Removing Very Bad Odors from an Iowa House

Thursday, June 11th, 2020 by Curt Drew

Challenge

Katie was at a loss what to do next. A sewer pipe was broken under her house. It was leaking a strong sewer smell into her house. Katie tried everything. She had multiple plumbers out, but their recommendations would cost over $25,000. Katie poured bleach down the floor drains on a daily basis. All that did was mask the smell. Katie just did a really nice remodel too, but her house smelled terrible.

Solution

Katie called National Radon Defense Midwest. She had heard that a radon system might pull some of that sewer gas from under her house. She thought it was worth looking into.

Tony Kulhanek, Indoor Air Quality Expert from NRD Midwest, came out to the house to listen and learn about the problem. Together, Tony and Katie decided to prescribe a Radon Mitigation System, an Energy Recovery Ventilator, and a Breathe EZ Air Cleaner.

"The results are amazing", Katie shared after the system was installed.

NRD Midwest Team Leader Lance Lichtas and co-Foreman Cole Kellogg installed the system. The Radon Mitigation System is a depressurization system. It's designed to pull soil gasses out of the house before entering. It worked great here.

The Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) actively pulls fresh air into the unit, conditions that air, and then injects the fresh air into the house. At the same time, the ERV is pulling the poor indoor air out of the house and exhausting it outside.

The Breathe EZ Air Cleaner is installed into the current HVAC filter space in the furnace. The air cleaner actively filters particles, viruses, bacteria, odors, and radon decay products using a 24 volt current within the unit.

Combining these 3 solutions resulted in a huge improvement to Katie's indoor air quality.

Please watch the video of Katie explaining how the system worked for her in the video testimonial section of our website.

NRD Midwest is so excited that we could help Katie enjoy her newly remodeled house with fresh, clean air!

Radon Mitigation System on side of the house. 2 vents for the Energy Recovery Ventilator on the front of the house.

Lance Lichtas preparing the ERV for installation.

Installing the ERV control unit which is used to manage the run time of the unit.

Fresh air is blowing into the finished space of the house. This vent is all you see inside the finished area. It's a steady stream of fresh, clean air blowing into the living space.

Energy Recover Ventilator installed in the Utility Room.

Vent installed in Utility Room that is pulling the poor inside out of this space, runs it through the ERV, and then exhausts that air outside. The ERV pulls the temperature and humidity from that air and uses it to condition the fresh, incoming outside air.