Everything You Should Know About Dust Free Flooring Removal
This article covers the 10 most important keys your contractor or flooring company should be sharing with you about dust-free tile removal. Follow along with DustRam® for the inside scoop. Over the past week, I received a crash course in the basic steps involved when one wants to remodel their home. I am not taking the plunge currently; however, my sister was looking to renovate her home.
She has always painted and swapped out her décor every few years, but this time she needed to change her flooring to better match three little kids who run, spill, and tumble face-first. Tie this in with two parents with full-time jobs and significantly less time to clean. Having not been through the process, and with a bit more time on my hands, I decided to investigate it myself to help me better understand what I should expect for a flooring removal.
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Improve the Value and Aesthetic of Your Home With a New Floor
Whether the homeowner is only changing paint colors and curtains, going all out with new cabinets, enhancements in lighting fixtures, or a complete tile demo, the possibilities can seem endless. There are quite a few options when starting this process regardless of whether one is looking to upgrade to a more contemporary look in a recently purchased older house, or one wants to add value to their current home. The phases required to change just the flooring can be daunting.
Once the decision has been made to swap out the current floor to a product more appealing to the eye or practical to the homeowner, the next obstacle is to determine the best way to remove the existing floor. I had the opportunity to complete in-depth research on this stage. I found there is the Do-It-Yourself method, or one may hire contractors.
The DIY-er can rent the items necessary for the back-breaking work for floor removal: a tile removal tool for removing old tile, a floor scraper to use as a tile adhesive remover, and a grinder for thinset removal and to profile the concrete underneath, purchase rolls of plastic and tape to drape around the workspace, and spend months removing dust particles from around the home and scrubbing the air conditioning components clean.
The other choice is a contractor. Flooring removal companies can also use the same process as the homeowner when removing tile floor or carpet removal with the plastic sheets or watering down the floors to try to minimize dust; both still leave the house covered in dust the owners must clean themselves or pay to have the pollutants removed.
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10 Reasons Why Dustless Flooring Removal Is The Preferred Choice
Over the past decade, a dustless tile removal service using DustRam® equipment has entered the market due to the demand of discerning consumers concerned with the aftereffects of dust contaminants.
If one removes the do-it-yourself choice, there seem to be two options for the consumer—the old school way which involves huge quantities of dust and rubbish being scattered throughout the home, or this newer choice of how to remove tile floor offered only by highly trained flooring contractors.
I have encountered ten reasons why the Dust Free model provided by the DustRam® equipment is preferred by the astute homeowner over the outdated process of removing tile from the concrete floor. For the purposes of this article, I reviewed the work done on the job site by Arizona Home Floors, LLC.
1. Health benefits
The most obvious reason dust-free tile removal is preferred would be the health benefits; these cannot be overlooked. With this process, there is no aggravation of existing asthma or allergies for members of the household. There will not be any dangerous silica dust particles floating through the air or adhering to the air conditioning components to be blown repeatedly back through the house.
2. Top-of-the-line equipment and tools
DustRam® contractors use specialized patented equipment including dust guards, HEPA filters, and noticeably powerful vacuums; everything the team needs to safely and cleanly capture all dust and debris particles caused by the controlled demolition of the flooring.
The equipment has been fine-tuned on the job for more than twelve years to achieve the patented dust-free experience requested by detail-oriented homeowners. The DustRam® tools can be used for removing wood flooring, grinding and profiling concrete, removing linoleum flooring, and of course, removing ceramic floor tiles. These contractors have the only tools to give an effective dust-free floor demolition experience.
3. Extremely knowledgable and experienced contractors
Each employee who participates in the DustRam® method receives precise and required training. Every team member is professional, focused, and knowledgeable in each step of the process and all effort is maximized for efficiency. There is no excess time wasted hanging plastic sheets to protect household items from dust as all debris is captured promptly at the source.
4. Cleaner home
The home will be cleaner when using the DustRam® process. In fact, Arizona Home Floors, LLC is one of the many certified DustRam® contractors in the country, and they guarantee your home will be cleaner after the floor demo machine than it was before the service. By using the expertly designed equipment, all dust is automatically confined to the vacuum and promptly removed from the premises. The white glove test will always have a clean result using this method throughout the process of tile demolition.
5. Save more time and money
This leads to another cost and time-saving benefit for the homeowner as the house is immediately ready for the next step of their remodel. No need to schedule any additional cleaning services or contractors. There can be hundreds of pounds of dust, let alone debris, generated from the removal of flooring. By capturing the dust before it has a chance to become mobile, a cleaning service is not required, nor will one need to hire someone to clean the air conditioning vents and equipment.
