What can I do to help keep the dust out? Right now my place is for weekends only, and when I leave everything is closed up tight and when I get there I have a fine layer of dust over everything. I change A/C filters monthly, vacuum regularly and dust like a fiend. This is a new house and I know new carpet has a lot of fuzz, but no one is there walking around and stirring it up. Any suggestions on where to look as a point of entry? I live on a gravel road, with only one family that drives past me and that stirs up dust for sure, but can't figure how the heck it gets in the house. Thanks.

-- Carole in Texas (carle@earthlink.net), June 07, 2001

Answers

Carole- I'll be watching this for replies! I have the same problem in my home. I have all wood floors, too, so it isn't from carpet. I attribute my problem to the fact that I am often away for weeks at a time so the dust has a chance to build up. Then, when I am home, I run the a/c, plus I think my ceiling fans keep it stirred up. Sorry I can't help.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), June 07, 2001.

Around doors, down chimneys. It will even filter through joins in the ceiling given time, particularly if the house has a frame (any frame will move a little with changes in temperaure and winds). However, most of it is floating in the air as you leave, so thinly dispersed that you can't see it, but then with no movement in the house it has time to settle out while you're gone.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), June 07, 2001.

Hi I read SOMEWHERE that it helps to plant a hedge between you and the gravel or dirt roads. When we get the house we're negot. on now I'll plant a hedge or mummm maybe build a rock fence to help with the dust from the road... also for more privatcy.

-- Jacque (bojaq@lynks.com), June 07, 2001.

A Hedge is a fine idea, except I am located in the Texas Hill Country which means solid rock :) Can't plant much here unless in a raised bed. The property is pie shaped with very little frontage on the road, so for me, I don;t think it would be effective. I just gotta solve the problem as where it is getting in. The flue on the chimney is closed. Elizabeth had a point though... I have 4 ceiling fans I turn on when I am there, they could be stirring things up. I may borrow a friends water air filter and see if I can trap a bunch of it.

-- Carole in Texas (carle@earthlink.net), June 07, 2001.

Carole, Caulk, and then caulk somemore. I also found some great fan covers, to bad they don't make this for ceiling fans but anyway it is the same premise as your AC filter. It is a very fine material, which by the way if you are handy you could sew with elastic and chiffon. But it slips over your fans, come in round and also box fan size, as the air passes through them it traps the dust. I also will throw some poporri into it to scent the air. They are washable, so I just throw them in the wash once a week. I have really noticed the difference on my shelves of crap, I mean nick-nacks! I bought mine really cheap in my Current catalog (just search for Current on any search engine, it is a stationary mostly catalog). Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 07, 2001.

Another point to be made is that there is a difference between DUST and DIRT. DIRT is what comes into your house from outside, like the "dust" from the dirt road. DUST is what dust mites make inside your home. The dust mites are always there, it's just a matter of developing a cleaning routine to keep them in check. Personally, I think that in my case, due to prolonged absences, the dust mites have gotten into places that I CAN'T clean, like my hvac system. All I can do is clean like crazy when I am home. It's depressing though, when after spending hours cleaning every inch of the house, 2 days later I can run my finger through the dust on tabletops, etc.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), June 07, 2001.

re: Dust Mites Yipes! This is a new house, not even a year old and only used on weekends. Maybe the part about being new is the problem. Maybe I am dealing with construction dust that got enclosed during construction and I can eliminate that part of it over time. Wonder what the bet way to dust down walls would be? I have already tackled all the woodwork. Just thought of something... I will start emptying the dryer filter outside from now on... maybe those dryer sheets are contributing to the problem.

-- Carole in Texas (carle@earthlink.net), June 07, 2001.

If you have forced air heat you might look into an electrostatic (?) filter system. These are electronic filters designed to remove even microscopic particles from the air. When you dust, use damp rags to hold the dust and not just move it around. Wipe down the walls and ceilings with a clean damp sponge mop. Use a vacuum with a micron filter system so you are not just pumping dust back into the air. You might try a web search for allergy environment controls. People with bad dust mite allergies know all the tricks.

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), June 07, 2001.

Another possibility, though a little more expensive, is to create an 'airlock' at your points of entry. An airlock space is a small room at the entry which allows someone to enter the building without exposing the entire space to direct outside air. A mudroom for example serves as an airlock. You have also seen this principle at many stores where automatic doors are placed in pairs at the customer entrances. Not only will this cutdown on dirt, it saves on the cost of A/C as leaving the door open for periods of time will decrease conditioned air from your home to leave. This idea does take up valuable interior space and is rarely used, but can be effective, especially in dusty environments.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), June 08, 2001.

If everything is all closed up while you are gone, it can't be coming in from the outside unless they did a very poor job of sealing up your windows and doors! My guess is that construction dust got down your ductwork, and everytime the blower runs, it spreads the dust evenly all through your house. Get a shopvac with a long hose and clean out everywhere you can reach, if it looks like this is where the dust is coming from there are people who do this duct cleaning professionally with high powered suction machines that will further solve the problem.

I live on a dusty dirt road and nothing keeps the road dust out of the house other than keeping the windows tightly shut! Trees and hedges cannot even begin to adequetely filter the road dust. So the windows stay shut until the wind blows in the right direction, away from the house!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), June 08, 2001.

Carol,

You probably have leaky air conditioning ducts. This is a very common problem in many homes. When the a/c runs a percentage of air is lost in the attic. This negatively pressurizes your living space and causes dust and other cantamination to be sucked into the house. One major point of entry is right where the ductwork meets the ceiling. Light fixtures, wall sockets, and any other tiny cracks or cavities will draw in contamination. If your attic has bug dust it will suck that in and I've seen this circumstance actually make people sick.

All the ducts should be thoroughly sealed with mastic and the supply registers removed and caulked. Take one off and see if there isn't a 1/4" gap all the way around. Also look at the return plenum behind the filter and make sure you aren't bypassing the filter and sucking air right from the closet, guarage, or attic, depending where it's located. The problem is a lot worse when you have blown insulation. It's not really dust your seeing but the insulation that's migrating into your home. Not very healthy. Fancy filters are just shoveling against the tide if you have this problem and don't fix it. When I was an A/C contractor we did hundreds of these repairs thru our local utility company and I can't tell you how many times customers would call me back, months later, and say they couldn't believe the difference. Good luck finding a contractor that will know what your talking about and not think your crazy but the problem is real and all too common. A good friend of mine named Jim Cummings, at the Florida Solar Energy Center, has done extensive research on the subject and published several papers. They even have a video called "The Pressure's On", that explains this phenomenon very well. Check for FSEC's website and see if they have info there too. Good luck.

CQ

-- CARTER (CHUCKY@USIT.NET), June 08, 2001.