Radon raises a lot of questions, and there is a fair amount of misinformation out there. We have gathered the questions Calgary homeowners ask us most often and answered them plainly. If you are just starting to learn about radon in your home, this is a good place to get oriented.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced when uranium in soil and rock breaks down. It is invisible, odourless, and tasteless. Outdoors it disperses harmlessly, but it can accumulate to harmful levels when trapped inside a home.
You should be aware and you should test, but you should not panic. Alberta is a higher-risk region because of our uranium-bearing soils and cold-climate building habits, and a meaningful share of Calgary homes exceed the guideline. The reassuring part is that radon is measurable and the problem is reliably fixable.
The only way to know is to test. You cannot detect radon with your senses, and you cannot estimate it from your home's age, price, or how your neighbour's home tested. A long-term test of at least 90 days during the heating season gives the most accurate result.
Health Canada sets a guideline of 200 Bq/m³, above which remediation is recommended. However, there is no completely risk-free level, so the goal is to get as low as reasonably achievable. Below 200 your home meets the guideline; lower is always better.
Yes. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked and the second leading cause overall. The risk builds over years of exposure, which is why it is easy to overlook and important to address.
Not necessarily. Radon comes from the soil, not the building. Newer Calgary homes include a radon rough-in (under the building code), but that is passive plumbing for a future fix, not an active system. New homes can and do test high, so testing is still essential.
A DIY long-term test kit is inexpensive, often well under a hundred dollars. Professional testing, which provides documented results and faster turnaround for real estate timelines, costs more but includes expert interpretation.
For a standard Calgary home, a professionally installed system generally runs roughly $2,000 to $3,500, depending on your foundation, layout, and the fan required. Complex homes can cost more. A firm quote requires an on-site assessment.
The most common method, sub-slab depressurization, uses a fan to create lower pressure beneath your foundation than inside your home. Radon is captured below the slab and vented safely outdoors above the roofline before it can enter your living space. Properly designed systems typically cut radon by 80 to 99 percent.
A properly sized fan mounted outside the living space runs quietly — most homeowners barely notice it. It uses only a few dollars of electricity per month and runs continuously. Expect to replace the fan roughly once a decade.
Re-test every few years, after major renovations, after any change to your heating or ventilation systems, and always after installing a mitigation system to verify it is working.
It is now a routine part of Alberta real estate due diligence. A home that tests low is a selling point, and an existing certified mitigation system reassures buyers. A high reading is a negotiation item, not a deal-breaker, because the cost to fix it is known.
Look for a C-NRPP certified professional with local Calgary experience who provides written quotes and includes a post-mitigation verification test. Avoid phone-only quotes and suspiciously cheap prices.
Every home is different, and the best answers come from testing yours. Onyx Radon's C-NRPP certified team is happy to walk Calgary homeowners through testing, results, and mitigation options — so you can turn an invisible question mark into rock-solid protection.
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