]

The pump is ten feet deep, and to deep for a visual inspection.

The bottom of the basin is 10' from the slab?

Any idea what brand pump was in there or no?

 

[IndyIan]

So what was making noise? Just the regular running of the pumps?

 

[mk378]

If you're hearing noise from the sump pump even though there's no water, the float switch is stuck on(*). Easily checked by pulling the plug. I thought the radon fan is usually outside the house so you should not hear much noise from it.

(*) Some pumps do not have a float switch, they start periodically for a few seconds and keep running if the motor is drawing enough current to indicate that water is being pumped. A periodic noise is normal from these.

 

[GON]

If you're hearing noise from the sump pump even though there's no water, the float switch is stuck on(*). Easily checked by pulling the plug. I thought the radon fan is usually outside the house so you should not hear much noise from it.

(*) Some pumps do not have a float switch, they start periodically for a few seconds and keep running if the motor is drawing enough current to indicate that water is being pumped. A periodic noise is normal from these.

The noise was a result of the raydon pump trying to pull/push air through the cracks/ failed seal of the plate/lid. As soon as the plate/lid was sealed, the high pitch and significantly loud noise went away.

The sump pump never was a factor in the noise or issue.

 

[GON]

The bottom of the basin is 10' from the slab?

Any idea what brand pump was in there or no?

Yes, it is reported as a ten foot depth of the pump from the plate. No idea the brand of pump, but considering a new home built by a single builder, reasonable to assume a cheap Chinese model.

 

[GON]

So it's a combo water sump and radon collection pit? Didn't know that was a thing. Had to have a radon system installed to sell a house in Pa years ago and no offer was made to use the existing sump hole.

It's good to be handy, nice fix.

It is generally reported radon systems require a sump pump. The exit pipe of a radon system is generally an open vertical pipe above the roof line. During rain water enters this radon exit pipe, and returns to the radon pit. The sump pump then discharges this water.

 

[Lawnman23]

Yes, it is reported as a ten foot depth of the pump from the plate. No idea the brand of pump, but considering a new home built by a single builder, reasonable to assume a cheap Chinese model.

It is generally reported radon systems require a sump pump. The exit pipe of a radon system is generally an open vertical pipe above the roof line. During rain water enters this radon exit pipe, and returns to the radon pit. The sump pump then discharges this water.

Ahh so the sump is solely for radon purposes, not for drain tile? Or both?

I was surprised by the depth as most drain tile sumps are only 2-3' feet deep. I haven't seen/dealt with radon setups personally. Seen plenty of the vent pipes on houses around here though.

 

[SC Maintenance]

He had to hit his radon / sump pump sales quota for the month.

The whole world has been overtaken by grifters.

 

[Nessism1]

When selling our Ohio house in 2002, a radon test was performed and supposedly failed. Mitigation involved adding a ventilation system and a special sump cover. My house is the only one in the entire neighborhood with such a contraption. I would have thought that if radon was common in the area, other homes would be affected, but apparently not.

 

[AZjeff]

It is generally reported radon systems require a sump pump. The exit pipe of a radon system is generally an open vertical pipe above the roof line. During rain water enters this radon exit pipe, and returns to the radon pit. The sump pump then discharges this water.

The radon mitigation system was installed professionally after we moved to AZ so I never saw it but it didn't include a sump pump.

 

[GON]

He had to hit his radon / sump pump sales quota for the month.

The whole world has been overtaken by grifters.

You are likely spot on.

 

[alarmguy]

When selling our Ohio house in 2002, a radon test was performed and supposedly failed. Mitigation involved adding a ventilation system and a special sump cover. My house is the only one in the entire neighborhood with such a contraption. I would have thought that if radon was common in the area, other homes would be affected, but apparently not.

Well .... most likely the other homes are affected and not tested or someone lied about yours failing.

 

[GON]

Ahh so the sump is solely for radon purposes, not for drain tile? Or both?

I was surprised by the depth as most drain tile sumps are only 2-3' feet deep. I haven't seen/dealt with radon setups personally. Seen plenty of the vent pipes on houses around here though.

The home is on a Ridgeline, at the very top of the Ridgeline.

The builder should/could have easily installed drain tile. If that was done, zero need ever for a sump pump. A thousand year flood, and no sump would ever be needed.

Daughter hired a landscape engineer and landscape contractor to install extensive rear and front landscaping. Again, no drain tile ever offered or discussed.

