On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 12:44:31 -0400, Ben Gold
wrote:

| Walls are brick/stone... definitely a big source of dust.
|
| I guess I'm thinking that all the dust and old pipes and wires in/on the
| ceiling are also a source of dust/dirt, so that if I clean up and treat
| the walls I still might have dust - which would be disappointing.
|
| Right now I just want the basement to be usable as a work space...
| everything gets dusty down there so I only have boxes of things and
| things covered in plastic. I'd like to be able to leave tools and such
| down there without having them get dirty, and walk around without
| getting dust everywhere.
|
| Maybe you're right, just a real good cleaning and some sort of concrete
| sealant... hold off on the ceiling until I'm ready to renovate.
|
|
|
| I seriously doubt that the old plaster on the ceiling is the source
| of any significant amount of dust. If the basement is not currently
| an occupied space, I'd just leave it as is, and take the ceiling
| down and replace it as part of the renovations. What are the
| walls?

Before you go tearing down anything in the ceiling you might want to
make sure the heating pipes are not insulated with asbestos-based pipe
coverings. A place as old as yours is very likely to have them (my
1921 house does).

These things often deteriorate and flake off, especially at the
joints. You'd want to stabilize them first by painting them solidly
with exterior latex trim paint, or have them removed by an asbestos
abatement crew.