Drywall Dust cleanup
mark
put a coat of primer on the drywall (and unframed vent ducts), but I first
have one huge task in front of me:
My basement is absolutely filled with drywall dust. Yeah, I know you guys
say that there isn't a need to sand, but I did anyways...and now my basement
has dust everywhere.
Anyways, I need to know the best/easiest way to clean this stuff up so that
I can go ahead and prime the walls. I was thinking about renting a wet/dry
vac, is this a good idea? Or am I better off just going over everything with
a damp rag? if the wet/dry vac is the way to go, how do I use it (do I put
water onto the slab floor and then vacuum it up?). Any help is greatly
appreciated.
Jesse
My advice is get the wet/dry vac and vacuum all the dust up that you can.
Most wet dry vacs use a foam sponge. Some also can use a paper filter bag
that slips over the foam. This helps the dust stay in the canister.
Then with a clean, damp foam sponge and a pail of clean water, mop the walls
lightly. Rinse often. Change the water repeatedly. When your all done, mop
the floors until you get all the dust up.
Next time try wet sanding with a sponge. (available at most hardware stores)
Good Luck!
Jesse
"mark" <mark...@NOSPAMhome.com> wrote in message
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Peter
wrote:
>My basement is absolutely filled with drywall dust.
>Anyways, I need to know the best/easiest way to clean this stuff up so that
>I can go ahead and prime the walls. I was thinking about renting a wet/dry
>vac, is this a good idea? Or am I better off just going over everything with
>a damp rag? if the wet/dry vac is the way to go, how do I use it (do I put
>water onto the slab floor and then vacuum it up?). Any help is greatly
>appreciated.
>
>
The first tool you want to use is a nice fine broom.
You can then vacuum, but make sure you vacuum can filter out
dust this fine. If you rent one, ask about this and look at the
filter.
After you get what looks like all the dust out, then go over
everything with a damp rag, or I find a very clean spongemop works
well.
Then wait a day for it to dry before you paint.
Eric Salathe
> My basement is absolutely filled with drywall dust.
> I was thinking about renting a wet/dry vac, is this a good idea? Or
> am I better off just going over everything with a damp rag? if the
> wet/dry vac is the way to go, how do I use it (do I put water onto
> the slab floor and then vacuum it up?). Any help is greatly
> appreciated.
Use a shop vac. Sweeping will just put everything into the air where
you can breathe it and it can get into other rooms. Wet/dry means wet
or dry, and you want to vacuum dry. Putting water on the floor will
make reconstituted mud and a horrendous mess. It will set and become
large chunks coating everything, including the filter, which will then
be sealed and useless. After vacuuming drywall dust, you cannot use
that filter again for anything wet.
Don't rent one, buy one; you'll be glad. A small Craftsman is not
pricey and a darn good vac. Use a high-efficiency pleated paper
filter.
Eric Salathe
John Henry
(even if it is a rental), unless you get a special drywall dust/ash collector
system for it. They go right through the standard filters.
Best to use a commercial string mop and wringer bucket, and wipe the walls with
a damp (not soaked) rag/towel.
mark wrote:
--
John Henry
---------------
Visit the "BugShop" at http://www.geocities.com/thebugshop/
"NT has crashed. I am the Blue Screen of Death. No-one hears your screams."
Mike Hartigan
If you're going to be vacuuming it dry, use a vacuum that you will not
miss, as it will likely be useless after you're done (actually 5 or 10
seconds after you start, but I think you get the picture). Drywall dust
will fill the vacuum with dust that will never go away. The filter won't
help, pleated or otherwise - drywall dust will go right through it.
>
> Eric Salathe
>
>
Eric Salathe
> If you're going to be vacuuming it dry, use a vacuum that you will not
> miss, as it will likely be useless after you're done (actually 5 or 10
> seconds after you start, but I think you get the picture). Drywall dust
> will fill the vacuum with dust that will never go away. The filter won't
> help, pleated or otherwise - drywall dust will go right through it.
Well gosh, better not tell my shop vac it's dead. I guess it's just a
zombie. But then I do use a decent filter, rated for drywall dust,
which may be the difference.
Not all pleated filters are high-efficiency (ie over 99% down to 0.3
microns). Good filters cost about $20 at Sears (about 1/3 the price of
the vac itself, but they last a very long time). That's what you want
anyway if you've got any lead dust around.
Adding water, making mud where there is dust, just sounds like creating
a needless mess out of a 30-second job.
Eric Salathe
mark
filled with dust, from the stairs leading down, to the walls, to the
concrete floor (especially the edges near the drywall).
Before I had a chance to read all your advice, I stopped off at my local HD
on my way home from work today and purchased a Ridgid shop vac for $39.95,
plus some drywall dust bags that, it turned out, don't fit the ridgid I
bought (only the specific "shop vac" brand). Anyways, it seemed to work
really well, picked up a lot of the dust that was on the concrete floor, the
stairwell, ledges, etc. I wiped the walls down very quickly with a clean dry
towel as well. I would say that about 80 - 90% of the dust is now gone
(almost all of it trapped in the vacuum's filter it looks like....not much
at all in the bucket itself).
