Dealing with remodeling dust...

A co-worker of mine dealt with this. His son is hyper-sensitive to airborne particles and they had to have a special crew come in after construction and get the house cleaned out. I think they filter the air out, clean the ducts thoroughly and then re-filter the air.

 

No matter what you do it is still going to get through. I had a buddy who was living in a 1940's built house, did an insane job of sealing things off (contractors left through a back door in the sealed section) and his kids lead levels were through the roof. During my renovations I picked up a few window fans and put them blowing out to keep the air flow going away from the rest of the house. With tarps and tons of plastic it helped.

 

So I'm not the only one. I'm going thru this right now. It's a very small house and there's dust on EVERYTHING!!!

And what's this about LEAD LEVELS? My house was built in 1952. Should I be concerned?

Wouldn't that be great...get cancer while trying to save a couple of bucks.

 

you might have negative pressure in the house causing it to circulate throughout.
seal the ducts - make sure you seal the supply side "typically" they are the larger ones.
People carry dust on the shoes, clothing and on items being transfered from the area to a clean area. Lay construction plastic and/or paper throughtout the traffic areas. Try not to vacuum anything at this time. Clean floors and other things "wet" not "dry."
Change filters every other day in your HVAC.
Turn up your thermostat and put more humidity in the air in order to keep the enviornment less dry. This will "bog" down residual dust in your vents.
And yes, have your vents cleaned and house cleaned after the work. Will cost about $300 more or less for several maids and $500 for the duct cleanup.

 

don't try to remodel dust

 

If only he had thought of that earlier!

 

Only time I'd be concerned is if the painters are sanding OLD oil base painted woodwork with electric sanders.
Still and all, inhaling dust of any kind is never really good.

 

What are you doing?

You should have checked to see if there was lead in the house and where it was before you started. Don't sand down lead paint. There could be an asbestos issue also........

 

Return side are the larger grills.........

Without tearing apart this post (which has a lot I don't agree with), Scotty did you follow up on what was recommended? Is it working for you? You never answered if you have a central vac.

 

crap.... i didnt think of that !!!! mine was built in 1942, and i have taken out 4 walls and expanded / fixed stuff. guess i am dead now ... . to think, i was just worried about the dust on my guitars on the other end of the house !!!

 

I have no idea the "value" of your first comment:

After constructing 2 million square feet in hotel and class A office space not only are the broad guidelines I suggest advisable - they are SOP and they can be adapted in a residential enviro. for dust mitigation. I've dealt w/ tenants utilizing the same plenum air duct space and RTU-VAV (roof top units/variable air volume) systems for years and turning over next generation space and having my construction department create measures that effect result. Go ahead cowboy and "tear apart" sensible/free adivse to another member.

Your kind erks me, spend less time attempting to critique others and concentrate more on being a productive member of society.

Excuse me others that have to bear my rant.

 

Wow, lol, look at my posts and you'll see I spend most of my time helping people here. I'm not critiquing you, but should I not correct "free advice" if I can help? Look, you were wrong. I didn't mean to offend you. I was just trying to help our fellow Fchater also.

I'll tell you what, you're right, the large grills are for the supply ducting and replace the filter every other day and turn up the thermostat to increase the humidity level in the house.

I guess I can't win ........ That's what irks me.


Let's break this down a bit and maybe I can help you:

Let me ask you this, Gershwin, are the large grills in a typical residential home for supply or return air?

Further, in a residential unit, when you turn up the thermostat does that usually provide additional humidity?

Also, in typical residential HVAC system, when does the filter normally reach optimal efficiency?

What happens to a residential unit when you block the supply or return vents and run the unit?

How is anything that you wrote going to help make the rest of the house less dusty then the room the work is being done in?

Now, I fear that by asking these questions I have offended you further. That's not my intention....... just trying to help.

So, are you, or do you work for a GC? If so, which one? I'd like to see some of your work.

BTW- When I wrote "Without tearing apart this post" I was trying not to offend.

And the value of the first comment was to inform the thread starter..........

 

Great Scott, I hope it works for you.........

But, didn't you want the MBr positive and the Master bath negative to it? That would keep the dust mostly out of the bedroom.

By making the master BR neg. it is going to be increasing the likelihood of dust.

Is the bedroom neg. or pos. in relation to the bathroom?

If it was me, I'd supply air to the master bedroom and close off just the master bath vents with opening a window in the bath room. A fan blowing out the window would also help.

Good call on the filtration units. I hope they help. You might want to put them (or one) in the master bath.

One last question for you....... Is there a return vent in the bedroom?

 

You should be good to go then..........

"They" always say you should spend some time sleeping in your guest room to see what's missing. Sounds like fun.

When we moved into our home the 1st floor flooring was deducted so I could hire my own subs. It took 3 months after we moved in to finish the hardwood and marble. My wife was not to pleased, but she has forgotten about it now....lol

Good luck

One other thing if you want - Get a good commercial vac that you can get enough hose to keep it outside when you run it. That way when you vacuum all the dust passing the filter will go outside. Even "HEPA" Vacs will leak a lot unless you buy a very expensive commercial one. Probably not worth it. Just buy some extra hose at home depot or your vac store and it will make a big diff.

 

You weren't correcting advise - you stated "I won't bother with tearing this post apart." How is this a corrective measure?

Perhaps had you stated, "I disagree," "I don't understand," or "please provide clarification" your intent would clearly have been stated and you and I could exchange some ideas and now/how.

Your intent may have not been to offend but your decorum at least within this thread was lacking and still does. Now you are publicly requesting I post credentials is absurd.....especially regarding a debate of dust control of all things. However, I will PM you my homepage should you need to "see some of my work" to serve some purpose. I am not a GC, I am a real estate developer/owner/investor and as I have said I have a lengthy understanding of measures that my constuction team and mechanical engineers have applied that work wonders. The same principles can be applied to a dwelling if the project is "small" in nature.

However, you are correct in that, I meant the "supply" side not return. The large grills "typically" are the supplies. I was trying to identify for him to find the "large" grills w/in the master bathroom.
When the homeowners project is limited to as in this case to the "master bathroom" one can block the return w/out effecting the residential unit production and function.
Additionally, and most important I noted he needed to create a negative pressure and get the area to expel air outdoors.
This project as stated is a (1) room project and the measures I enumerated regardless of our debate work. You and I will have to disagree.
Yet, I'm not going to ask for your creditentials, comment on your post or ask who you work for - I don't need that to find experience in your knowledge of the subject matter.
I do not intend to carry this any further w/ you - I'd rather discuss w/ you on more furtile ground more enlightening subjects.

 

My friend with the lead problems was just ripping out plaster walls (no sanding). I'd only worry about lead if you have small kids in the house or planning on having kids. Aside from that a little exposure to lead will only kill a few brain cells.......... I think it is safe to assume that any house built before the mid 70's is going to have lead paint on the walls. I gutted my entire first floor(1920's house) on my own with really crappy air protection. Check back with me in 5 years. Oh if you have a house with those speckled hard plastic tiles from the 50's they're Asbestos. Asbestos was the wonder material so it is in exterior shingles, pipe insulation,............

 

I don't understand

"The large grills "typically" are the supplies."

" I'd rather discuss w/ you on more furtile ground more enlightening subjects."

I think that's a great idea..... See you around the board. Look forward to your PM.

BTW- I never asked for your credentials. You said you constructed 2 mil sq.ft. I was just taking an interest.

 

It's a real good idea to wear gloves and a respirator if your going to tackle this kind of job. It wouldn't hurt........