Plaster Allergy, Alternatives please

[Hl.house]

dear all, thank you for your help with my plasterboard thread. Over last few days a family member has developed serious respiratory allergy to plasterboard and sanding dust. I wanted to know if there are any other alternatives?
The said person copes well with wood and ply. If a fire rated wood/ply exists then I would want to finish their bedroom with it. Currently it is bare brick.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

What about matt white pvc wall cladding?

 

[^woody^]

Dont sand the plasterboard then.

 

[tomfe]

I can't remember the last time I sanded plasterboard... I find it comes smooth enough.

Get a plasterer in and go out for the day.

 

[Hl.house]

Thank you for your replies. In one of rooms they sanded after skimming.
What is PVC cladding? Doe sit meet thermal insulation, fire rating requirements? There is one long external facing wall in this room.

 

[Nige F]

Thank you for your replies. In one of rooms they sanded after skimming.
.

Then you need another plasterer.

 

[cjard]

And my that he means a different plasterer, not an additional one as competent as the frst

Other wallboards exist and they may be more or less irritating - fermacell, no more ply, even the likes of aquapanel or marmox boards may do.. Or render/tile the brick?

 

[cjard]

So wanted to post this up:

Plaster allergy

 

[JohnD]

once you have repeated hoovered up the dust, and wet-mopped or damp-wiped all the surfaces, you will clear the dust. Plastered walls, once the dust is cleaned up, are not a problem, especially once they are painted or papered.

A hoover with a bag is best, preferably the modern silver or white fleece bags, and a HEPA filter, once you have got the rooms reasonably clean. But to get up the large amounts of builders dust, use a canister vac which is sturdier and will not be damaged by the dust.

this one is good value. Buy a spare filter and some bags.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb430vac-1400w-30ltr-wet-dry-vacuum-cleaner-240v/70472

I suffer too.

Buy the sufferer a box of disposable nuisance dust masks. The sort with a plastic valve in the snout. At the very least they will have to shower, wash their hair, and put on clean clothes, and the bedding and bedroom must be cleared of dust. Take off shoes and slippers outside their room.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/draeger-cup-valved-dust-masks-p1-10-pack/26374

If badly affected, they should stay away until cleaning is done. Consult your doctor.

I think it is not an allergy, but sensitivity to the drying and alkaline dust.

 

[cjard]

Gotta say, I always found these masks give a better seal than the cupped ones:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/3m-aura-9322-aura-9322-disposable-valved-dust-mist-respirator-ffp2/64940

But then again, if youre thinking to put £17 at a back of disposables, I'd recommend getting one of these instead:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/3m-4251-maintenance-free-organic-vapour-particulate-respirator-p2/13038

definitely a much better seal. If you have a beard, you want to keep, might have to fill it up with Vaseline...

Oh, and that vacuum is wet aswell as dry. could do worse than wet everything down before hovering it up. It'll massively reduce the dust and mean the hoover filter stays clean longer

 

[JohnD]

once you have wetted the surface, the plaster sticks to it, and hardens in cracks and crevices, so I have found sucking it up dry as much as you can, then wet-mopping, suits me. You can sweep up quite a lot and shovel it into the bin. Wear a mask while sweeping.

Plaster dust clogs filters fairly quickly, so I prefer the disposable masks. I have had masks with a sort of vinyl draughtproofer strip round the edges, I can't make them out in the pics though. Not sure what brand I have now. I think the ones with a net.

When the cartridge filter clogs with plaster dust (it will clog quite quickly) you can shake and knock the cartridge to loosen it, and use a stiff brush between the pleats. Having a spare filter saves time. The big paper bags delay clogging of the cartridge filter

 

[tomfe]

I am really confused, where is this plaster dust coming from?
They should be mixing outside, get them to keep the bags in the van.
Put down a drop cloth to catch, uhmm, drops.
If it's dusty when they plaster something is going wrong, ok maybe a bit when they board out if they need to trim bits off but not when wet plastering.

 

[Hl.house]

Thank you for all the tips. They are mixing inside and have kept all the bags inside, upstairs. Should I insist on doing the mixing outside? Is it a normal practice. They had to sand down because some electrics were done later so there was filling and blending.

 

[JohnD]

mixing and spreading has to be done very fast. I think you are just going to have to clean up each room as it is done.

The floors will have to be cleaned repeatedly as the dust will get walked around, and any drips and splashes will turn to dust each time they are walked on.

Is the house inhabited, and full of carpets and furniture? Protect TVs, computers and other electronics from the dust, which can ruin them.

How many days is this plastering taking?

 

[lostinthelight]

I have one of these, scewfix sell them as well. http://www.protecdirect.co.uk/Perso...ign=Shopping&gclid=CIjp0O6estACFRdmGwodYbUOZg
The front cover grid comes off and I fit a double thickness of bog paper between it and the filters to act as a prefilter .
I have been in rooms which have so dusty it was difficult to see and have yet had the need to change the main filters after a year of hard use......I do find the prefilter can block after as liitle as 10 mins though so needs regular changing.
litl