TimH Posted October 20, 2011 Report Share Posted October 20, 2011 Marc, I've gotten rapid email responses from you before, thank you so I'm not sure if this is the new and proper place to ask you a question. If not please let me know how to contact you with this type if question in the future. I am slowly assembling a woodworking area in my garage and dust collection will be an important aspect of this plan. I am also about to start doing some drywall texturing and installation of hardwood floors in my house both of which are notorious dust producers. I was thinking that an air filtration system would sever me for these projects (moving it from room to room) and then ultimately it could be used in my woodworking area. I also plan to simultaneously use some sort of box fan fitted to a window opening to exhaust the air and dust while it is bing created and then run the filter for several hours after the work is done for the day. My questions are: a) do these air filtration systmes work for sawdust in a typical home workshop? do you think they would work equally well for drywall dust and sanding floors and c) what do you think of my overal strategy for controlling dust in my remodel project? Thanks. TimH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 Hey Tim. This is my preferred method for general questions these days. That way my answer is public and you get the benefit of other knowledgeable woodworkers chiming in. Plus, other folks can benefit from the information in the future. So to answer your question, I think its a great idea. And for the house projects, I would recommend getting some plastic sheet material and isolating the rooms where the dust will be generated. Its much easier to deal with if the dust physically can't get into the rest of the house. Once you do that, I'd recommend cross ventilation. A window fan on one side of the room and a open window on the other. If you can, put another fan in that window too with the direction blowing air IN, instead of out. That should give you fairly effective dust removal during your projects. At the end of the day, using an air filter for a few hours will help too. And yes, the ones you can buy for your shop will also work for this type of situation. Keep in mind that drywall dust is pretty nasty stuff and you might be replacing your filters a little more often. You might also consider something like this: http://www.filterafan.com/Welcome.html I am not sure if it will be as effective as a standard air scrubber, but you can't beat the price. Hope that helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jfitz Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 All very good advice. We had some hardwood done in part of our upstairs, so I made temporary walls to block off the other bedrooms. The temp walls were made with a 2x4 along the ceiling and one along the floor, and joists just pressure fit between them. Black plastic stapled to the wall made for an effective barrier. They also sell "drywall zippers" that you can stick to the plastic, and then slice open along the zipper - allows a way in and out with a way to zip it up behind you. Cross ventilation works well - set the fan to blow out the window where work is being done, and just crack windows on the other side of the house. If you do any sort of vacuuming with a shopvac, make sure you upgrade your filter.....especially for drywall dust. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 If the outside temp is OK, then cross ventilation works better than a filter. I'd only use a filter if you can't or don't want to open windows. You can use a regular box fan and bungee cord a furnace filter to it. I've also seen sticky sheets used as floor mats just outside the work area, to cut down on dust tracked into the rest of the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 If you do any sort of vacuuming with a shopvac, make sure you upgrade your filter.....especially for drywall dust. I highly highly highly recommend the shop vac filter bags in addition to a good hepa filter. Otherwise your filter will clog almost immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephens_Shop Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Drywall dust in my experience clogs things very quickly and tends to find its way everywhere. I agree on adding or ensuring any vac or filter system is set up specifically for the drywall. I really liked Marc's suggestion of using 2 windows ans 2 fans, one blowing inand one blowing out. This combined with plastic to wall off the work room from the rest of the home. I would add one extra detail. Make sure your egress fan is running at least st 1 speed faster than your intake fan. Creating a negative pressure in the room compared to the restof your home. That way no smells ordust can find it's way into your living space. I always keep my shop in a negative pressure situation and I NEVER have any dust or odor in my house with is directly attached to my shop. Stephen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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