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Cleaning dried mud compound sanded "powder"?
There is dried mud compound sanded "powder" all over my white tiled living room floor from a sloppy repair drywall project. The maintenance people left this. All they did after installed new drywall - include sanding the new mud -- is sweep the old stuff up. My vacuum cleaner will not get it all off. Can I mop this up or will it cake up? How do I completely get rid of the very fine powder all over my living room? Is there some sort of cleaner that makes this process easier? Are drywall installers expected to vacuum up after themselves?
5 Answers
- Anonymous2 years agoFavorite Answer
They are expected to lay "Tarps" down to minimize such clean ups.
What they do should be in the Contract for the Job.
I used a "Swifter" type wet mop. After dry sweeping.
* A vacuum without a HEPA filter just spreads it around.
- Common SenseLv 72 years ago
My sheetrock guys taped down paper to the floor and after the job was done, they rolled up the paper and off went the mess, leaving a minimal amount of dust that vacuumed right up.
You may need to use the brush attachment (without the rotary, because that will kick up the dust) or the wand with a brush attachment to loosen the dust in order to vacuum it up.
Next time you have work done on your home, insist that the doorways are taped off with plastic sheeting and the floor is protected.
- 18 gibbs 20Lv 72 years ago
A small shop vac would have the power to clean up. 20 bucks or so at Wal-Mart or home depot. Thats a terrible job on their part. They should have made efforts to contain the dust and then cleaned up thoroughly afterwards.
- ?Lv 72 years ago
Sweep up all that you can. Get an old towel and a bucket of water and get on your hands and knees and butt and wipe up the residue. Clean everything. Rinse out the towel. If they come back to apply a second coat, cover your stuff to keep some of it off. Or wait a few days and see what they decide to do so you only have to clean once. This problem can happen several times.
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- Pat F85Lv 62 years ago
The "mud" most drywallers use is pre-mixed and comes in a nearly square box or pail. This type is water soluble, even after its dried and/or sanded into a powder. Wet moping this up is OK only if all the surface is smooth. If the surface is not smooth, like grout lines or seams on laminate or hardwood floors, the now reconstituted mud slurry will get embedded in the rough or open areas and it will be almost impossible to get out all the way.
Vacuum everything using a special filter that captures drywall dust. Most wet-dry shop vac's have filters like that available, or use a HEPA filter for your household vac.
The drywallers absolutely should have cleaned up ALL their mess.
To add; Good drywallers/tapers do very little sanding, even after the final coat.
