Need help Getting Rid of (Sheet Rock/Plaster) Dust in Basement

[ransley]

Best was to cover everything with cheap plastic drops, if floor is not carpet wash it, if it is get a new vac.

[Cindy Hamilton]

If the floor is not carpeted, damp-mop it. Likewise dust the objects with a damp rag. Rinse the mop and rag frequently.

Yes, it'll be a lot of work.

If the floor is carpeted, try to get a hold of a shop vac.

Cindy Hamilton

[Harry K]

If the floor is tile, vinyl, hardwood that can be swept, use "sweeping compound" - the oily sawdusty type if you cn find some. Used to be common but I needed some for an oil spill last summer and I couldn't find any in this town.

Harry K

[Bruce K.]

My kitchen is going through a renovation and they are tearing down the walls and ceiling.

There is a fine dust residue all over the floor and stuff in the basement below.

Whats the best way to vaccuum up the floor and other small items.

My regular vaccuum cant handle the fine dust.

Thanks,

Bruce

[HeyBub]

A HEPA vacuum should work.

[Rudy]

Don't use any conventional vac to suck up drywall dust. It will damage the motor (and most likely blow right back out the exhaust port).

With SOME vacs, you can BUY a special VAC FILTER/BAG MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR DRYWALL DUST.

If the floor is not carpeted, damp-mop it. Likewise dust the objects with a damp rag. Rinse the mop and rag frequently...Yep, thats it

Not unless the Shop Vac has a DRYWALL filter in it. The "Shop vac DRYWALL" filter bags are YELLOW vs the Normal white.

[joe]

[The Reverend Natural Light]

I bought a shop vac from Sears and put in one of their HEPA filters. Works great. It even works with soot and ash.

[Joe]

Been using Sears shop vacs for decades. IMO they have the best value for the $$ out there. Drywall dust not a problem, vacuum it up and clean the filter with your compressed air spritzer when it gets nasty. They can be reused for many months in commercial service that way. HTH

Joe

[mm]

Sears shop vacs are made by Shop-vac, and painted Sears colors.

I've never seen "drywall filter bags" as mentioned above, but I have seen "find dust filter bags" or something like that. Recommended for soot and I'm sure for drywall dust too.

But the smallest machines won't take this kind of bag. The outlet has to be through the bottom container, not through the clip on top with the motor. Of course this was a couple years ago, so I would make sure before buying that the fine dust filter fit the vacuum I was buying.

I ended up buying from Pep Boys, which also sells Shop-Vac and had the biggest small model at the best price, only 10 dollars more than the next one down. (they may have had two models. I bought the bigger one, probably because fine dust filter bags wouldn't fit in the ohter one.)

Lowes also sells Shop-Vacs, painted Lowes colors.

[Joe]

[mm]

I didn't mean *literally* painted. Sorry. I meant colored plastic.

I don't know about the catalog because I went to the store.

Sears has its own numbers for everything, and doesn't make reference to its makers' numbers anywhere afaicr. But there was no doubt in my mind it was made by Shop-Vac. All the parts were the same design and shape as one or another Shop-vac.

Also, Wal-Mart might have had models made by Shop-vac, in Wal-mart colors.

No two stores of the 3 or 4, Lowes, Pep Boys, Sears, and maybe Walmoart had the same models it seemed. I don't know if that is on purpose, but I don't think it was an accident either. There were differences in the size of the bucket, or whatever is called the place where the sucked up stuff goes; differences in the HP of the motor, differences in the warranty length, and differences in what accessories were included. So even though I spent too much time shopping, it was probably worth it, if only because I learned something about marketing.

Shop-Vac is made in Pennsylvania, and their customer service is great. They sent me some small thing for free and it came only 2 to 4 days after I called. I'm not positive that would be true if I went through Sears, and I don't remember if Lowes or Walmart called them Shop-vacs or if they rebranded them.

Pep-Boys called them Shop-vacs.

Interestingly, Lowes sold the simple paper replacement filters 3 to a bag with a heavy plastic retaining ring like the one that came with my first small Shop-vac, but Walmart sold them 2 or 3 to a bag with only a thick rubber band. I guess almost everyone still has their plastic ring, so the rubber band is cheaper.

HD sells Ridgid, but I think has replacment bags for Shop-vac also.

[Joe]

It's called a Magna Sand and IMO it is just short of fantastic for keeping SWMBO calmed down about the dust from DIY drywall projects. Comes with a screen sander that gets sucked down flat on the wall and makes the work way far easier. Best $40 I spent at Menards in years given the hassles it eliminated. One word of advice...pulling the sanding dust through the water works great, but drywall compound has other additives that generate a lot of foam. This can be totally killed by sprtizing a shot of Pam cooking spray into the catch water. Tried silicone which is usually a good defoamer, but nowhwere near as effective as Pam. HTH

Joe

[Tim]

Well, I'm sure it's done now, but I'll reply anyway. I bought one of those cheap 1 gallon shop vacs when my sheetrock was done, and attached a long (25' or so) hose to it. Took the filter out, ran the hose out the window and blew the dust outside. Then chunked what was left of the poor vac. Cost me a grand total 20 bucks and worked wonders, except for the snow in the back yard ;)