Dust control failure at the Ritchie Market reno, learned the hard way

Last month I was sanding drywall mud in a 1970s bungalow near Ritchie Market and thought a couple of box fans and a wet rag would handle the dust. By day two, the homeowner's neighbor came over complaining about a fine white film on their truck and porch, which was embarrassing since I didn't even have a proper dust extractor hooked up. I ended up spending $180 on a rental HEPA vac and plastic sheeting to seal off the hallway, plus an extra day of cleanup I hadn't planned for. Has anyone else had a close call like this with dust drifting into a neighbor's yard, and what do you use to keep it contained during interior sanding?

2 comments

2 Comments

hall.charles1d ago

$180 and an extra day just for the neighbor’s truck? That’s brutal, man.

fiona7371d ago

Brutal" is one way to put it, but honestly @hall.charles I think we're looking at this the wrong way... paying extra to keep a neighbor happy and save a whole day of hassle? That's cheap insurance if you ask me. I've seen way bigger fights start over way smaller money than that, and a day of your time has to be worth more than $180 anyway. Plus, think about it this way, you're basically buying a good relationship with someone you have to see every single morning. That's not a waste, that's a smart move.