10cm Wood dust and everything in a packed attic

[KL]

Please Help!!! I wanna cry after the company redo our roof. I didn't know that they haven't covered a layer of plastic at the attic. Neither my hubby nor father in law thought about it. So surprise!!! Now, even just pull down the ladder from ceiling, wood dust fall down. The attic is packed with all sorts of things from too many carton boxes to baby travel bed, etc, I haven't seen the wood dust layer in my own eyes, but I know it's far too awful. I know I need a good mask, googles, gloves and protection coat. I only have a household dyson vacuum cleaner and brooms. What would be the most effective and economic way to clean this mess? Many thanks in advance.

[tabbypurr]

4" of wood dust from an unknown roofing job is not possible. Is it some sort of insulation?

NT

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Yes sounds like general debris from the job. This is why dust sheets were invented. Assuming nothing conductive, several goes with a vacuum should get it out. Brian

[alan_m]

+1 100mm of dust from a re-roof is unbelievable. A couple of mm would be a lot. Even if it were insulation it could only be the type they spray on to the underside of slates, any other insulation fitted on the underside of tiles/slates would have blocked the dust or debris from entering the loft area.

[Tim Lamb]

Vermiculite?

[Andrew]

Severe termite infestation ?

[Andrew]

Saving on the cost of skips ? (Leave as much as possible in situ).

Was this roof previously treated with spray foam to 'stop tiles slipping'. If so, expect an awful lot of detritus in the loft.

[Muddymike]

Get the contactor back to clean up their mess. Any worthwhile firm would have covered everything.

Mike

[pcjthe]

Hello Kl, Without seeing your attic it's hard to be specific but here goes nothing. First of all do nothing in a hurry. Don't confuse reaction with action.

1) You'd be better of getting hold of some decorator's "onesey" disposable overalls unless you want to spend a lot of your time extracting wood dust from your clothing and skin. 2) A face shield is probably better than googles (though not as protective) as it's a bit less likely to keep steaming up 3) Don't dive up there with your Dyson just yet. Vacuum cleaners have to let out the air they suck in. You'll end up blowing wood dust everywhere and given the quantities you seem to be talking of you'll probably choke the Dyson in minutes. Ideally when you get to the vacuum stage you need a heavy duty general purpose machine like the old AquaVac. You can hire them from hire shops, but you don't need it as the first step. 4) First step: get up there with a big dust sheet/tarpaulin (or even an old bed sheet) and a small handbrush/large clean paintbrush. Start with all the nearest and lightest items: shake each one as clear of wood dust and brush of as much of any remainder as possible. Might be an idea to cover the attic access hole with a sheet of cardboard to keep the dust from escaping downstairs. Careful don't step on the card! 5) Take each item out of the attic when dusted off and put somewhere where you can take them outside for the final vacuuming with the Dyson. 6) Once you've got as many items as possible out of the attic you can then repeat the shake/brush process on items that are too big/heavy to take out easily. 7) You should now have an area clear enough off stuff to brush it clear of wood dust. Brush the wood dust onto the sheet you were using earlier (bundle up and empty in bin as needed). 8) Move the remaining items in the attic onto this cleared area so you can tackle the rest of the attic space. Repeat this clean and move as necessary if you can't get them all into one space. 9) That should have shifted the worst of the wood dust and now you can bring the big vacuum into action to finally clear the attic.

Best wishes

[alan_m]

The OP says "wood" dust and suggests a replacement roof. What process during a standard roof covering replacement would create so much wood dust to a depth of 100mm. They may have cut the roof battens to length up there but wouldn't the under roof felt/underlay have already have been fitted at the time stopping any debris entering the loft area?

Could a large amount of dust been the accumulation from years of wind blowing under the slates on a failing roof with no felt/underlay beneath the slates?

[F Murtz]

He might mean 10 mm

[Chris Hogg]

Even that seems a lot. I could believe 1mm, but not a lot more.

[Tim+]

Sadly it?s from HOH so we?ll probably never get any further info. All we can do is speculate.

Tim

[Jimk]

Right up several regulars' streets :-D

[tabbypurr]

No, first move is work out what it is. It's highly unlikely to be wood dust or anything but insulation.

NT