Considering replacing the old concrete slabs around the two terraces surrounding the house with gray irregular slate tiles. Even the sunroom, which is under the house's roof and connected with one of the terraces, would match very well with the same flooring.
However, I've become hesitant as Slate is always associated with Radon and radiation.
I read about people who install slate inside the house in kitchens and bathrooms, etc. They don't seem to worry at all.
We have an air intake under the house for "supply and exhaust air" that pulls through ventilation grilles in the foundation around the house ("Anybyspecial" 1985...), and the sunroom is in direct contact with the air between the outer roof and inner roof. The house is built on an area with sand, and we have no other Radon problems.
Am I just being paranoid, or am I building myself into the world's cancer trap? I don't want radon in the house or to sit and die of lung cancer on my terrace...
Grateful for opinions. Perhaps someone else also has slate near the house or inside and has thought along the same lines and has a simple answer?
???
Best Regards,
pmf
However, I've become hesitant as Slate is always associated with Radon and radiation.
I read about people who install slate inside the house in kitchens and bathrooms, etc. They don't seem to worry at all.
We have an air intake under the house for "supply and exhaust air" that pulls through ventilation grilles in the foundation around the house ("Anybyspecial" 1985...), and the sunroom is in direct contact with the air between the outer roof and inner roof. The house is built on an area with sand, and we have no other Radon problems.
Am I just being paranoid, or am I building myself into the world's cancer trap? I don't want radon in the house or to sit and die of lung cancer on my terrace...
Grateful for opinions. Perhaps someone else also has slate near the house or inside and has thought along the same lines and has a simple answer?
???Best Regards,
pmf
This was completely new to me (and probably many others)!
Is it the case that only shale extracted in certain locations contains radon? We are considering building a large indoor fireplace with dry-stacked Norwegian shale. Should we reconsider?
I've seen houses built with shale entirely or partially, shale chimneys, shale walls, indoor walls with shale, etc. Obviously, shale has been used for a long time as a building material, but perhaps this was before the radon issue became known, or?
Shale is such a gorgeous material!!
Is it the case that only shale extracted in certain locations contains radon? We are considering building a large indoor fireplace with dry-stacked Norwegian shale. Should we reconsider?
I've seen houses built with shale entirely or partially, shale chimneys, shale walls, indoor walls with shale, etc. Obviously, shale has been used for a long time as a building material, but perhaps this was before the radon issue became known, or?
Shale is such a gorgeous material!!
OK everyone, after a lot of investigation, here comes some calming information; everything emits radioactivity more or less, and quite a few things also emit radon, like the ground and bedrock, and sometimes even the groundwater, but as mentioned, more or less. When talking about Radon in shale (there are very many different ones, as you others already understand...) we often mean so-called Alum shale, which was used for Blue concrete used to build houses in the 60s and 70s (I think, not sure when they stopped). Alum shale apparently doesn't work well for building terraces, and it is true that different shales have different emissions. There are 511 different limits for different places and different materials. What scared me was that groundwater could contain Radon, and if you had small children drinking large amounts of Radon-rich water, that was not good...
So now I'm probably going to build my terrace and stop worrying. As mentioned, if you want to, you can worry about radioactivity and radon in practically everything. Fresh air is a good antidote and that's what I'll have for my terrace!
So now I'm probably going to build my terrace and stop worrying. As mentioned, if you want to, you can worry about radioactivity and radon in practically everything. Fresh air is a good antidote and that's what I'll have for my terrace!