Last Updated on October 10, 2021
Want to start remodeling your house but afraid of all the mess and dust? Don’t worry! This article has a solution for you.
Now, whenever we want to remodel or reconstruct a part of our house, the one obvious thing we have to do is repaint it.
And for repainting, we need sand those walls to remove any dumps or sharp edges. The problem with this is that sanding means a lot of dust, especially if it’s drywall.
This article takes care of that problem for you and tells you exactly how to reduce dust when sanding drywall. Let’s dive in.
What Is Drywall?
Drywall is one of the most used construction materials that is used for finishing the interior walls of a house and is also known as sheetrock. It is so widely used because it is affordable, sturdy, and easy to install and repair.
This is why anybody with minimal knowledge of home décor and remodeling loves to work with drywalls as their DIY projects.
Sanding drywall is one of the most important tasks one can do before painting the interior walls of a house because without sanding the drywall, you will be able to notice every tinkle, dent, wrinkles, edges, or dumps in the joint compound. They become more prominent when you paint the wall without sanding.
If you think that you will just use wallpaper to cover all of those mistakes up, then sad news for you, my friend, wallpapers won’t stick on the uneven drywall properly. So there is no other way for you but to go through the dusty process.
How to Reduce Dust When Sanding Drywall
To tell you exactly how you can reduce dust while sanding drywall, this answer will depend on how you are sanding. What tools you are using, which sandpaper you are using, what the environment is around the drywall, etc.
However, here is a compilation of the tips and advice professionals have passed down, and they will surely help you no matter what your setup is. The tips are described in the following:
Create a Barrier to Confine the Dust
This tip is one of the most essential and simple tips that people tend to just ignore, and it results in disaster. Let me warn you, though, that this tip will not block out all the dust completely, but it is a good start for managing the dust and restricting it into an area.
You will need rolls of plastic sheets for this top. What you have to do is tape the plastic on the walls, ceilings, floors, or any other area that will create a barrier between the drywall you are sanding and the rest of the room, trying to conceal the dust into a small space.
And this is extremely useful because most of your dust is in one small space, so it is easier for you to vacuum. You must be cautious, though, and make sure there are no accidental holes or leaks within the barrier. Otherwise, the entire effort would be a waste.
Use Negative Pressure
Negative pressure is when you create an air vent to make a space vacuum. You can use the same technique to clear out the dust while sanding your drywall. First of all, you need to make a barrier like described in point number one.
Then make a hole in the barrier and set up a box fan with an airflow system out of the room. This will create a vacuum and suck all the dust out of the area into the airflow system and out of the room.
Use Low Dust Drywall Joint Compound
Low dust drywall joint compounds tend to be heavier than normal joint compounds. So when you sand with those, the dust is forced to fall on the ground due to its heavyweight.
Gravity does the clean for us and pulls the heavier dust to the ground. With normal joint compounds, the dust is lighter, so they just float in the air making a cloud effect. Using a low dust drywall joint compound is also healthy because the chances that the dust will be entering your body are lesser, as well as it is pulled towards the earth.
Get a Drywall Sanding Vacuum
This is the easiest way and most practical way to minimize the amount of dust. All you have to do is buy a hose that acts like a vacuum cleaner, which you can attach to your sander.
The hose will suck in all the dust produced while sanding instantly. In theory, it is supposed to be flawless. However, in reality, the wrong choice of the hose is accused of limiting the power of the sander. So it’s crucial you buy the appropriate hose for your sander.
Conclusion
As you can see, folks, sanding drywall is not as easy as it sounds, and the mess afterward is far worse than the actual job. However, if you follow these simple steps, you are guaranteed to limit the mess, and it will be easier to clean up after yourself after home remodeling.
So, let us know your opinion about our “how to reduce dust when sanding drywall” guide.