I’ll be honest, working with hardwood flooring is a dusty affair. Even when the guys remove old carpet much dust is released into the air. As you can imagine, sanding a hardwood floor creates a ton of dust. None of this is an excuse to leave a house a dusty mess! In fact, shame on us if we ever leave a job-site full of dust. That’s because there are many ways to prevent the dust from getting all over the place. Dust is a major concern for homeowners looking to have hardwood flooring work done in the home. Here is how we handle it…
When looking to control the dust travel on a hardwood flooring job, plastic is greatest tool. Plastic sheeting is placed at the doorways to other rooms where hardwood flooring work is not being done. This prevents the dust from traveling all over the house. We also place plastic over the kitchen cabinets so it doesn’t penetrate and make a mess inside. Wall-mounted TVs and other electronics are also covered in plastic so they don’t get damaged. In fact, anything that can’t be moved out of the room gets covered with a protective plastic. Wood dust is very fine and can get into anything so these preventative measures are of utmost importance!
The machines that we use to sand hardwood floors are equipped with a contraption that captures most of the dust travel. Once the sanding or installing is done, the guys go around with a backpack vacuum cleaner and hit every nook and cranny of the work area. We also wipe down window sills and such to get rid of all the residual dust. If weather allows, the guys do their cuts outside or in the garage which is a huge help.