Radon Testing in Washington, IL
Radon testing and mitigation in Washington, IL, covering post-2013 rebuild subdivisions, repaired homes, and the older blocks near Washington Square.
Washington is the one town in this area where the year a house was finished tells you something concrete about its radon infrastructure. Illinois has required passive radon-resistant features in new residential construction since 2013, and the rebuild that followed the November 2013 tornado ran through the years right after that. Homes that came out of the ground new in Devonshire and the surrounding streets generally have a passive stub. Homes that were repaired on an existing foundation generally do not, because a repair is not new construction.
That is a real and useful distinction, and it is also where the confusion starts. Two houses on the same block, both worked on in the same eighteen months by the same trades, can be in completely different positions. One has a pipe running from the gravel under a new slab up through the roof. The other has a 1970s basement with a new roof, new drywall, and nothing at all under the floor.
Then there is the rest of town, out toward Washington Square and the older streets that the storm did not touch, where the housing is what it always was and the foundations have had decades to settle.
Serving all of Washington, IL and the surrounding Peoria area.
Washington, in Tazewell County east of Peoria, rebuilt a large share of its housing after the November 17, 2013 tornado tore through Devonshire and the neighborhoods around it. That produced an unusual split for a central Illinois town of this size: subdivisions of houses barely a decade old sitting next to blocks of original mid-century and older stock near Washington Square. Homes rebuilt from the slab up fall under different construction rules than homes that were repaired, and that distinction matters when you are trying to figure out whether your house has any radon infrastructure at all.
Rebuild-era homes checked for an existing passive stub before anything is quoted
Repaired homes on original foundations treated as the older houses they are
Finished lower levels in the newer subdivisions assessed as living space
Testing across Washington regardless of which side of the 2013 line a house falls on
What the Rebuild Did and Did Not Include
If your Washington home was built new after the tornado, there is a reasonable chance a passive vent pipe was set into the gravel under the slab and run up through the roof, because that is what the state requires of new residential construction. What that pipe does not include is a fan, a pressure gauge, or any measurement telling you whether it is actually holding the house below the action level.
Finding out is straightforward. Look for a capped or sealed white pipe in a mechanical room, closet, or garage, note whether there is a fan anywhere on the run, and then test the house. If the number is fine, you are done. If it is not, the pipe is already where it needs to be and activating the system is a short visit rather than a full installation.
- •New construction after 2013 generally carries a passive rough-in
- •A rough-in has no fan and has never been measured
- •Testing is what turns a rough-in into an answer
Repaired Homes Versus Replaced Homes
A large number of Washington houses came through the storm damaged rather than destroyed, and those were repaired on their original foundations. From the street they can look every bit as new as the rebuilds around them. Underneath, they are still the houses they were before: original slabs and basements with decades of settling cracks, aged sealant around plumbing penetrations, and no vent pipe anywhere.
This is worth saying plainly because homeowners in the repair category often assume they inherited whatever the new builds got. If you are not sure which category your house is in, the foundation tells you. A poured wall or slab that predates the storm did not gain radon infrastructure when the roof and interior were redone.
Finished Lower Levels in the Newer Subdivisions
The rebuild-era subdivisions are full of finished lower levels used as family rooms, offices, and bedrooms, which changes the exposure math. Radon risk is a function of concentration and time, so a basement where somebody sleeps or works forty hours a week matters more than a storage basement with the same reading.
It also changes how a system gets installed. Once a lower level is finished, coring a slab and running pipe means working around drywall, trim, and flooring that the owner cares about. Where a passive stub already exists, most of that disruption is avoided entirely, which is one more reason to check for the pipe before assuming the worst.
Frequently Asked Questions
My Washington house was rebuilt after the 2013 tornado. Does it have a radon system?
It may have a passive one. Illinois has required passive radon-resistant features in new residential construction since 2013, so homes built new in the rebuild period generally have a vent pipe from the sub-slab gravel up through the roof. That pipe has no fan and no test behind it, so it is infrastructure rather than a confirmed fix.
My house was repaired rather than rebuilt. Is that different?
Yes, and it is the distinction people miss most often here. A repair on an existing foundation is not new construction, so it does not carry the passive requirement. Your foundation is whatever age it always was, with the settling cracks and aged penetrations that come with it, no matter how new the interior looks.
How do I tell whether my home has a passive stub?
Look for a capped or sealed white PVC pipe emerging from the slab in a mechanical room, utility closet, or garage and running upward through the structure. Check whether there is a fan anywhere on that run, typically in the attic or on an exterior wall. If there is a pipe and no fan, you have a passive system that has never been measured.
Does a finished basement change what mitigation costs or involves?
It changes the work more than the physics. The system design is the same, but running pipe through finished space means routing around drywall, trim, and flooring instead of through open joists. We plan the route with you before anything gets cut, and where a passive stub already exists, most of that disruption disappears.
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