What do you do for cleanup when working on jobs in an urban environment? For instance, when cleaning a mud pan that had setting type mud, or cleaning the last bits of thinset out of a bucket, do you rinse it down the drain? How about small amounts of paint thinner used to clean brushes? how about latex paint? We all know there are many things that shouldn’t be put down the drain, but what choice is there when there’s no outdoor space available?
Thanks
Bill
Replies
Keep a roll of plastic food wrap in the truck for things like mud. You can carry a bucket or two with lids for water or thinner. I try not to use a customers sink, they aren't even there or hooked up on new jobs. A plumber friend got fired for peeing in the sump pump hole, when the owner caught him and made a fuss. Better to keep a milk jug in the truck. Like hiking in the woods, never leave anything but footprints.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Mud cleanout/thinset-in a bag for shop disposal-or in my case-flat land fill on the hill.
Thinner goes in a lidded coffee can-or tote around a "dirty" thinner can (old thinner container). You can pour off "clean" thinner for reuse-solids sink down and coagulate.
Mud pan cleanup-in the clean up bucket of water. Lid that and take it back to the shop. I pour that gypsum juice in the fill area too.
No reason to dirty a customer's sink, or leave a white patch at the catch basin.
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
OK, so you take everything with you. then where does it go? How much water does it take you to clean out a mud pan? Do you go home with a 5gal bucket full of dirty water? I live in a condo, and in my city, all drains go to the treatment plant (yes, even the storm drains)- so where to dump the dirty water?How 'bout regular drywall mud- if diluted enough, do you rinse it down? I'm talking about using a utility sink or floor drain- not the customer's interior sink.Bill
I'm in a town outside of Toledo. Live in the woods. Take the bucket home and dump it on the lawn. Dried mud/thinset/concrete goes on an area I'm filling-with biodegradable waste.
I have 3 buckets when mudding. One is the wash bucket, one clean water for mixing, the other-the one I mix the drymix in. Clean the bucket I've used, along with the knives, and dump in the wash bucket. Carry a lid with me and cover it and dump the wash bucket at home. Clean water at the customers waters the lawn-flowers-etc. How much water to clean up a mud pan?-not much.
There's nothing like seeing a white patch in the lawn or by the catch basin when you pull up the next morning.
I don't dump in their sink, floor drain or other. Picked up this habit working in an area called Ottawa Hills. Swankville. You dump your bucket on their property-you might not get called back for more work. Pure and simple.
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Edited 3/17/2008 10:44 pm ET by calvin
Edited 3/17/2008 10:45 pm ET by calvin
I do about the same as you.
Mud pans, etc. can all be scraped pretty clean before they are rinsed in the clean up bucket. I also keep a trash bucket for what I clean out of the pan or bucket skunks. That junk gets dumped on a couple of layers of news paper and bagged for garbage pickup. (at least it did when I was a city boy) Now I have 6.5 acreas, and lots of places for biodegradeable stuff.
I don't think I could have ever run my business from a condo. Being a packrat, I would have run out of space to hord stuff, in no time at all.
Condo stash area?
you're right-no where for the fine antiquities.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I'm with you.
little bit of thinset goes down their utility sink with lotsa water.
haven't bought anyone a new drain line as of yet.
same deal with cleaning the drywall knives and pan.
of course the thicker stuff gets dumped out into a garbage bag first ...
we ain't freaking idiots here!
but that garbage stays at their house unless I've arranged to dispose of all demo.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
"cleaning the last bits of thinset out of a bucket, do you rinse it down the drain? "
Not unless I feel like buying them a new waste line
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Everything I mix at the job site, including setting compound and thinset, gets mixed in a disposable container which I then bring home and dispose of.
I don't wash brushes at the customer's home. They go in a plastic bag. Latex keeps well, but oil-base won't. For brushes with oil-base paint, I pretty much plan on throwing them out if I use them in the morning. If I use them in the afternoon, they will keep in a plastic bag until I get home.