Once I get home from work tomorrow I'm gonna use a clean damp sponge on the
walls, rinsing often (per your advice), and then mop the floor with a good
ole fashioned string mop. Hopefully this should do the trick. Then, as long
as I can get it done before 8pm (the last Survivor!) I'll put a coat of
primer on the walls....you guys wouldn't believe the anticipation I have for
getting this done. It's a 40' x 19' basement that, I was told by some people
would only take "a couple of weekends" to finish. Well, we started back in
January, and we're just now getting to the point where we can prime and
paint, after working 12 hour Sundays (and sometimes Saturdays as well) every
weekend since. Considering it will add about 35% more living space to my
townhouse, I think it will be worth it.
Thanks again.
"mark" <mark...@NOSPAMhome.com> wrote in message
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Steve Manes
wrote:
>I can go ahead and prime the walls. I was thinking about renting a wet/dry
>vac, is this a good idea?
Even with drywall bags, some of the dust will just pass through a
Shopvac and blow all over the place again. In this case, a standard
household vacuum cleaner with a HEPA-rated bag (several, actually) is
the better bet. The best solution is a central vac with a cyclonic
filter. All that dust gets blown outside.
Alan Quinn
mostly with the hand sanding attachment on the end of the hose using a
high-efficiency filter and still works fine as long as you clean out
the filter. Sanding this way eliminates dust in the air and on
everything in the first place. You can safely sand without a mask.
Bob
drywall dust and everything else I can think of. It's not a difficult task,
just use a shop vac and you'll be fine. If you want to get the bulk of the
dust up use a scraper or a 10" to12" taping knife to scrape it up, it's much
more effective and it creates much less dust than sweeping it with a broom.
Bob
"Eric Salathe" <esal...@cascade.org> wrote in message
news:9cpnoh$6qa$1...@nntp1.u.washington.edu...
Bob
"mark" <mark...@NOSPAMhome.com> wrote in message
> Thanks for all the advice guys, I appreciate it. My basement was
absolutely
> filled with dust, from the stairs leading down, to the walls, to the
> concrete floor (especially the edges near the drywall).
>
> Before I had a chance to read all your advice, I stopped off at my local
HD
> on my way home from work today and purchased a Ridgid shop vac for $39.95,
> plus some drywall dust bags that, it turned out, don't fit the ridgid I
> bought (only the specific "shop vac" brand). Anyways, it seemed to work
> really well, picked up a lot of the dust that was on the concrete floor,
the
> stairwell, ledges, etc. I wiped the walls down very quickly with a clean
dry
> towel as well. I would say that about 80 - 90% of the dust is now gone
> (almost all of it trapped in the vacuum's filter it looks like....not much
> at all in the bucket itself).
>
> Once I get home from work tomorrow I'm gonna use a clean damp sponge on
the
> walls, rinsing often (per your advice), and then mop the floor with a good
> ole fashioned string mop. Hopefully this should do the trick. Then, as
long
If your walls are sanded and ready to be primed and painted I wouldn't use a
damp sponge if I were you. Since you now have a shop vac simply vacuum the
walls. A damp or wet sponge can create noticeable if not major marks in the
drywall compound that you will probably only notice after you prime and
paint.
Bob
Dave Mitton
from HD, which is rated for drywall dust. They had some nice reviews of it
next to the stock.
To clean it, you shouldn't brush it, but you can wash it with running water.
A little expensive, but hopefully worth several paper ones.
Dave.
Steve Manes
wrote:
>I just picked up the Gore (as in Gore-tex) shop-vac filter(Sears red type) ($29)
>from HD, which is rated for drywall dust. They had some nice reviews of it
>next to the stock.
>
>To clean it, you shouldn't brush it, but you can wash it with running water.
>A little expensive, but hopefully worth several paper ones.
I've got a Kleenstream filter (Goretex). The problem with it is that
it clogs up with drywall dust in about two minutes and you don't want
to vaccum up drywall dust with a wet filter.
Doug Boulter
<sma...@NOSPAM.HEREmagpie.com> wrote:
> I've got a Kleenstream filter (Goretex). The problem with it is that
> it clogs up with drywall dust in about two minutes
I bought two of these when they first came out. In my experience,
they work for a long time. While they look clogged fairly quickly,
you can pick up a whole lot of drywall dust before you start to notice
a drop off in suction. I'm using mine on the big Sears shopvac.
My trick to cleaning them is to take the vac outside downwind from
your house and (after changing the filter) use the blower feature to
blow out most of the dust from the inside. Then wash it with the
garden hose.
But mine is a Cleanstream. Maybe you got a knockoff brand? <grin>
--
Doug Boulter
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