Radon Mitigation in Bloomington, MN

The Post-War Suburb

Bloomington grew from a farm township into one of the state's largest cities within about two decades after the war. The east side is thick with 1950s ramblers on full basements. Moving west toward Hyland, Normandale and the areas near the Edina line, the 1960s and 70s brought split-entry and split-level houses. Housing of that age was built long before Minnesota required any radon features, so unless a previous owner installed a system, assume there is none.

The Split-Entry Problem

Walk in the front door of a split-entry and you face two half-flights of stairs, one up and one down. The lower level has big windows and feels like a main floor, and it is usually the family room. But its floor and most of its back wall are below grade and against soil. It is the lowest lived-in level and it is where the monitor goes. Testing the upper level instead is the single most common placement mistake we see in Bloomington, and it produces a reassuring number from the wrong room.

Ramblers and Their Basements

A 1950s Bloomington rambler has one floor over a full-height basement with block walls. Many of those basements have been finished into family rooms and bedrooms; others are still storage and laundry. Either way it counts as the lowest level that could be lived in. Block walls mean more sealing — the hollow cores carry gas and the wall-floor joint is often open — but the single slab keeps the system design straightforward.

River Bluffs to the South

The south edge of the city falls away to the Minnesota River bottoms, with bluffs, ravines and more varied ground along it than the flat glacial till across most of Bloomington. That changes how soil gas reaches a house and how far a fan's suction spreads under a slab. It is a reason to test, not a prediction.

Working in Bloomington

We cover the whole city, east to west. A 48-hour test placed on the right level comes first. If it is high, a rambler is usually a one-day sub-slab system; a split-level with two slabs may need two suction points sharing a fan. A retest follows every install.

Bloomington Radon FAQs