We just finished the sheetrock in an upstairs remodel and have the usual layer of fine sheetrock dust over the floor sheathing. I should’ve had them cover the floors to avoid this, but given where we are, is it important to get this dust up before putting down hardwood floors or wall-to-wall carpet? If so, what’s the best way to do that? The sheetrockers vacuumed it several times, and threw down sawdust and swept it up and said that’s the best they could do, but when I run my hand over it it comes back solid white.
Thanks.
Bob
Replies
Regular old damp mop with a 5 gallon bucket of water will get that last fine layer up.
Bob
We're in exactly the same situation, except ours is the entire house (3 floors).
Our plan is to vacuum thoroughly, then do a damp mop (not wet), then paint the subflooring with the highest quality paint returns I can find at my local HD...color is obviously not an issue. This painting should serve to bind up the very fine drywall particles, so they don't work their way out into the room in the future.
Then the hardwood/vinyl subfloor/carpet pad goes over that. The only limitation with this approach is if you plan on using a floor adhesive...but then, you'd likely be using a subflooring anyway.
BruceM
Is there some issue with alergies (spelling?), am I missing something, otherwise what is the the big deal? Sweep it out, lay the carpet.
It sounds like your sheetrockers went to more trouble than most to clean up - vacuum and then sweep with something to help pick it up - I'm impressed! Personally, I'd be satisfied with that. It's not like the dust is going to come up through your carpet or hardwood floors.
If you are not happy with that, someone will respond with other cleanup methods, but again personally, I don't think it is necessary. Be careful vacuuming, because this fine dust can ruin a vacuum motor in short order. Also, use the search function here at BT as this was discussed a few months ago.
DIRISH, Interesting! Destroy a vacuum fast? I did the plaster work in my basement and used an old vacum to clean up several times. Sure enough, bearings gone, seesed (spelling?) right up!
WHAT !!!!!!
YOU LET THEM GET SHEETROCK DUST ON THE SUBFLOOR !!!!!!!
Yes, you or they should have covered the floor. As you found out, there is no amount of sweeping or vacuming you can do to get the poisonous dust out of the subloor.
There is only one thing left to do, and that's replace the subfloor.
I am always amazed at no matter how much you sweep and vacuum a floor the gyproc dust is still there. Especially with OSB that the rain has gotten at, you start sweeping up a fine layer of OSB dust along with the gyproc dust.
Unless you have super allergies I wouldn't worry about it, it looks worst than it actually is and I am not sure if the dust filters into the house once it is finished.
Sweeping compound helps a lot.
But - As has been said - You'll never get it all.
It will work its way up through carpet, depending on the pad, but it should be a very small amount. I would not worry about it being an allergen because it's pretty inert. All most people do is vacuum then that's it. If you want a more thorough job, the other suggestions are good.
I take the sawdust from under my tablesaw, throw it in a bucket add water and mix till its damp. Throw it around the room especially the perimeter. Keeps the dust down during the initial sweep and gets about 90% of the white stuff. If you want to get the rest, put a drywall (yellow) bag in the shopvac and go over the floor again.
Be Constructive
Gord
St.Margaret's Bay NS
bob , if you're going to put down hardwood floors, you'll be putting down red rosin paper or 15# felt, right ?
and your carpet will go down on a good pad.. or possibly even another subfloor
sweep, scrape , sweep & vacumn.. then forget it..
You say, "and maybe another subfloor". When do people do that? I once inquired on this board why people used to put partial board down on top of the subfloor, but almost no one does this any more. Maybe not even in the last twenty years.
sure looks nice, but you cover it up. Sure you might do it to level the floors between flooring types. Seriously, curious about who does it and why. If you don't put the PB down you sure could save a $1000 in materials alone.
jack.. depends on what the structural subfloor is..
if they ran 5/8 thru the house , then we would add another subfloor under the carpet areas and under the tile areas
the strip floor can go right on the main subfloor
we have a job now where the dufus used a 1/2" structural subfloor
also , Homosote makes a nice carpet base on top of a subfloor .. and puts the carpet closer to the finish ht . of 3/4 hardwood floors..
every case is different..
our typical spec is 3/4 Advantech with carpet direct...
we'll add 1/2" underlayment ply to that for a tile baseMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike
I've been thinking about homosote as a sound deadener on the 3rd floor over the second floor living room, with carpet pad going over that and then of course carpet over that.
Question: will the homosote 'dent' over time, particularly with heavy furnature on it?
