Cleaning dust out of roof before insulation is fitted?

Do people generally remove dust from ceiling before getting insulation fitted? Given I've got about 100years of dust in the roof I am keen to get it removed before I get insulation fitted. I have attempted it once however didn't have the appropriate equipment, as i tried to do it through the man hole which meant I had 12+mtrs of suction pipe not giving good suction - think i need to do it throught the roof (remove some tin)

Given I get asthma thought it wouldnt be a bad idea - likewise makes future ceiling work cleaner (i.e. fitting of a heating vent, etc) as the inch of dust wont fall through.

Thats the sort of job left to a specialist,there are companies around with truck mounted vacs that specialise in this type of work, look in your yellow pages,pretty pricey from memory.:2tsup:

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Originally Posted by Williamstown

Do people generally remove dust from ceiling before getting insulation fitted?

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Not that I am aware of.

I know what you mean, I blew up a good dozen bags vacuuming my eaves during my reroof. Still have the ceiling to go ,, whats the phone number....

I did it.

The house was built in 1894, and there was a truckload of dust up there sitting on top of the lath & plaster ceilings. We hired a large industrial vac with a long hose and I got to it. Removed the wheelie base from the vac cleaner and passed it up through them manhole.

Took about a week of a couple of hours a day, but you could eat your dinner off the ceiling by the time I finished.

Worth the effort.

woodbe.

The answer is no but they should, there are specialist companies that do this, the use huge truck mounted vacume units, che the Yellow pages. Overtime the combined weight of dust and insulation etc can cause the ceiling to give way.

Did this just recently before we laid new insulation - highly recommend it - you should have seen the crap that came out. Also used them to lay the new insulation.
I think he company was called "attic suckers" - in sydney.
The had a huge truck that was basically all compressor, ran several hoses off this, through the tiles and into the roof cavity - the diameter of the hoses was about 8 inches, so they sucked up pretty much everything. Bagged all the old insulation and cleaned up after themselves. Having seen the job these guys did (and it wasn't very expensive) I would never do it myself.

I actually end up finding a few compaines which did it - as well as lay insullation; however both told me it was a waste of money in their opinion to just remove the dust. Removing old pump in insulation is a different story. One quoted $600 and the other $800, which wasn't too far from the cost of the new insulation, therefore given they had nothing to gain from not having me do it I believed them. Ended up getting one of the same guys to lay the insulation, which with the government rebate - not sure what everyone elegible isn't doing it!

I would recommend getting as much old dust/crud out of the ceiling as possible. As previously mentioned the extra weight may cause issues in the future and having a clean area to lay the new insulation will help it's thermal performance.

I would also highly recommend getting a Pro to do the job for you, particularly if you have asthma. I recently finished removing dust/leaves/feathers in my old house prior to placing new insulation and it took me around 15-20hrs over a few weekends it was time consuming as I only had a light commercial Vac and it filled very quickly and blocked often (hence the pro's using 8" hoses). I ended up with about 80kg of waste in 15 garbags and there was no old insulation. Very dusty, Hot, dirty work in confined spaces, definitely one of those "done it" jobs, but will NEVER do it again.

Just to add to what's been said, in old houses with wall linings that aren't sealed to the cornices (t&g and so on) I'd always remove the cornices prior to getting rid of the dust.

They can then be replaced in a bed of sealant, and dust won't penetrate the into the house in the future.

Cheers,

P

I did it! In an old victorian wboard house in Brunswick. It is one of those things that probably doesnt make much difference, but makes working up there much cleaner, if you then need to re- wire etc. Also good to get rid of all the rat sh** etc. It cost about $400., and they did a great job. A friend tried with a vacuum cleaner, and gaveup after a couple of dirty, hot days.