Loft cleaning advice please

I've been up in my loft looking at the drips.
Its never been cleaned in over 100 years-
what sort of tools and methods do you recomend i use?
What can go wrong if i get the biggest vaccuum cleaner i can find from HSS?

as well as cobwebs and dust and slate and woodrot powder
and cement and bricks and wood and metal pipes and wires live and dead
and lots of polystyrene chunks and ripped up bedding
and bits of carpet and that brown wooly filling from armchairs
and sleeping bags and eggboxes
which were put in for insulation in the 70s i guess...

a fire risk.

and what sort of breath protection?
those throwaway face masks look a bit flimsy for the amount of dust up
there,
and those plastic eye glasses make my specs steam up,
is there a mask you can recommend please?

Theres not asbestos i think.

[george]

--

[george]

~ [g] ~
~ ~
~ 07970 378 572 ~
~ www.dicegeorge.com ~
~ (c)2008 ~
~ ~

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:20:11 -0000
"George \(dicegeorge\)" wrote:

Loft cleaning advice please

I've been up in my loft looking at the drips.
Its never been cleaned in over 100 years-
what sort of tools and methods do you recomend i use?
What can go wrong if i get the biggest vaccuum cleaner i can find from HSS?

as well as cobwebs and dust and slate and woodrot powder
and cement and bricks and wood and metal pipes and wires live and dead
and lots of polystyrene chunks and ripped up bedding
and bits of carpet and that brown wooly filling from armchairs
and sleeping bags and eggboxes
which were put in for insulation in the 70s i guess...

a fire risk.

and what sort of breath protection?
those throwaway face masks look a bit flimsy for the amount of dust up
there,
and those plastic eye glasses make my specs steam up,
is there a mask you can recommend please?

Theres not asbestos i think.

[george]


I'd subcontract it! It's a horrible job.

You definitely need a full head, fan-powered, dust helmet. Maintain
positive pressure to keep the, possibly toxic, dust away from your
nose, mouth, lips, and eyes. The continuous cold air stops the glasses
from misting.

This is very expensive, but the kind of thing you need:
http://www.hss.com/g/34052/Powered-R...Unit-Belt.html

This is what I use, and find it very good:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...sfile=1&jump=4


Start with lots of strong plastic bags. You will not want the muck in
the house as you take it away! And then I guess an industrial vacuum.

R.

On 15 Mar, 17:20, "George \(dicegeorge\)"
wrote:
Loft cleaning advice please

I've been up in my loft looking at the drips.
Its never been cleaned in over 100 years-
what sort of tools and methods do you recomend i use?
What can go wrong if i get the biggest vaccuum cleaner i can find from HSS?

Hi, I don't know what the vacuum cleaners from HSS are like, but I
know when I did a similar job in my loft the fine brick-type dust that
was between the joists seemed to clog the bag and filters within about
30 seconds so that the suction was reduced to approximately zero. It
was a major pain in the arse. You may need to get as much as you can
up using dustpan and brush, and just vacuum what's left. There will be
quite a high proportion of soot up there from the days of coal fires.

I've found the disposable masks to be OK for this type of work (and
for floor sanding) but then I've never tried anything else.

"George (dicegeorge)" wrote in message
...
Loft cleaning advice please

I've been up in my loft looking at the drips.
Its never been cleaned in over 100 years-
what sort of tools and methods do you recomend i use?
What can go wrong if i get the biggest vaccuum cleaner i can find from
HSS?

as well as cobwebs and dust and slate and woodrot powder
and cement and bricks and wood and metal pipes and wires live and dead
and lots of polystyrene chunks and ripped up bedding
and bits of carpet and that brown wooly filling from armchairs
and sleeping bags and eggboxes

That's going to be a bloody big vaccuum if you expect it to suck up a
sleeping bag

tim

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:20:11 -0000, "George \(dicegeorge\)"
wrote:

Loft cleaning advice please

I've been up in my loft looking at the drips.
Its never been cleaned in over 100 years-
what sort of tools and methods do you recomend i use?
What can go wrong if i get the biggest vaccuum cleaner i can find from HSS?

Henry did ours. Took a couple of bags. The big bits go into bin bags
and come straight out.
You'll want a big mask, gloves and goggles and an allover suit to stop
the stuff getting on to your skin.

