Much to my surprise and considerable dismay, tests on my house on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales have come back with radon levels way above what PHE consider desirable (average 980 Bq/m3 v target of 100 Bq/m3). So time to do some research into remedial options…

Has anyone else had the test done? What was the outcome – did you need remedials?

fairly sure ours came back with high radon levels back in the day. we just had to have some red plastic inserts put into the brickwork for some reason. without googling, ive no idea what they actually were but it was no hassle or cost to us.

Yorkshire Dales is a hotspot for it.

Grew up in Devon where it’s high in places, but in an area where it’s a little elevated and low risk. Often would be advice locally to get a radon detector to test it. Think we did and no concern (think the gov or council sent detectors to each house in the area). The problem is with particular buildings, the soil underneath and the ventilation.

Anyway, that’s pretty high and sounds like you’d need to do something. Guess you’ve looked at this already, various things you can do – http://www.ukradon.org/information/reducelevels

Interested in this. How did you have the test done?

Been there done that. If you’ve got a suspended timber ground floor its straightforward. If you’ve got a solid floor this might be your opportunity to put in the underfloor heating you’ve always dreamed of…

Interested in this. How did you have the test done?

I used the home measurement pack from Public Health England – here. It’s £50 and you get two detectors – typically one goes in your living room and one in a bedroom. You leave them for 3 months, then send them back. A few weeks later you’ll get the results. You probably only need to do this if you’ve got a reason to be concerned – look at the UK radon map, also on that link, to see the estimated risk for your area (goes down to about 1km2)

Been there done that. If you’ve got a suspended timber ground floor its straightforward. If you’ve got a solid floor this might be your opportunity to put in the underfloor heating you’ve always dreamed of…

Unfortunately our house is a mix – a cobbled together half-assed conversion from the 1970’s! We also have a private water supply from a borehole which I understand can be a source of radon too 🙂 Hoping to find a consultant who can guide us through this without trying to sell us expensive ‘solutions’

I would consider checking the borehole as well. The soil above the radon soil rocks does a job of preventing migration, bore a hole in to a source rock and you effectively create a vent and easier migration pathway.

Depending on if you want to go down the monitoring and risk assessment route you might get away with less measures but assessing the longer term risk.

Otherwise I would be looking at a combination of Radon Sump and some passive underfloor venting. If you are mostly suspended you might get away with just active underfloor venting.

I’m in the dales, house built into the hillside, little ventilation at the back of the house downstairs….I don’t want to know about it 🙂

I’m in the dales, house built into the hillside, little ventilation at the back of the house downstairs….I don’t want to know about it

An almost exact description of our house! I can’t remember what prompted me to do the test; almost wish I hadn’t now!

I lived in Northamptonshire for a while which was also a hotspot, seem to remember the only remedial work needed was a ‘vent’? never gave it a moments though TBH

what about installing a Nuaire drimaster (positive ventilation fan) could fix the problem well.

Open windows regularly, let the house breathe and worst case it’s a radon pit/collector in the garden. IANAS.

I have some professional knowledge of this stuff. Radon can percolate up from the subsurface so improved ventilation of the subfloor is one way of dealing with it. That can be passive (vents or similar) or active (powered fan).

Radon also dissolves very readily in groundwater so it is possible that your water supply is at least a contributing source. As you run the water it degasses and releases the radon but 980 Bq/m3 is a fair bit so I’d be looking more at improving underfloor ventilation than worrying about the water.

The PHE site deadkenny refers to is good advice

I’m in the dales, house built into the hillside, little ventilation at the back of the house downstairs….I don’t want to know about it

I’ve got a cottage in Swaledale, built into the hillside. Never thought about Radon….

http://www.ukradon.org/information/ukmaps

Swaledale…

“Some parts of this 1km grid square are in bands of elevated radon potential. Maximum radon potential is greater than 30 %. Check the radon potential of individual addresses at UKRadon.org”

and worst case it’s a radon pit/collector in the garden.

yeah one of them, never gave it a moment’s notice

Kinda. We keep ours under the sink in the bathroom.

What? Radon? Oh…. Not Radox? *embarrassed*