What is radon, and what should you do about it?

Radon gas is a cancer-causing radioactive gas produced in the ground by the breakdown of uranium. It enters all buildings and homes regardless of building age or build quality. It is invisible, tasteless and odourless. When radon enters the enclosed space of a home it can accumulate to high levels and become a health hazard.

Long term exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking, and the leading cause of lung cancer in people who do not smoke. Exposure to radon and tobacco use together significantly increases your risk. The annual death rate in Canada from radon-induced lung cancer is 3,200, higher than carbon monoxide, car accident and house fire deaths combined.

Radon exposure is preventable and readily reduced in residential, commercial and institutional buildings. Testing is the only way to determine if you are at risk. Because radon levels fluctuate hourly, testing for a minimum of 90 days is required to get a meaningful result. Health Canada recommends taking action to reduce levels below 200 Bq/m3, and no level is considered risk free.

Possibly. Radon is present at some level in all types of buildings, and levels can vary dramatically between similar buildings in the same location. Your neighbour might have low radon levels and you may not. A neighbour's result is a good reason to test your own home and a poor reason to assume anything about it.

Health Canada recommends taking action above 200 Bq/m3, and the higher the concentration the sooner you should act. The World Health Organization uses a lower reference level of 100 Bq/m3. We design every system to land below 75 Bq/m3, or as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) where a building restriction physically prevents reaching that, so there is real margin rather than a pass by a hair.

A typical residential radon mitigation system in this area runs about $3,200 to $4,000. The number depends on the house rather than a price list: how the foundation is built, how well air moves under the slab, where the pipe can be routed and what fan the diagnostics call for. The site inspection produces a firm written price for your specific home before any work is booked.

Because it is a real assessment by a C-NRPP certified professional rather than a sales visit. You get a paid, educational walkthrough of your home, an explanation of your options, and a firm written price for the work. If you go ahead with the mitigation, the inspection fee is credited back in full against the job, so it ends up costing you nothing.

No. Most people come to us with a result already in hand and that is the most direct route, but you do not have to wait for one. Plenty of homeowners mitigate because a neighbour tested high, or simply because they want the protection in place. Because our guarantee is an absolute number rather than a percentage reduction, it still means something without a "before" reading: the post-install test shows exactly where your home has landed.

A typical residential system is installed in a single day. More complex homes, a stone or rubble foundation, multiple slab areas or a crawl space that needs its own treatment, can run longer, and the site inspection tells you which one yours is before you commit.

Almost none, and that is deliberate. The system is designed so you can forget about it: there is nothing to service, nothing to empty and nothing to schedule. The fan is the only component with a service life, which is why we specify a good quality one rather than the cheapest that meets spec. If one ever does fail it is a straightforward replacement. We suggest retesting every couple of years or after major renovations, simply because that is good practice.

Health Canada reports that active sub-slab depressurization reduces radon by more than 80 percent in most homes. In practice we see reductions of 90 to 97 percent on many installs. Rather than quote a percentage, we guarantee an absolute number: below 75 Bq/m3, well under the 200 Bq/m3 at which Health Canada recommends action, or as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) where a building restriction physically prevents reaching 75.

Not reliably. Radon enters buildings regardless of age or build quality, and a newer, tighter house can hold it better once it is in. The 2025 Ontario Building Code changes brought radon into new-build requirements, but a rough-in is not a system: it is a pipe waiting for a fan and a design.

We cover Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph plus the surrounding Waterloo Region and Wellington County townships. If you are just outside that, call and ask rather than assuming not.