Radon Vent - how vertical is vertical?

[Darren Emery]

Apendex F reads:

"The pipe shall be extended up through the building floors, terminate at least 12 inches..."

The commentary reads:

"The vent pipe must extend vertically through the building until it terminates..."

The question is - how vertical must this pipe remain as it makes its way up through the home? Do you allow any horizontal offsets? 45deg only? No offsets?

 

[fatboy]

I'd think you could allow up to 45 degrees........JMHO

 

[TimNY]

I am with fatboy.. I would defer to the plumbing code for a definition of vertical pipe. you know that section.. terms, where defined elsewhere in this code yadda yadda

 

[GHRoberts]

As long as Radon will flow up I would be happy.

 

[Darren Emery]

As long as Radon will flow up I would be happy.

Therin lies the concern. A passive system relies on the warmer air to rise through the vent (perhaps with a bit of stack effect taking place as well) - in my opinion, a long horizontal offset is going to compromise the air flow. Currently we do not allow ANY horizontal in the attic, and minimal offset in the conditioned portion of the home. We don't have a maximum allowed, but take it on a case by case basis.

Since the code itself does not use the word vertical, I'm a bit hesitant to flat out require pure vertical.

If the contractors would coordinate vent location / sump location / chase location with the various trades, this could easily be avoided.

 

[mn joe]

Stick with 45 degrees or steeper.

Joe