our new rehab

[ohioRehab]

When you remove the plaster do you wear masks? If so what kind? Do you wear the paper kind or do you go all out and wear the charcoal filtered respirators?

It is a must, you would not want and most likely could not breath that stuff in for more then a minute, because with older houses, you are dealing with more then the plaster dust, if the house has had fireplaces, there will be a lot of soot, and an unbelieveable amout of dust, people just don't seem to clean behind walls :D . also in the case of insulation you will have fiberglass particles in the air not to mention the posibility of asbestos.
Generally the paper mask are really not effcient enough by themselves, I wear a charcoal respirator everyday while working, I have allergies and get sick easy, so I need to wear them.
But while working on plaster especially, I will tie a paper mask over the charcoal one and fasten it with a plastic zip tie, to extend the life of the mask. I get some weird looks, but for $40  a mask I will extend them as long as possible.

[kdhastedt]

I concur with ohioRehab.  The paper masks are barely sufficient for sheetrock dust from new installations...heaven only knows what kind of "cooties" will turn up on an old rehab.  They're not terribly comfortable to wear for extended periods but go with the respirator.

Keith

[ohioRehab]

I concur with ohioRehab.  The paper masks are barely sufficient for sheetrock dust from new installations...heaven only knows what kind of "cooties" will turn up on an old rehab.  They're not terribly comfortable to wear for extended periods but go with the respirator.

Keith

I am used to the mask now, but when I first started wearing the resp. the pain on the bridge of your nose is horrible, lol  I now wear my mask for all 8 hours a day we are there.

[kdhastedt]

When I was in the military, we used to have those all-day wearings of the chemical protective gear...not just a full face mask but the charcoal suits, rubber gloves, boots, etc...HATEFUL!

Oh yeah, now I remember why I retired!

Keith

[Straightup]

Thanks for the tip on floor straightening Ohio.  Foundations still cause me to scratch my head, but I have a great home inspector that will check things out for me.

Jeff

[whatsagirltodo]

Thank you so much for all the responses to my mask questions. I went out and bought the respirators and will wear them at all times. I don't know what I was thinking. Pretty stupid. I just pray I didn't cause any damage to myself for the week & 1/2 that I didn't wear one.

Thanks again for slapping me around and making me wake up.

[EAlston]

ohioRehab, look for an email from me, EAlston.