Painting Basement Floor To Contain Dust

[Stuxnet]

So we had our basement finished. The drywall guys did nothing to contain the mess created when cutting drywall, and as a result, we ended up with 3" of drywall dust all over our damn house. I'm now trying to determine how best to clean up the mess.

But for the purpose of this post, I'm dealing specifically with the basement as it's going to be carpeted tomorrow. Even after a LOT of sweeping, there's still a lot of fine dust that cannot be swept up (if you've seen the aftermath of drywalling, you understand that drywall dust is about the finest particle matter this side of liquid).

I happen to have a lot of extra white paint with a very durable finish and was thinking of just painting the floor tonight. It wouldn't be hard and wouldn't take very long to do. The idea is that it will trap the dust and it won't be kicked up when the carpet is being installed and, as a result, will have effectively been "cleaned up".

I'm also going to install vent filters throughout the house to help prevent the spread of any more dust, but I don't know how well that plan is going to work. We'll see, I guess.

So, am I overlooking anything obvious? Any pitfalls to my plan?

 

[Heisenberg]

Umm...why not just shopvac and mop the floor?

 

[FoBoT]

does the carpet get glued to the floor? would the paint interfere with the glue?

mop it up

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Umm...why not just shopvac and mop the floor?

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Umm...why not just shopvac and mop the floor?

I don't have a shopvac or a mop . The paint I have is free.

 

[nakedfrog]

Shopvacs can be had quite cheaply and are handy to have around.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: jbourne77

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Umm...why not just shopvac and mop the floor?

I don't have a shopvac or a mop . The paint I have is free.

Well lucky for you we have these wonderous places where you can trade little wallet sized pictures of dead presidents for goods and services.

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: jbourne77

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Umm...why not just shopvac and mop the floor?

I don't have a shopvac or a mop . The paint I have is free.

Well lucky for you we have these wonderous places where you can trade little wallet sized pictures of dead presidents for goods and services.

On a tight budget right now... just spent $7k finishing the basement.

 

[Injury]

soo... what's the difference in how it's covered if it's going to end up beneth the carpet either way?

No point in it, really.

Maybe a neighbor has a shopvac you could borrow.

 

[SoulAssassin]

A shopvac might be unnecessary if you already got most of it up but I would definitely second mopping it.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: jbourne77

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: jbourne77

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Umm...why not just shopvac and mop the floor?

I don't have a shopvac or a mop . The paint I have is free.

Well lucky for you we have these wonderous places where you can trade little wallet sized pictures of dead presidents for goods and services.

On a tight budget right now... just spent $7k finishing the basement.

Well if you've already swept just mop it really good. And if you can't afford the $3 for a mop, then I don't know what to tell you.

 

[iRONic]

Really. $3 for a mop at WalMart.

Mop. Rinse. Repeat.

It ain't rocket scientology...

 

[Colt45]

mop it

 

[waggy]

go buy a shopvac at walmart you can get them for around $30. every home should have one.

hell i have (a big one) in the garage and a smaller one in the basement.

 

[FoBoT]

get any bucket type of thing that will hold water

get a rag or old tshirt

mop the floor real quick

put a box fan to blow it dry overnight

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: Injury
No point in it, really.

Big point in it, actually: when they lay the carpet, they'll kick up whatever dust has settled and it will go into circulation again (it takes hours for drywall dust to completely settle out of the air).

I'll mop it up. My father in law has a shopvac now that I think about it. Won't do much good in this case, but there are other areas that could use it.

 

[Canai]

I'd think if you just painted on top of the drywall dust it would interfere with the paint sticking to the floor... Just make sure that if you do end up doing some sweeping or mopping that kicks up a lot of dust, get a dust filter or respirator so you don't kill your lungs.

 

[iRONic]

Originally posted by: jbourne77

Originally posted by: Injury
No point in it, really.

Big point in it, actually: when they lay the carpet, they'll kick up whatever dust has settled and it will go into circulation again (it takes hours for drywall dust to completely settle out of the air).

I'll mop it up. My father in law has a shopvac now that I think about it. Won't do much good in this case, but there are other areas that could use it.

Now you're talkin'...