Knocking down a wall/advice re dust

Drew210385

Just wondered from anyone that's had an internal wall removed how bad it really is? We're having a supporting wall removed between the kitchen and dining room later this week and a steel put in.

My sister who had an external wall removed to put in bi-fold doors said it was awful and she was finding dust for months and said we should tape up every single door and cupboard in the house, or is going a bit OTT?

Also is there a particular type of vacuum we should use to clean up the dust afterwards, the builders will do the best they can I'm sure but I want to go around after and don't want to ruin my one.

victor2

We had the same done and yes, dust does go everywhere!
We taped up all doorways & openings with polythene sheets before the demolition started and it certainly helped. Also covered everything that couldn't easily be taken out of the kitchen in old sheets. Used "heavy duty" polythene sheets from B&Q and masking tape - they are very thin sheets, don't even consider their lighter stuff.
Our builders did clean up with their own vacuum as much as they could, and we just vacuumed the rest of the house afterwards. Just a regular vacuum cleaner and apart from cleaning it out thoroughly afterwards, it was fine.

bmthmark

I did similar work. My advice is put old sheets over everything and if possible put dust sheets up. No matter what you put up dust will get through.
Afterwards I used a Henry hoover and it seemed to do the trick. Normal hoovers are likely to break (I broke the wifes new dyson hoover prior to getting a Henry)

Drew210385

OK thanks for the replies. The Dyson is about 10 years old so will see how I go, if it doesn't last it's probably about time for a new one anyway!

BJV

We moved last year and before we moved we had a massive extension built on our old house. ( no it was worth it we got a very very good price on the house even after the cost of the work ). In short the back of the house was taken off, extended ( alot ) and by folding door put in.

We tried really hard and ok I am a bit OCD about cleaning, but there will be dust there is nothing you can do about it.

It will get everywhere and it will take months for it to settle.

The only thing I would suggest it move what ever you can out and accept the fact that no matter what you do there will be dust. I know for us the difference it made in having the work meant that we very quickly forgot about the dust and instead enjoyed the new family open plan room.

It was bad like a world war two bomb had gone off but it can not be that bad as we are saving to have the same thing done in our new house. ha ha .

P.s enjoy your new dinning room .

ouraggie

We had a wall removed and I would definitely agree that sealing off as many other rooms as you can will pay off. There will be unbelievable amounts of dust for a couple of months afterwards. I removed all curtains, rugs, lampshades, cushions etc in the vicinity before they started. Also, I hid our hoover from the builders so they had to use theirs.
You can get rid of the dust a bit quicker , once it has been created, by opening any doors and windows to outside. This will either allow dusty air to go out, and/or clean air to come in. Other than that you can only go round surfaces with a damp cloth every day and do battle with it bit by bit as it settles.

Ozzuk

I did this last week - it does somewhat depend on your house construction but yes, there will be a lot of dust and it gets everywhere!

Also don't underestimate just how much rubble it creates which can be expensive to dispose of. I have someone coming round today to collect all mine, I'm expecting £120 but I'll report back. I could take it to the tip myself but having done all the work myself so far I didn't fancy it!

I did think about advertising it on a freecylce type site but again, didn't want the hassle.

Just to add, it *shouldn't* break a dyson, but you'll almost certainly need to strip it down and clean afterward - can be pretty easy to do on the modern ones (washable filters).

freezspirit

Depending what the internal wall is made from, if just wooden studs and plasterboard and as long as have covered and taped up area should be fine.

If brick/blocks I would just go to screwfix or similar and buy a cheap diy vacuum e.g http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb350vac-1300w-16ltr-wet-dry-vacuum-cleaner-240v/36516


another example of a dust barrier https://www.aldi.co.uk/door-dust-guard/p/071412045930900

dirty_magic

It's messy but we didn't tape anything up, we just cleaned after. We don't have carpets though so if you do you should probably cover them.

Don't use an ordinary hoover, I blew ours up! You can hire industrial ones.

rosie383

I second using a Henry.
I moved whatever I could but just be prepared for dust everywhere for ages. I cleaned up the worst of it but didn't bother with any 'fine' dusting until the bulk of the work was done.
And as someone else suggested, damp dust. Dry dusting will just move the dust around.

Kiran

Try something like this during the works


https://www.hss.com/hire/p/fume-extractor-110v Duct it outside and seal up as best as possible, you still have to clean up afterwards but these units are available to clear 3000m2 per hour so airborne dust should be pulled out fairly efficiently.