Practical Dust Extraction solution?

[limper56]

Hi all. I have recently purchased an old Victorian 2 up 2 down terrace house in the cathedral city of Lincoln in the UK. I am planning to renovate it as it has not undergone any improvements for well over 30 years. This will involve knocking the plaster back to the brick and removing the the lathe and plaster ceilings which have also been artexed just for good measure. I have checked in the loft/attic and found that the 100+ year old hay insulation (I kid you not!) is still in place. So all in all, this is going to be a messy job and dust extraction will obviously be essential. I've been looking at various second hand dust extractors for sale online (I'm not really in the market for a brand new one) but I'm not sure if a consumer level product will be up to the job. Despite being intended primarily for the woodwork industry, would a Clear Vue Cyclone be suitable for this task? And if so would it be practical to hire one and install it temporarily? Please excuse my ignorance of the subject matter. Any advice will greatly appreciated.

 

[bababrown]

Limper56,
Have you considered burning it to the ground! Oh my, you have your work cut out for a while.
More seriously, the CV1800 moves a high volume of air (maybe 800 to 1000CFM) at a low pressure (a few inches of water column). I doubt it would do much in picking up plaster and plaster dust. A shop vacuum on the other hand will pull more like 150 CFM at 48" to 100" of water column. It will pick up fine plaster and sheet rock dust. But the dust will clog the shop vacuum filters very rapidly. I think the clear vue mini-cyclone combined with a shop vacuum (and more) would be a better (and cheaper) alternative. I first replaced the filter in my shop vacuum with a HEPA filter to capture the really fine dust for my protection. I had my wife sew up an overbag with an elastic top (from a well worn tee shirt) that I place over the filter to extend its life. The combination works well though with plaster dust the outer bag will need to be cleaned quite often. And I do not spend much money on filter replacements.
The other thing I would recommend is to get and use a high quality mask, maybe even a powered respirator, for your protection. Good luck with the renovation.
bababrown

 

[limper56]

Limper56,
Have you considered burning it to the ground! Oh my, you have your work cut out for a while.
More seriously, the CV1800 moves a high volume of air (maybe 800 to 1000CFM) at a low pressure (a few inches of water column). I doubt it would do much in picking up plaster and plaster dust. A shop vacuum on the other hand will pull more like 150 CFM at 48" to 100" of water column. It will pick up fine plaster and sheet rock dust. But the dust will clog the shop vacuum filters very rapidly. I think the clear vue mini-cyclone combined with a shop vacuum (and more) would be a better (and cheaper) alternative. I first replaced the filter in my shop vacuum with a HEPA filter to capture the really fine dust for my protection. I had my wife sew up an overbag with an elastic top (from a well worn tee shirt) that I place over the filter to extend its life. The combination works well though with plaster dust the outer bag will need to be cleaned quite often. And I do not spend much money on filter replacements.
The other thing I would recommend is to get and use a high quality mask, maybe even a powered respirator, for your protection. Good luck with the renovation.
bababrown

Thanks for the advice bababrown. Especially that on the respirator. A match and petrol may still be an option though ha ha!