Ely radon mitigation along the Highway 30 corridor.

Ely (pop 2,049; ZIP 52227): growth corridor along Highway 30, post-2015 builds with full basements. Older homes near downtown sometimes have stone or rubble foundations requiring custom mitigation.

The two Ely housing stocks

Ely is a town of two distinct housing eras, and they require different mitigation approaches.

Post-2015 Highway 30 corridor

The growth corridor along Highway 30 between Ely and Cedar Rapids has produced hundreds of new homes since 2015. Most include passive radon-resistant rough-in as part of the standard build — a sealed PVC stack runs from the sub-slab up through the roof during framing, then sits dormant until someone tests the home, finds elevated radon, and activates the system by installing an inline fan. Activation is fast: 2–3 hours on site, post-mitigation test included, quoted as a flat fee. Initial short-term tests on these homes commonly come in 4–7 pCi/L (the passive stack alone reduces radon by 50–70% but rarely below action level without active fan); activated systems drop to 0.5–1.5 pCi/L.

Downtown Ely older homes

The historic core of Ely has homes dating back to the early 1900s. A few have stone or rubble foundations with no slab, which makes standard sub-slab depressurization impossible — there’s nothing to depressurize under. Mitigation for these homes uses a sub-membrane depressurization (SMD) approach: lay 6 mil reinforced polyethylene over the crawl-space dirt floor, seal it to the foundation walls, and install a suction point under the membrane. SMD systems are effective but require more on-site time (full day install); we quote a fixed price after a walkthrough.

Homes from the 1950s–1990s era in Ely follow standard mitigation patterns: poured-wall or block-wall basements, one-suction-point SSD installs, quoted as a fixed price after a walkthrough.

Mitigation pricing in Ely

Ely’s pricing distribution reflects the housing split:

• Passive stack activation — the post-2015 Highway 30 corridor scenario; lowest-cost mitigation option because the riser is already in place
• Standard SSD install — for 1950s–1990s basement homes; one suction point, attic-mounted fan
• Sub-membrane depressurization — for stone/rubble foundations or crawl spaces; longer install day because of the membrane work
• Combo air + waterborne radon — for well-water homes; we quote a testing combo and refer GAC water mitigation if needed

Real estate transactions in Ely

Ely has seen rising transaction volume over the past few years as Cedar Rapids commuters look for lower-density living within easy reach of the metro. Both housing-stock types see radon contingencies frequently. New construction along Highway 30 typically tests in the 4–7 pCi/L range on a closed-house 48-hour test; older Ely homes can test substantially higher depending on foundation type. Our real-estate transaction package handles both with the same 5–7 day turnaround.

Scheduling in Ely

Ely is 20 minutes from our base. Quotes same day, install lead time typically 5–7 business days.

Nearby service areas

Ely sits south of Cedar Rapids along Highway 30. Fairfax is just east of Ely, and Walford is southwest. Bertram is also nearby on the metro’s south side.