TrenchLock™ Trench Drain Inserts Block Radon Gas and Odors

The four pegs beneath the cup keep TrenchLock strips clear of the drain bottom, ensuring adequate water flow.

Trench drains are useful in the battle to control unwanted water, but they never have been able to deal with radon until now.

A trench drain is a linear channel with a U-shaped profile that’s covered by a drainage grate. Used to dispose of unwanted water a trench drain is installed flush with the basement floor at the foot of a the exterior stairway that provides access to the basement from a leaky bulkhead or hatchway door. A trench drain is typically connected to either a drainage channel or directly to a sump pump to remove the water that collects at the base of the exterior stairway.

Unfortunately, trench drains have had the unintended consequence of allowing air from drainage channels and from the ground into the home. This air from the ground may contain hazardous radon gas, a naturally occurring radioactive gas. There are approximately 8 million homes in the U.S. with radon levels deemed dangerous by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Balls of the right weight and size block gases from escaping through the holes when there is no water in the drain. When water flows, the balls float so water can drain.

The TrenchLock™ solution

TrenchLock™ trench drain inserts are specially designed by Basement Systems to block unwanted ground air and gasses from entering the basement and ultimately your home. TrenchLock is an insert that can be installed in an existing trench drain that lets water down but does not allow air to come up through an innovative patent-pending design.

Ideal for homes with a radon mitigation system

In homes with radon mitigation systems, a fan built into a PVC pipe stack is used to depressurize the soil under the slab and to vent radon gas to the outside. A conventional trench drain would “short-circuit” the depressurization field, render the mitigation system ineffective, and allow radon gas into the home. Trench drains that are equipped with TrenchLock will not interfere with a radon mitigation system.

TrenchLock is just one of the ways that Basement Systems dealers work hard ensure dry basements as well as the health and safety of homeowners. Like many Basement Systems products, TrenchLock is only available to Basement Systems’ international network of dealers.