Radon Gas Mitigation

Radon Gas and Basements

Radon periodic tableRadon is seldom mentioned within UK basement conversion circles; however it is a necessary consideration, being equally if not more important than appropriately considering the risks associated with groundwater.

British Standard 8102 (2009) Code of practice for protection of below ground structures against water from the ground, states that 'A risk assessment should be carried out which considers the long term water pressures, the effects of surface water infiltration... the risk assessment should also include... radon... and other ground gases and contaminants'.

The question is therefore, why it’s not a consideration made by every basement conversion contractor in the UK?  The answer is that it’s not considered because it’s not wholly understood, yet the information is out there.

Trace have taken a proactive approach to this, being the first UK Company to licence a ADD waterproofing Trace Basement Systemspatented radon protection system which makes use of the drainage based waterproofing systems, widely employed in basement conversion and waterproofing projects.

Some background:

In the USA basements are often tested for radon when houses are bought and sold, and radon testing as part of home sales is gaining ground within the UK.  In recent times we’ve seen articles on the subject within UK media, including The Independent, The Express, The Sun, The Telegraph, as well as within many smaller regional papers.

External link to radon news articles on Google.

As a subject of importance, in particular where basements are concerned, we want to ensure that clients and potential clients are well advised so that informed decisions can be made in respect of works within your homes and places of work.

To this end we provide the following information (more info to follow):

What is Radon gas? A UK Homeowners guide to radon & basements.


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