Wood floor refinishing is a great way to revitalize your hardwood floors, but it has the downside of generating a substantial amount of wood dust. In order to refinish the floor, a small layer of wood needs to be sanded off from the top of the floor. All of this wood ends up as dust carried throughout the air in your home. If you don't take measures to control the dust, you'll likely have to dust and vacuum your entire home after sanding your floor. In order to cut down on the amount of cleanup, you'll have to do after sanding. Read on to learn how to best control dust while refinishing your hardwood floor.
Wear Protective Equipment While Sanding and Vacuuming
The fine wood particles that are generated during sanding are hazardous to your health, so you need to protect yourself from them. Wear a respirator while you're refinishing your hardwood floor, as this will prevent you from inhaling them. You should also wear safety goggles and earplugs to keep them out of your eyes and your ears. The tiniest wood particles are the ones that are the most easily inhaled, and you can't see them suspended in the air. Make sure that you're wearing your protective equipment throughout the entire wood floor refinishing process to keep yourself safe.
Turn Off Your Air Conditioning or Heating
In order to avoid pushing the tiny wood particles around your home, you'll need to keep your central air system turned off while refinishing your floor. If you don't turn it off, the wood dust will be carried throughout your air ducts and become deposited around your entire home. Leave your central air system off until all of the dust has been vacuumed up.
Tape Plastic Tarps Over the Room's Entrances
Duct tape and plastic tarps are inexpensive, and they're an easy way to prevent wood dust from infiltrating into adjacent rooms. Tape a plastic tarp over all of the doors that lead to the room in order to create a tight seal. Trapping all of the dust in a single room makes vacuuming much easier.
Vacuum the Entire Room Thoroughly
Rent a powerful wet/dry vacuum with a HEPA filter to vacuum the entire room after you've finished sanding it. Dust will make its way into all of the crevices inside the room, such as around your window frames. A wet/dry vacuum makes it easy to remove dust from tight spaces, and a HEPA filter will trap the wood dust and prevent it from being released into the air inside the room.
You'll need to vacuum the entire room twice in order to remove all of the dust. It takes about a day for the wood dust suspended in the air to settle on the surfaces in the room. If wood dust adheres to the walls or your window frames, you can brush it off using a microfiber cloth.
By following the steps above, you'll minimize the amount of wood dust that spreads throughout your home. If you want an even greater level of dust control, hire a wood floor refinishing company that offers a dustless sanding service. Dustless sanders have vacuums attached that remove dust as it's being produced, which prevents the vast majority of wood dust from being released into the air. Dustless sanders are expensive, so not every wood floor refinishing company offers this service. However, it's the best way to cut down on the amount of dust generated during sanding.
To learn more about wood floor refinishing, contact a local flooring contractor.
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