Water is by far the number one reason homes get damaged. It still confuses me why drain tile is not part of new construction, so easy to install, very inexpensive.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I can’t fathom why the pit would be 10’ deep.

I have a sump pit with a pump, it’s maybe 30-36” deep. My radon mitigation system is about 15’ away, with a hole drilled through the floor. The pipe runs up, out the sill plate and up another 12’ and exhausts with a 90 degree elbow so. The radon fan is on the outside of the house, as they should be.

I put a sealed sump/radon cover on my sump pit with the thinking that the radon fan will pull better from under the slab if it doesn’t have a big opening to draw through 15’ away.

I’m curious what you see when you replace the cover.

 

[GON]

Good for you. Castle Rock area?

Wife has a couple of step-relatives in Littleton area and her father (civil engineer) lived in Fort Collins area since 1980's. Fortunately the Littleton group has a son engineer whose father was a machinist and master furniture craftsman. Son works for a large housing developer in the area (and manages another project development for them in Florida) who has access to skilled craftsmen, so getting quality work done is not an issue for them. Father now has several health issues and can no longer do a lot of his old construction work anymore (77 yrs old).

We had plumbing and garage door issues in Fort Collins when we helped with my FIL's end of care months in 2014 and had issues with finding a true honest plumber. We ended up doing some work mitigation ourselves as a result. Had to pay for additional radon mitigation before selling house, and that person was honest, we think. Garage door repairman was excellent. He was a local fireman who advertised and we stumbled upon him. He did garage door work on the side, on his days off. Honest, fair price, prompt, on time work.

I have read a lot about contractors/workmen in those areas having high prices and cutting corners, so of course, it is buyer beware out there, for sure.

Yes, actually Castle Pines (borders Castle Rock). What is surprising is Castle Pines and Castle Rocks do not require randon systems as part of a new build. Many towns in the greater Denver area require all new construction have systems in the design. When part of the architectural design,the random system is less visually protruding.

 

[GON]

I can’t fathom why the pit would be 10’ deep.

I have a sump pit with a pump, it’s maybe 30-36” deep. My radon mitigation system is about 15’ away, with a hole drilled through the floor. The pipe runs up, out the sill plate and up another 12’ and exhausts with a 90 degree elbow so. The radon fan is on the outside of the house, as they should be.

I put a sealed sump/radon cover on my sump pit with the thinking that the radon fan will pull better from under the slab if it doesn’t have a big opening to draw through 15’ away.

I’m curious what you see when you replace the cover.

The radon tech stated the pump was ten feet. I assumed he had this knowledge from the original data sheet from the radon system installation.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

Yes, actually Castle Pines (borders Castle Rock). What is surprising is Castle Pines and Castle Rocks do not require randon systems as part of a new build. Many towns in the greater Denver area require all new construction have systems in the design. When part of the architectural design,the random system is less visually protruding.

FIL's house in Ft Collins was built in 1979, when radon did not seem to be a big issue. FIL had at least one mitigation done up to 2014 and we did enough mitigation to sell the house. While there, I read some articles showing at abouty 85% of housing Colorado wide has or will have radon issues.

We looked at getting acreage around Castle Rock area in 2013 for retirement home with horses, but the cost of land was already cost prohibitive to us Kansans.

In 2014 Ft Collins area was starting to really grow immensely and houses in FIL's price range were very few. After the money we put in for radon mitigation, realtor fees, new garage door opener, we got more than 20% more than a two week legitimate RE appraisal. The market was moving that fast.

Hated the "best in town" realtor we hired. He presented us with six offers and recommended we take the least favorable to us, to help out one of his friends.. We also dealt with neighbors who wanted to low ball us on the house anyway, initially.

All in all it turned out OK, but no doubt the worst realtors I could have dealt with. There was also a deadline to get all inspections done as we were a little time constrained, but he allowed the new owners to do radon testing after the deadline, rather than refusing due to not meeting deadline established, causing us to do the mitigation. By then we wanted to get it sold and move on, so we rolled on that one. We actually met the family who purchased the house. They had a cute little boy who loved trains, and this house had a really nice unobstructed overlook of train tracks as well as the mountains.

The RE support staff (women) was very good, but the salesman himself was lacking.

In contrast, a house sale in Tacoma in 1977 when I was reassigned from Ft Lewis to Germany went exceeding well. Don't know how we chose the realtor but he did an excellent job selling a house that sat on the market for six months. This time frame was just before the Prudhoe Bay job explosion that Port of Tacoma was experiencing and when Boeing engineers were having trouble getting convenience store jobs.