Dust Control & Dust Extraction Drywall Repair

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How much cleaning can I expect from my Drywall Contractor?
Creating a containment area
A Better Solution - Dust Extractors
Using a Dust-Extractor for Stipple Removal projects
Questions to ask your Drywall Contractor Use this Hack before you Hire your Drywaller

How much cleaning can I expect from my Drywall Contractor?

If you're just having a room or small addition done, you can expect your drywaller to properly vaccuum his work area. Dust will remain on the walls. This is normal. Depending on what you're having done, it is likely there will be a mess to clean. While a contractor says he will clean up after himself, it is important to know that he/she is claiming they will clean up the area they're working in. The dust from a construction site is likely to travel well beyond the site the Ottawa Drywaller is working on and spread throughout the home as well as the rest of the property. For the outside, this means your cars. If you're concerned about this, you may want to consider throwing your car covers on or parking your car on the street at the very least.

Creating a Containment Area

For the interior, this means a couple things. You can contain the area as best possible. While this will help, it won't solve the issue completely as particles always seem to get through. To contain the area, you have several options. You may decide to board it up with plywood, or you can use plastic. There's also another solution. Home Depot sells plastic zip-up doorways. You can create a contained area with these rolled up plastic doorways in a box. Simply take them out of the box, unroll them and tape them to the doorway/hallway you wish to block off. Now you have a contained area that you can still access as desired. Know, however, that there are always particles flying around and if you open it up, some particles may come through.

A Better Solution - Dust Extractors

The best solution however, start even before all these measures. This is dust control. Dust control vacuums are ones that connect to the power tools your contractor is using. It automatically turns on when the power tool turns on and sucks the dust from the affected area, immediately, leaving you with 1-5% the dust you might usually encounter. This is a very significant amount if you're doing drywall or stipple work. If you've ever done drywall work, you'll know that the dust that becomes airborne when sanding drywall lifts and creates a cloud of haze in the room that reduces visibility and ability to breathe. This makes for a dirty workplace, a dirty home, and a less than ideal breathing condition for the contractor and anyone in the near vicinity.

In the case of drywall work, there are electric sanders that the dust-control vacuum hooks up to and sucks the drywall dust out, right then and there, before it has the chance to spread. One of the best dust control machines is called the Festool – Dust Extractor, which hooks up to a multitude of their proprietary tools.

The use of a system such as this one not only makes the job much easier for the contractor whether he is doing a bunch of patches or just cracks in walls. It also eliminates a lot frustration for the homeowner. It will eliminate the cleaning needed in the rest of the home as the problem is being tackled at the source.

Using a Dust-Extractor for Stipple Removal projects

If you are having the stipple removed in your home, there are multiple things to consider. First off, it is the law in Ontario that you are to provide your contractor with lab results proving that the area and materials they'll be working on do not contain asbestos. Should you fail to do this you may be putting your contractor at severe risk. While we know you care very much about your contractor, this isn't the only risk. The asbestos containing dust could also spread to the rest of the house, where your children play. If this asbestos containing dust spreads to the rest of the house, a regular cleaning won't cut it. A duct cleaning will have to be scheduled in which, you'll have to let that contractor know that the house has been contaminated with asbestos containing dust and that you need a thorough cleaning.

So, it is highly recommended for first off, get a lab test of the stipple ceiling, and second, ask your contractor what dust control measures he or she plans to implements to prevent the spread of the dust from the ceiling. Whether asbestos containing or not. Many brands carry sanders that you can hook up to a dust control machine which will take care of the majority of the dust. These tool sets are worth thousands of dollars and insure that your family, contractor and home remain dust and contaminant free.

Questions to ask your Stipple Removal Contractor

We recommend adding questions such as "what dust control measures will be taken during the project?" to your list of questions you ask before hiring a contractor.

Dust control equipment is very important to keep your family safe and healthy and prevent frustration and excessive cleaning, which are important for regular environments. There are other environments where this, however, is crucial. An example of this, would be hospitals or labs where it is absolutely inexcusable for there to be unwanted dust particles in the air.

When electricians, plumbers and PatchBoyz enter these types of facilities to make repairs, this type of equipment must be used. This is one place that dust control systems and containment is crucial, and evacuation of the area is usually not an option. Hospitals need every square foot of space they have.

Use this Hack before you Hire your Drywaller

Ask your Contractor these 2 questions to see how serious they are about their profession. (then google their answers).

Question 1: What Manual and Auto-tool compliment do you use?

Question 2: What brand of dust-extractors do you use?

If your contractor shows you their tool compliment consisting of Auto-tools and high end Dust-Extractors such as Festool, you know that your contractor means business. You can tell when someone is serious about their profession by the investment and care put into their tool-sets. This is true whether you're a graphic designer or a drywaller.

There are several trades, such as drywall and mud, that require very little tool investment to perform the job in its basic form, which means that you could be hiring just about anyone to do the work

Should you have a Industrial, commercial or institutional job site that needs drywall or stipple work but requires the right containment and dust control procedures, feel free to contact us to find out what steps we would implement to ensure that your faculty and equipment remain untouched and free from contaminants.

We would love to discuss this project with you.