Thanks
BruceM
bruce.... my read is that it won't dent ... but the carpet and pad will... homasote is a pretty dnse product..... bu #### won't take an impact or a point load...
so anything that you would tend to put on a carpeted floor should be alright with the homasote..
you could google the mfr. adn ask them .. bet they have a FAQ section..
personally, i wouldn't worry about furniture denting the homasote thru the carpet and padMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
They make a product just for that purpose called comfort base.http://www.homasote.com/comfort.html"Comfort Base is a resilient board that cushions hard concrete, yet is structural and durable enough for heavy traffic and moving furniture. The single-ply concrete flooring system is perfect for finishing basements or improving concrete slab floors, increasing the floor surface temperature with twice the insulation of wood, and reducing foot, leg and back pain caused by standing, sitting or walking on concrete floors. The uniquely engineered bottom surface provides a built-in ventilation system, which allows concrete to breath naturally without causing panels to curl or bow."Went back and saw that there where other product for above ground applications on floors also.
Edited 1/2/2005 6:46 pm ET by Bill Hartmann
jackofall
I have seen pb laid down under lenolium, i think that is done to
1. bring the lenolium closer to the height of the other finished flooring
2. pb is smoother than cdx, so it prevents photographing of grain/ hollows.
I have never seen pb under carpet, but have not really looked very hard.
james
There was partical board put down under the carpet in my last house - there were also some rather large lumps in the carpet where it appeared the previous owner had over watered some rather large plants causing the partical board to swell
I think its "telegraph" grains and hollows, as the image is transfered, not copied, as in a photograph.
Jackofall, the two floor system originally used 1/2cdx, paper, then a 5/8" particleboard subfloor. On top of that went the padding and carpet. The "modern" improvement was the T&G subfloor. This "underlayment" has the top two plys plugged and is ready for carpeting.
I'm just guessing that if they are still laying 5/8" particleboard underlayment, they don't realize that they could be laying it over a 1/ 2 " cdx "rough" floor.
I didn't see any T&G until my second or third year in framing.
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
recently, before laying down my wide pine plank flooring I thought to rid ALL the dust from rock etc etc....swept and swept and vaccumed to no avail.
Took my leaf blower...opened all the windows and doors and the dust was out out there to perfection in minutes...blew off all the walls and ceilings as well..I do that in my shop now.....nothing works better!!!!!!!!!
Be blown ; )~
andy
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Has anyone tried to avoid depositing drywall sanding dust on the floor?
I use my shop vac, hose extensions and sanding screens on a special sanding head that collects just about all of the nasty stuff. It never hits the floor and I don't have that white mustache clogging my nostrils.
It never hits the floor and I don't have that white mustache clogging my nostrils.>>>>>>>What a baby..LOL
Be well bro
a
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
i'm with ya , ralph... we don't use drywall so we don't get the dust ...
we still get a petty big mess with plaster , though..
most of our plaster subs put down a layer of 15# felt before tehy start... trhen roll it up and put it in the dumpster as they leaveMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I'm always amazed to hear you talk about plastering, you can't live more than an hour away, yet I know of only one plaster sub around these parts, and that's only because he lives about a mile down the road. I haven't seen a new house plastered around here in just about never. Even regional practices are divided into subregional practices.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
well, where is around here ?
my current sub works out of fall riverMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Get yourself a shopvac and go to Home Depot (I'm sure you can get these elsewhere) and get a shop vac bag made for fine dust particles. It makes VERY quick work of sucking up that drywall dust and the bag works GREAT.
thanks hurnikMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
New London County. The yellow pages list 2 plastering contractors in this neck of the woods, 1 in Cranston. And one of the 2 is the guy down the street. Maybe it's marketing, but everything new/remodel here is drywall. Not everything, I guess, or else those two wouldn't be around. It's just amazing that you do nothing but plaster, and 60 miles away, it's rarely done. I wouldn't think, being so close, there would be such a disparity in building techniques, and would be curious to know the reason why; whether it is material related, lack of skills, or inadequate marketing. Maybe all/some of the above, or something else. Not that I'm gonna lose any sleep over it.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
how does all that frapus fromide affect your productivity? I hate drywall dust. A sheetrock contractor once told me that he could "sand" between coats with a coarse sponge to avoid dust. I haven't seen it done, 'though. I once sheetrocked around a house full of new retrofit windows, narrow band of new drywall, cornerbead returns and sills around all of them. The homeowners were gone during the work. The house was a cluttered mess. I had asked them "What about the dust this is going to make? Its going to be REALLY MESSSY". They said Don't worry, we'll clean up the dust later. I mean I asked and warned them every way I could, they said Just do the work and leave the cleanup to us. I spiked with hotmud and sanded between coats. They almost killed me when they got home. They said my work was beautiful, cursed the dust and me and the horse I rode in on, paid me quick and told me never to come back.
Edited 1/8/2005 5:20 pm ET by Huck
Leaf blower,
got that idea from Carl Spackler in Caddy Shack (Bill Murray's character)! It works great as long as you can remember to blow it out the windows on the downwind side of the house that day.Norm
Mop it.
Use 3 buckets to rinse the mop. Rinse in #1, then #2, and then #3. When #1 is really murky, dump it and add fresh water, and then it becomes number #3.
It saves trips to the faucet. Works great for grout work too.