Dustless tile removal with Arizona Home Floors, LLC allows the homeowner to proceed with the remodel; no waiting for the flooring to dry from being watered down nor the additional cleanup required when one uses the outmoded approach. Learn more about the costs of a dustless tile removal job.
6. Preparing your home for floor removal is a breeze
Preparing your home or business to be ready for the team is a breeze. Typically, only the floor surfaces must be cleared before their arrival. Dustless tile removal can be done with food stacked in the pantry and clothing hanging in the closets. There is no need to pack and unpack household necessities. The dust particles are captured at the start before they even become airborne and attach to household items.
7. Overall cost of tile removal services
The cost to remove tile floor can vary greatly; even those contractors who claim to use similar methods to DustRam® have a substantial range in their pricing. Sometimes these numbers are understated for the contractor to get the job and then jump exorbitantly as the floor removal company adds in the removal of the debris, disposal fees, and required grinding or profiling of the concrete surface so it can be ready for the new floor installation. Obviously removing ceramic tile from wall surfaces or any floor repair needing to be done so the subsequent flooring can be installed correctly can cost extra and should be discussed from the start; but removing vinyl flooring, pulling up an old carpet and pad, removing linoleum, or ceramic and porcelain tiles should all have a set and clear pricing schedule available to the customer. Learn more about the cost of dustless tile removal for your home.
With DustRam®, there are no hidden fees or unexpected add-ons as all pricing is provided upfront; the amount stated includes the floor removal tools, tile thin-set removal, grinding, and disposal of all materials. There is a clear and concise discussion between the homeowner and an experienced floor removing professional which culminates in a written contract stating all expected costs, and it also explains in detail what may be found under the visible flooring. Arizona Home Floors, LLC explains to all homeowners, especially of older homes, what is possibly hidden from previous remodels or the expected settling of the home.
The knowledgeable DustRam® team is ready and trained for any of the everyday manifestations found as one peels back the layers and years of the average household floor; they also make sure every homeowner is informed as well and any contingencies are covered by the homeowner’s budget.
8. Personalized services for your flooring removal
Personalized services are provided for each homeowner for their flooring removal services to match the individual home needs to what each homeowner envisions for their final product. Some of these options include moving appliances and toilets, saw cutting, and concrete channeling. In older homes, one can find a multitude of layers underneath the current flooring: sheet vinyl, linoleum, and more. Issues with the foundation itself such as soft concrete or a damaged subfloor necessitate additional labor. Clear and concise discussions are held covering what is to be removed, what may be found under the current floor covering that could affect results, as well as cost, and the ultimate product ready for the next step in the homeowners remodel.
9. DIY has more cons than pros
DIY will not provide the full value when it comes to floor removal. One must factor in the expense of supplies to section off the areas of the home to protect it from dust and debris as well as the purchase or rental of necessary items and tools to complete the work itself, extended time if one is not professionally trained, sore muscles and knee and back strain, putting the family up in a hotel, hiring a cleaning service for the home or additional time needed to complete it oneself, and hiring a contractor to clean the a/c unit and ducts. By adding in the time to find and schedule all these individual components, one can see DIY is not a good choice for most homeowners. Using a certified DustRam® Contractor is the best way to remove floor tile.
10. No cleaning company necessary to pick up the dust
The price difference between dust-filled homes versus utilizing dustless tile removal is negligible once one factor in the cost in time for an extensive clean-up by the homeowner and/or the money to hire another company to complete the cleaning required if one uses contractors who perform the outdated dusty flooring removal.
DustRam® Dustless Flooring Removal Products
Check out the nation’s best dustless tile removal tools and equipment by DustRam®
Let a Professional Remove Flooring in Your Home
Depending upon the credentials, expertise, and processes of the flooring removal companies, there could be more costly expenses than just dust removal. Some contractors promise a speedy solution using ride-on floor scrapers. This is disastrous in many ways. The personnel are not trained to effectively control the scraper nor its resulting barrage of debris, so there is often damage to the homeowner’s walls, cabinets, or appliances.
There is also the potential of extreme destruction to areas under the flooring. Ride-on floor scrapers are not made to properly remove flooring attached to soft concrete; it requires a slow and practiced hand to minimize damage. A ride-on scraper creates deep grooves and holes that require thousands of dollars to repair before a new floor can be installed. Not to mention the dangers of exposure to crystalline silica dust from tile chipping.
Other damages are caused with the use of a tile scraper, trying a floor scraper rental, jackhammers, tile chisel, floor scraper machine or other tile removal machines not specifically designed for tile or flooring removal. Overall, it is extremely important to investigate a company’s licenses, customer reviews, and video proof of their previous comparable work projects. After assessing the data applicable to flooring removal, I have learned dustless tile removal is the only and best option for any floor removal project.
