Worried about radon gas in my soon to be studio (basement)

[Erkan]

Hey!

In a few weeks I'll have moved my studio into my basement to finally have a decent home studio going. This house is however from the 60's and I'm kind of worried about too many bq/m3 of radon in the air since the ventilation isn't super good and there are cracks in the walls that could also let in a bunch of radon and shit.

In 2 weeks I'll be able to get a hold of the guys who know more about this since they're all on vacation (called their office yesterday) and I'm sort of anxious and paranoid as fuck about it and feel like I can't wait

Anyway, I guess I just wanted to write it out and share my anxiety hah.. and also gather any personal experiences from you guys, if you have any. Man, my "career" depends on this shit because if I can't move my studio home I won't be able to become a music 'n audio geek over the next 2-3 years and I really need to burrow myself down into creating and producing. :|

 

[ahjteam]

maybe you should've checked about this radon problem before moving in there?

 

[James-Doolan]

First check a radon map for your area see if your in a hot spot (should find one online somewhere) then get a radon detector they are cheap as chips and every house should have one, if your radon levels are to high you will have to install a radon sump/extractor which is not a really big job anyways tbh so chill

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

my studio is in the basement of a barn from the 1800s that used to be a dirt crawlspace and I have never once thought about Radon... now you've got me all paranoid.

that being said I have spent many a 16 hour day down there over the years and I'm not dead yet.

 

[Erkan]

maybe you should've checked about this radon problem before moving in there?

Well I really didn't think about it at all until I actually was working down there recently and painting the walls and shit. Now it's too late to back off as too much depends on this. I'm gonna install fans down there to draw in fresh air and blow it out. I should be able to get some sort of circulation going that way and it should drop the levels. There's also a drain in the laundry room which isn't really used.. guess I could cover that with something too.

my studio is in the basement of a barn from the 1800s that used to be a dirt crawlspace and I have never once thought about Radon... now you've got me all paranoid.

that being said I have spent many a 16 hour day down there over the years and I'm not dead yet.

I read up a little about the risks and in Sweden we have about 500 cases of lung cancer per year because of radon. 450 of those are smokers and it takes about 15 years of exposure to high levels of radon to develop lung cancer. A quick calculation of me being one of those remaining 50 people (non-smoker) gives a pretty tiny risk of actually catching any sickness given the fact that it's like 1/183000 chance of getting cancer.

I guess I was worrying a bit too much, especially considering I'll only have my home studio there for a maximum of 3 years Still, radioactive gases in your house is scary shit!

 

[colonel kurtz]

just tell clients that the radon gives mixes the tact

 

[Erkan]

Haha

I should call my studio "Radon Facility"! Yuck.

 

[Seeker Of Truth]

Haha

I should call my studio "Radon Facility"! Yuck.

Actually that could be a cool name !

Anyway here is a map that could help you relax until you are getting your call back :

http://www.sgu.se/export/pics/samhalle-grundvatten/radon-222_276.gif

Don't kill yourself with stress !

 

[Erkan]

Thanks Seeker! No big red dot around where I live, that's good I'm not too worried now that I know a little bit more about this than before. It's just annoying that the company I rent this place from has their technical department out in vacation. All of the employees! Which means I have to wait for them to get back until I can finally find out the radon value here :|

 

[hoehlentroll]

I read about the swedish radon problem in a book. Why are you guys worried. That stuff was in the earth thousands of years ago and generations of swedish people haven't had any problems ...

 

[Erkan]

Well I guess people didn't live in isolated basements thousands of years ago unlike today. Radon is concentrated indoors if it's not well ventilated so in fact old houses that aren't 100% sealed tight are actually better than new modern houses that are very sealed and isolated. All that's needed to get rid of radon is good circulation of air or good isolation outside of the building to prevent the radon from coming in at all.

But yea, radon is a very much talked about problem here in Sweden. Every house buyer needs to keep the radon in mind when selecting a house to buy and so on. The government is thinking about dropping the maximum allowed value of indoor radon from 200 bq/m3 to 100 bq/m3. I don't know how serious it is in other countries.

I guess you people think I'm a wuss and... truth be told, I am a bit wussy when it comes to issues like these!

 

[Notuern]

The problems is that Swedes used allot of "Aerated autoclaved concrete"(Blåbetong) when we built our homes.. so now days allot of houses have been discovered having huge radiation levels simply because of the concrete being used.
And to say that a radon meter is cheap is kind of lying.. i dont find ~800$ that cheap(6000SEK), however, there are companies that will do the testing for you for a smaller amount.. not sure what it will cost you though.