Worth hiring an industrial vacuum? Recommendations?

[Lusi83]

Tidying up mess from a rewire in empty house...plaster dust and bits of rubble from chasing out .....
After struggling with dust blocking vacuum even after a brush up have now resorted to a going over with brush and dustpan ...then using a vacuum attached to a water filled 'dust trap' (I made from an aldi ash vac attachment) , then with my cheapo old vac...
The bare boards have wide spaces - so these are full of dust etc and so the brushing is not working very well (end up with hand held brush), dust trap is getting clogged every few minutes and I have to go along the board gaps with that too and even then my cheapo vac is clogging...
Also loads of similar cr*p under boards (I know it is fussy but I would rather get rid of that too)
Have managed to just about tame downstairs and now have started on upstairs - today has taken me a few hours to do the stairs and makes some progress in one room ...just feel like if I had the proper tool I could get the rest done in a day ...this is dragging on and on ...
Just wondering if I should hire an industrial vac? Will that cope with the fine dust better -or do they struggle too? It is the constant clogging that is driving me insane ...
Any advice?

 

[Burnerman]

Nothing to stop you hiring an industrial dry vac....something like the Numatic NTD 2034.
These cost several hundred pounds, and have suction that you wouldn't believe - you'll do your house in a day without wrecking your own gear.
John

 

[RF Lighting]

If you can afford it, buy a henry. They are around £100 new. I use mine virtually every day for all sorts of dusty jobs, and it just keeps on cleaning and cleaning.

Even if you do clog the filter, you just unclip the lid, shake the filter outside and it's good to go again.

I use hepa filtered bags on mine which contain all the dust, and the filter never gets blocked. Your henry will come with 3 bags to get you started, and replacement bags are availible for 50p each on a well known internet auction site.

 

[Lusi83]

Looking at hiring one that was £80 -so not far off a henry...just wondering if the good hire ones can cope with plaster dust or do they clog up as well?
Would the Henry bags cope with the plaster dust ...my DIY vac is an old domestic one with a cloth bag -(has coped in the past with cleaning out the dust in my attic etc) - but the plaster dust is killing it ...bag is empty but it thinks it full cos the dust has clogged the bag ...every couple of mins I have to go and bang out the bag...thinking even at 50p might become costly to have to throw bag away?
Ash vac attachment came with a hepa filter and it was the same with that ...2 mins hoovering -5 mins knocking the dust out ...making the dust go through the water is working a bit better but after 5 mins can tell the motor on my vax is struggling cos the water is like mud ...
(hate hate hate plaster dust!!!! )
Thought about spraying with water before hoovering -but have a feeling it might just set hard...?

 

[Burnerman]

If you buy a Henry (excellent machine) just buy a load of bags from ebay and change them often.....you'll only need a dozen or so.
Don't dampen anything down......once the dust has gone, by all means mop the floor boards, but not before.
Industrial cleaners do handle dust better than the domestic stuff, but naturally they do clog too. The main advantage is that they can suck up bigger lumps!
John

 

[RF Lighting]

I use mine a lot for plaster, brick and wood dust, and it never bothers old henry.

I get through 2 to 3 bags on an average rewire.

I use these bags:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/x10-Genui..._Bags_Parts&hash=item5d3e6d0854#ht_3087wt_986

You need to buy 30 bags to get them at 50p each, but these are still cheap enough

 

[Lusi83]

Right I'm going for a Henry - seems like a better way of spending my money than handing over £80 and not getting anything back...especially if the hire ones will clog too...and there will be more dust so it will come in handy later...

Maybe even one of the wet & dry ones...Charles ...more useful in the future... (seeing as I will still have a my old DIY one too for mucky jobs...) and only £30 more than the Henry...

(and next time I will insist the electrician cleans up after his self! actually probably won't - seeing it was my brother and he did it at more or less cost -so guess I can't really complain!!)

 

[EightyTwo]

I rewired my house and used my cheap Henry to suck up all the debris including under the floor and sucking the dust directly from the backbox sinker and the angle grinder, when chasing render. That was over ten years ago.

Since then, it's been used to clean sand out of the car, sawdust off the patio, clean the decking before sealing as well as cleaning all our floors every week.

It's had one new head and I bought a new (pattern) hose a month ago. It's never had a bag and it's still going strong. I love it!

 

[Lusi83]

While trying to find the best price for a Henry (or a Charles -wet & Dry) I found that Wickes do a wet & dry - same principle as a Henry for £37 - with people recommending buying the wet & dry filter too for an extra £13.50 -Total £50.50 (B&Q do one too -but for some reason I didn't get a good vibe from that) - and it is guaranteed for a year - and if it was rubbish I thought I could always take it back...doesn't take bags though (but I suspect it would take a henry one).
Wickes wet & dry, 1250w & 20 L capacity - Henry 1200w and 9L capacity - but Henry has a cord rewind and low & high suction function...and I bet I would struggle to get eg a new motor for the wickes one...

I bought the wickes one - the cloth filter it came fitted with with was blowing dust out (might not have been fitted on properly) but the wet & dry filter managed to get 75% of job done yesterday in 3 hours!!!! Emptied twice (cos full) - and filter thick with plaster dust but still working ...worse problem was small chunks of wood/splinters from notching out joists/ pulling floor boards blocking the hose a couple of times ... managed all stuff from the rewire - and 40 years worth of stuff under boards from central heating fitting etc etc)
Wish I'd bought it months ago...(this is a job I've been putting off - kept starting and it was such a pain I'd give up and do another job ...knowing I would HAVE to do this eventually -like now! )