Excessive dust in property?

jazzy

We moved into a small housing association flat around four years. The reason that we moved was because we are getting elderly and too make things easier for us less cleaning etc, our previous property was coal central heating so we expected a lot less dust due to gas heating instead. The opposite has occurred there is more dust, the dust is a thick fiber type dust and settles everywhere.

My wife and myself are now suffering with respiratory problems which we never suffered with before. I don't know whether it is dust causing our health problems or not. I reported the problem to my housing association who are not interested, I also contacted the council's Environmental Health department who are also not interested I even requested if they could take a sample of the dust to try to find out where the dust is coming from and if it is harmful, they informed me that they do not provide this type of service.

Anyone else had any similar problems with excessive dust or even any suggestions where the dust maybe coming from? or any other advice would be very much appreciated.

shaun_from_Africa

Are you in a top floor flat and if so, is there an attic or other roof space above?
If so, see if there is an access panel or door and if there is, check to make sure that this looks to be well sealed. Most attics and loft spaces are extremely dusty and any draught into there from outside could easily blow dust into your flat.

Another couple of areas to check are all of your ceilings and around skirting boards.
Have a good look around the ceilings at any light fittings or other areas where there may be gaps (such as central heating pipes) and check the skirting boards for gaps.

If you have plinths (boards running along the bottom of the units) in your kitchen, check to make sure that these are well fitted.
There is often an awful lot of dust and other muck under built in units, especially if they were fitted by contractors who were getting paid a fixed sum for installation irrespective of the time the job took.

Another few questions.
You say that you have gas heating. Is it hot water heating to radiators or hot air heating with vents in the walls or ceilings and what type of floor covering do you have?
And finally, what sort of vacuum cleaner do you use and have you made sure that any filters are correctly fitted and are clean and in good condition?

Norman_Castle

Could this be from the carpet?

jazzy

It's a ground floor flat, so no attic. The central heating is a gas combi boiler warming radiators which was installed just before we moved in.

The vacuum cleaner is just an ordinary upright, but I will renew the filter, so thank for mentioning this.

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Could this be from the carpet?

How can I tell? We had new carpets fitted throughout when we moved in.

always_sunny

jazzy wrote: »

The opposite has occurred there is more dust, the dust is a thick fiber type dust and settles everywhere.
....
Anyone else had any similar problems with excessive dust or even any suggestions where the dust maybe coming from? or any other advice would be very much appreciated.

How much dust are you talking about? Can you write your name on furniture dusty every day, or once a week?

If you're on the ground floor, it's always a bit dustier than usual because that's where it'll settle. Are you close to a road or windows open towards it? If you go outside, is it also overly dusty?

If it is causing health problems, do they get better if you vacuum more often?
If it's cause my traffic for example, you might better to have an air purifier running at home; I have a dehumidifier with a built in ioniser and air filter and I can feel the difference when it's running vs when nothing is on...

Jackmydad

Any local industry that could be causing the dust?
Any of the neighbours effected by it?
I'd certainly wonder about the vacuum cleaner being used.