What a GAWD-AWFUL mess..

[SoCalDem]

We are in the throes of a whole-house tile-removal epic, and the DUST is something else..

Yesterday we had the hall, the family room, the kitchen and the dining room floor-tiles removed & the ceilings scraped (good riddance popcorn), and I have swepts 7 mopped & mopped and mopped again, and still I have dust everywhere :(

I know the effort will be worth it in the long run.. but sheeez louise, what a mess..

a few pics of the utter destruction:)









Hubby taking a break

[Jamastiene]

1. I have 2 words for you.

HEPA filter. Well, technically, that's 5 words if you count each part of what HEPA stands for:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEPA

I never had allergies until recently. The trees in my area dump pollen an inch thick several times a year, and I mean LITERALLY an inch thick. It gets in the car, the house, everywhere.

My mother harped for several years on how HEPA filters in vacuum cleaners were so great. I never believed her.

Then, she got a newer, better vacuum cleaner and I got the old one. It uses HEPA filters. It still had a fairly new on in it.

I got it just in the nick of time for pollen season. :wow: It sucked all that stuff up and I quit sneezing so bad. I still had a sinus headache for a day or two, but it did cut down on the dust.

Maybe that'll help.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Word to the wise for anyone else planning a project such as this

Rent a PODS container, park it outside your home, put all the furnishings in it from the room being redone. A little extra cost, but you will be so happy your stuff didn't have to go through being shifted and exposed to the dust of a remodel. And, another plus is having plenty of room to get the work done ;)

[Robb]

4. That's a really, really good idea

...for a lot of projects. Usually I do one room at a time, and destroy life as we know it in every other room with the first room's stuff. :rofl:

[randr]

3. Caution is in order

Some old flooring tiles may have asbestos. Ventilation and face masks are necessary.
I just saw your post and my advice is a little late by the look of your pictures. I hope all came out well and you were able to remove most of the dust without breathing too much.

[The empressof all]

5. Most pop corn ceilings are full of asbestos too

Those before 1980 are just full of it. I had mine tested and it was like 8% asbestos. It's not a problem as long as you don't puncture it but if you are gonna remove it get an expert IMO. The problem is that it's really really expensive.

[Adsos Letter]

6. Organizing each room's stuff into as tight a configuration as possible

and covering with plastic, taped around the bottom, will do wonders. Try to plan so that you have to uncover and move/re-cover said configurations as little as possible. Also: judging from the pictures, your passageway openings are uncovered; tape plastic tightly over those (solid tape around the perimeter of the doorway plastic to the wall. It can be easily pulled aside for going in and out, but helps keep the dust confined to the actual workspace.

Same with those drapes: drape 'em with lightweight plastic, and tape plastic tightly to the wall above and down the sides.

Just my 2 cents from what I see; I was a painter for 30+ years, and controlling dust in homes (from various types of prep, including the ever-pervasive drywall sanding dust, spray, etc.) was a necessity.