Contain the dust, cut the mess

There are several
advantages to dust
containment, one floor
service business owner says.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Refinishing wood floors can be a real mess.

The job often means hours of cleanup for homeowners. The to-do list includes knocking dust off the walls, scrubbing film off windows and rewashing all the dishes, pots and pans in the cabinets.

But in recent years, more wood-floor refinishing companies have been offering dust containment. Buffers, edgers and sanders are hooked up to vacuums of various sizes. Phone book ads often say the service is “dustless” or nearly dust-free.

“The systems don’t get all the dust because there’s no machine or human that could do that,” says David Brattin, owner of Armstrong Hardwood Floor Service in Grandview, Mo., which has offered dust containment for five years. “But they get about 90 percent of it.

“It’s like a black car driving down a gravel road. Usually, in a few miles the car is covered with a white film and needs to be washed right away. With this, the car doesn’t need to be washed for another week.”

According to Brattin, the advantages of dust containment include:

ULess prep work. Although plastic is still taped over door openings and vents, cabinets and countertops don’t always have to be meticulously covered.

UBetter results. Without containment, the dust that’s floating in the air sometimes falls into the new finish.

UComfort. Employees no longer are covered in a layer of grime. There are fewer complaints from homeowners and employees about the dust bothering them or aggravating allergies.

UFaster cleanup. Employees and homeowners spend less time on this task. It takes homeowners 45 minutes to an hour to clean up dust instead of three to four hours. The furnace filter needs to be changed once with dust containment instead of three times — one day, one week and then two weeks after refinishing.

Dale Edwards, owner of Dale’s Hardwood Flooring in Stilwell, Kan., invested in dust-containment equipment about seven years ago.

“I noticed new customers started calling because I had it,” he says.

More than half the refinishing companies in the Kansas City area, for example, have dust-containment systems. Typically, they’ll include the cost of dust containment ($150 to $250) in the bill because it’s the best option for homeowners and employees. Some companies give homeowners a choice and will add about 20 percent to the bill if customers opt for dust containment.

The extra cost is worth it, says Rusty Swindoll, assistant technical director of training for the National Wood Flooring Association based in Chesterfield, Mo.

“Without a dust-containment system, the homeowners typically pay professionals to clean their house,” he says. “With the system, they don’t need to pay someone to clean it.”