Post Reno Cleanup Moaning

[WandererFan]

The house is full of dust, even inside cabinets and closets. Sawdust and drywall compound I would guess. I've had post-reno messes before, but they generally cleaned up ok. Don't know what was different about this project - used poly drapes, mats, changed shoes at the entry to the work area, etc.

Any suggestions, rules of thumb, etc for getting rid of this stuff? Is a shopvac better or worse than the central vac?

If it was warmer out I'd open all the windows and hope for a really windy day!

Chris

[Ed Pawlowski]

"WandererFan" wrote.>

Shop Vac with the HEPA filter. .

[cubby]

Ha! I'm in the same boat after drywalling my new master suite. The whole time I have had plastic sheeting up over closed doors and with the hvac return sealed up. Sure, that stopped a lot of it, but there is white dust everywhere. It must hang in the air for a while and then escape when we open doors, even momentarily. It's very lightweight and using the vacuum cleaner won't get all of it up when you try to clean. My Mrs has gotten through a ton of dusters, polish and those swiffer things. Part of our daily routine when leaving the house is to switch the compressor on (which we moved to the exit door) and spend five minutes blowing the dust off our clothes. Be sure to change your furnace filter. Even with the return sealed mine was caked in drywall dust after a couple of weeks of sanding.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 12/7/2010 3:47 PM WandererFan spake thus:

Whoops. When I saw your subject line I thought "What? A tornado came through Reno?".

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

Too late this time-- but these gadgets really work- "Marshalltown Vacuum Drywall Sander "

better than the one I got at Lowes several years ago.

Mine has a less ergonomic handle-- and it has metal tabs that hold the sanding 'screens'. About twice a day I touch one after it gets a full charge of static & it feels like someone is pulling my arm off.

But after 1 hour of sanding [my limit] my forearms aren't even dusty.

Jim

[WandererFan]

I blipped the trigger on the blow gun the other day and a huge white cloud rose up around me. Wonder if I could use the compressor to raise the dust and then something else to suck it out of the air? Probably never get enough CFM or inches of vacuum or whatever.

The furnace filter is on the list!

[The Daring Dufas]

You could get a cheap box fan and a 2" thick pleated furnace filter the same dimensions as the fan. Duct tape the filter to the fan where the air is drawn in and let it run before and after you blow the dust off everything. You could assemble a couple per room and let them blow the air in a circle. I designed a stand alone air filter cabinet for a printing company years ago that used cascading air filters of increasing density to help remove paper dust from the air.

TDD

[hrhofmann]

I put fans in several windows in distant parts of the house blowing in so the house is pressurized. Then I keep the windows open in the room where I am sanding, even taking out the screens if possible. All the dust goes out the window and makes a mess outside, but it keeps the dust from getting into other rooms,

[The Daring Dufas]

Excellent idea and execution there of.

TDD

[willshak]

WandererFan wrote the following:

Central vacuum is better since the exhausted air is piped outside the house. .

[Joe]

For years I have used a Magna Sander and shopvac on drywall projects with so little dust that putting up plastic curtains is necessary only in extreme cases. The M-S is a water trap in a 5 gallon bucket that keeps the mess totally confined and the screen sander with the vacuum attached makes sanding far less laborious. Pros don't bother with devices like this because they are so skilled at putting down only the precisely needed amount of mud that sanding isn't even needed with the usual texturing. Check out some YouTube videos of how the experts do their work. Very enlightening.

Joe

[mm]

You're going to install a central vac just for this one clean-up?

How long and how much money will that take?

The advantage of a central vac is convenience, not that it works better than others

When I sanded my large dining room floor, I put a junk 21" fan (from the trash) in the window and blew out all the time. An hour after I finished sanding the fan "burned" up. It took care of most of the dust.

[Robert Green]

They actually do clean better because the motor is usually much larger than found on most portable vacuums, thus providing more suction. You don't have to drag the motor and dirt bag along with you as you clean, either.

The most important reason a central vac is better than portable vacuums is that all the air is exhausted remotely from the dirty room. This means that the exhaust does not blow the dirt into the air you are breathing while you are vacuuming. Anyone with allergies or asthma can use a central vacuum even though they may not be able to use a portable one because of all the dust kicked up while cleaning.

Oh, and the fourth advantage is that the noise of the motor is usually quite remote and you can listen to the TV or someone conversing with you as you clean. Most people that I know who have installed central vacs wouldn't go back to portable units.

-- Bobby G.