Have people helping take the stuff away at the bottom of the ladder.


as well as cobwebs and dust and slate and woodrot powder
and cement and bricks and wood and metal pipes and wires live and dead
and lots of polystyrene chunks and ripped up bedding
and bits of carpet and that brown wooly filling from armchairs
and sleeping bags and eggboxes
which were put in for insulation in the 70s i guess...

a fire risk.

and what sort of breath protection?
those throwaway face masks look a bit flimsy for the amount of dust up
there,
and those plastic eye glasses make my specs steam up,
is there a mask you can recommend please?

Theres not asbestos i think.

[george]
--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

George (dicegeorge) wrote:
Loft cleaning advice please

I've been up in my loft looking at the drips.
Its never been cleaned in over 100 years-
what sort of tools and methods do you recomend i use?
What can go wrong if i get the biggest vaccuum cleaner i can find
from HSS?

If its a big vac you'll need a long hose because it won't fit through the
hatch. Also, use disposable vac bags.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:20:11 -0000, George \(dicegeorge\) wrote:

what sort of tools and methods do you recomend i use?
What can go wrong if i get the biggest vaccuum cleaner i can find from
HSS?

I'd use my half mask and possibly ventilated googles (I also wear specs).
Does well enough when having a session on the table saw. You don't really
need the positive pressure provided what you have fits and seals properly.
If you block up the hole for the filter and breath in the mask should just
pull onto your face with nothing getting in. Getting such a seal is not
possible if you have a beard...

Have some good strong bags and bag up, possibly double if there are sharp
bits, as much as you can. I wouldn't recomend any sweeping that'll just
lift the dust into the air. Be aware that big vacuums take a bit of juice,
when we cleaned a loft the vac had 2 motors if you just switched it on it
would blow the fuse. You had to switch each motor on individualy. This was
a damn good vac, could pick up bricks and had a good sized drum. No need
for bags that clog. With a property 100+ years old be aware that the knibs
from the lath and plaster ceiling might not be in the best of condition,
they are easy to knock off with the vac nozzle...

--
Cheers
Dave.

"George (dicegeorge)" wrote in message
...
Loft cleaning advice please

I've been up in my loft looking at the drips.
Its never been cleaned in over 100 years-
what sort of tools and methods do you recomend i use?
What can go wrong if i get the biggest vaccuum cleaner i can find from
HSS?

as well as cobwebs and dust and slate and woodrot powder
and cement and bricks and wood and metal pipes and wires live and dead
and lots of polystyrene chunks and ripped up bedding
and bits of carpet and that brown wooly filling from armchairs
and sleeping bags and eggboxes
which were put in for insulation in the 70s i guess...

a fire risk.

and what sort of breath protection?
those throwaway face masks look a bit flimsy for the amount of dust up
there,
and those plastic eye glasses make my specs steam up,
is there a mask you can recommend please?

Theres not asbestos i think.

[george]

--

[george]

~ [g] ~
~ ~
~ 07970 378 572 ~
~ www.dicegeorge.com ~
~ (c)2008 ~
~ ~



I cleaned my loft out last year prior to having my electricity and gas
supplier come and insulate it for me.
I took some green plastic garden refuse bags up there and got as much as I
could into them. Obviously there was stuff that wouldn't go in so it was a
case of drag through loft hatch and place in back yard with the bags.
I then used a dustpan and brush, having to lay on boards in order to get
down into the eaves. After, to the wife's horror, I took the Dyson up there
.. Job took me about a week in all to do.
What did I wear? Well, old clothes for one. Safety specs to go over my
glasses. Rubber gloves. DIY face mask. Hard hat. Coveralls.
Those fibreglass particles get everywhere as soon as you start, despite the
clothing.
It is surprising just how many times you hit the rafters when you are
wearing a hard hat, yet when you don't, you never hit them at all.
Oh and by the way, I had to strip and clean the Dyson 3 times before it
worked properly again.
Chap came to do the insulation and said that it was the cleanest loft he had
seen in all the years he had been doing the job.
James

the_constructor wrote:

It is surprising just how many times you hit the rafters when you are
wearing a hard hat, yet when you don't, you never hit them at all.

That's why they make bump caps ;-)

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/13045/...ction/Bump-Cap

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.