Trying To Keep The HO House Neat During Construction

ultimatetouch

How much preparation do you guys do prior to remodeling a bath or whatever to prevent the rest of the house from getting messy.

We demolished a bath recently and we used the zipper up doorway and a fan in the bath to exaust the dust out of the window. But there are times during demolishing the bath that the plastic has to be open.
I try to be concious of keeping things neet but lets face it when your gutting a bath in the middle of someones house you have to expect some additional dust in the house. The ho said to me today that the harwood stairs seem to be getting a little worn, so I told her that I have a great harwood floor guy and she could have his #. I dont think she liked that. I told her we were doing everything we could and I didnt want drop cloths on the stairs while we were bringing drywall up them because it would be a tripping hazard. Keep in mind guys this is an average home and there is not enough profit to be maticulouslly taping off her stairs every day like her house is the tash ma hall.

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Ultimatetouch
Illinois Remodeling Company, Kitchen Remodeling Chicago, Room Additions Illinois

mdshunk

How long does it take you to demo a bath? Kraft paper the stairs for the day that it normally takes for a bath demo, and you're problem is solved. Maybe there's some missing information.

Mike Finley

I'll give you a secret from one bathroom guy to another.

Find a source for rubberized painting drops (actually runners) I have 10 of them on the site with us in the trailer. They are 3'x15' each and we lay them every morning from the outside door to the bathroom door and we take them up at quitting time.

I've tried every other trick and type of materials in the book and these are the best, the rubberized versions of them don't slip very much and they are water proof. The cost about $15.00 apiece but well worth it.

Keep it on the down low.

Danahy

I have a load of these vinyl tarps as well, great on stairs, hardwood, ceramic or other slippery areas. Use cloth for carpet only. If I'm ever doing anything that required power sanding / cutting / chopping etc.. I hang plastic over all near by door ways, and just roll em up (using tiny piece of tape on the top of frame) when I need them up.

I've always thought that it would be a good idea for a company like 'swan dust control' or others that deal with commercial rugs and mats, to come in, lay out there rugs (that have a nice waterproof rubber grip), and then come pick em up when the jobs done. Never seen it though...

Teetorbilt

We'll cover floors and stair treads as much as possible with luan and blue tape. Side stairwells with cardboard, single ply. Use this a lot too http://www.polytak.com/index.shtml

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

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ultimatetouch

teeterbilt you do bathrooms to, I thought you did roofing.

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Ultimatetouch
Illinois Remodeling Company, Kitchen Remodeling Chicago, Room Additions Illinois

ultimatetouch

Of course its only a day to gut the bathroom. We do the kraft paper and tape, but thats just for looks really. It doesnt do much.

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Ultimatetouch
Illinois Remodeling Company, Kitchen Remodeling Chicago, Room Additions Illinois

ultimatetouch

Ill make sure I keep on the DL. What do you do for dust control. I tell the customer right off the bat that this is construction we will be as neat as possible, but there will be some dust.

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Ultimatetouch
Illinois Remodeling Company, Kitchen Remodeling Chicago, Room Additions Illinois

Grumpy

I do not do very much interior work so it's easy for me, however I will explain what we do when replacing windows and skylights and also explain how I kept my house neat while remodeling my kitchen and bathrooms.

When we are replacing windows and skylights we first start by placing runners where ever we need to walk. At no point will out shoes ever come in contact with your floor, or carpet. Plus we will vacuum when we are done. We often leave the house cleaner.

When I did my kitchen I hung clear plastic from the opening. I taped it on all 4 sides and installed one of those tarp zippers. I taped kraft paper to the floor and tried to vacuum at the end of each work day. That worked out really well, except when I decided to prime my walls with killz and left the window shut. Wow I got a buzz that day.

Mike Finley

Dust control consists of a plastic tarp taped over the doorway to the bathroom, and if possible getting a negative pressure in the room, meaning in simple words a fan in the window sucking air into the bathroom instead of letting dust get sucked out into the rest of the house.

ultimatetouch

Mike do you have a manufacturer on those drops? I tried googling rubberized drop cloths and did not have much luck.

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Ultimatetouch
Illinois Remodeling Company, Kitchen Remodeling Chicago, Room Additions Illinois

Mike Finley

Check your local Home Depot, they stock them in the paint dept out here.

theworx

Great idea Mike with the runners (you sure have a lot of them - great ideas)!!! In the past we've rented used mats from Mat Master (they have a stockpile they can't put in circulation anymore) and rent them at a very low price... Have had a few occasions where we had to do some demo and drywall work on top of a ceramic tile floor (ever tried to remove drywall dust from grout lines ). The mats worked great, were cheap to rent (total of about $10.00 a day for a large area), and you don't have to clean them (the mat company does that)...

CheckmateOhio

Had to remod a kitchen and tear up tile floor in a 20 x 40 area (huge house) anyway we had it all taped off, but missed a cold air return.
Boy did that suck. the dust from the tiles actually set off the damn fire alarm. At first I thought No Biggee, this voice yelling "Warning Warning ..Remain Calm...Fire...Leave immediately...Warning " I figure it will stop, then I go out to the truck for a minute and hear that the same message is blasting outside..Oh and here comes a fire truck and a cop. The HO was down in FLA and had to okay the fact that we were there.

Then we had to hear later about how his black felt pool table was getting dusty and that his maid was complaining about it.

And while I am on the subject, guess what he did with all the appliances and cabinets (4 yrs old).....He put them all in a $ 500,000 house he was building, he actually built the house to fit the cabinets. Got sued over it 2 years later when the woman called to have her dishwasher looked at and the repair man told her that the washer was over 5 years old. She said how is that possible it's a new house.
After paying her off, he tried to do it again when his son remodded his kitchen. His son (being part of the company) was smart and destroyed evrything as it came out and blamed it on the demo crew.