Dust Control/Post Construction/Renovation Cleaning

Construction/Renovation can adversely impact Indoor Air Quality in occupied building areas.
Symptoms include headache, eye, throat, and respiratory irritation, and an increase in asthma complaints. The following recommendations have been successful in reducing Indoor Air Quality complaints during building renovation activities.

I. COORDINATE CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE

Communicate construction phases with building occupants, visitors (for school construction, teachers, parents and students).

Review Material Safety Data Sheets (not just Technical Bulletins) of all construction products for hazardous ingredients and their potential impact on indoor air quality.

Schedule activities which may generate excessive dust, noise or odors when the building is not occupied. Earmark time for building to be cleaned or ventilated before re-occupied.

Plan generous drying and off-gassing time for paints, carpets and roofing before occupying.

II. SEPARATE CONSTRUCTION AND OCCUPIED AREAS

Install permanent barriers to prevent building occupants from entering construction areas.

Prohibit occupant foot traffic in construction areas. Provide protected walkways if necessary.
Prohibit contractor foot traffic in occupied areas.

Seal off HVAC ventilation supply and return ducts in construction area.

III. PREVENT DUST FROM MIGRATING TO OCCUPIED AREAS

Seal doors, windows, and other openings between construction areas and occupied areas, particularly classrooms, with an air-tight barrier. Seal both sides (inside the construction area, and inside the classroom) to provide a secondary dust barrier and prevent the doors and windows from being used. (Post alternative emergency exits, if applicable.)

Construction areas should be under negative pressure in relation to occupied areas.

Inspect polyethylene barriers daily, replace as necessary.

Do not transport building materials (sheetrock, insulation) through occupied areas.

Clean floors, lockers, and tables daily with wet methods (soap and water) or vacuum.

Do not dry sweep. Add additional custodial staff if necessary during the construction period.

Implement extra cleaning steps and dust controls for areas with mold growth, such as scrubbing the area and filtered ventilation. Construction specs should include correction of moisture problem to prevent re-growth of mold.

Use covered chutes to lower construction debris from upper floors.

Wet down construction debris and uncovered dirt, as necessary to reduce dust kicked up by wind.

DUST: Jackhammering, Abrasive Blasting

Schedule high-dust activities when building is not occupied.

Construct air-tight barriers between construction area and occupied areas. Inspect barriers on the occupant side continually during jackhammering and blasting work for dust emissions.

Stop construction work if visible dust is observed in adjacent non-construction areas. Improve construction area ventilation and barriers before work resumes.

Provide ventilation inside work area to pull dust away from workers and occupied areas (similar to asbestos negative pressure ventilation).

Do not clean work areas with compressed air.

Check and clean adjacent occupied areas following barrier removal before re-occupying.

IV. PREVENT EXPOSURE TO HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS IN CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS

Obtain manufacturer’s Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for all products used during the project (obtain MSDS in addition to Technical Bulletins). Review for hazardous ingredients, particularly:

Formaldehyde: Can trigger asthma, eye, and throat and skin irritation.

Isocyanates: Can cause asthma and allergic reactions at very low concentrations.

Avoid Carbon Monoxide problems from propane heaters, forklifts, and truck exhaust. Reduce carbon monoxide emissions through frequent equipment maintenance, and ventilation.

Plywood, particleboard, carpets – Specify the purchase of low emission products (avoid products that use urea-formaldehyde resins).

ISOCYANATE PRODUCTS – Paints and Roofing Materials

All two-part epoxy paints and sealants should be suspected of containing isocyanates. Review MSDS for determination. Isocyanates require extra precautions for workers and occupants.

Substitute a non-isocyanate product if possible.

Do not apply isocyanate products while any area of the building is occupied.

Confirm there is adequate ventilation and proper respiratory protection for workers in work area.

Seal HVAC supply and return ventilation ducts inside construction area to prevent vapor migration to other areas. Seal rooftop air intakes for all building areas during roof work.

Apply products within weather conditions specified by manufacturer. Incorrect temperature and humidity prevents effective curing rates and can postpone timely re-occupancy of the building.

After application of an isocyanate product, plan for generous curing and drying times before any area of the building is re-occupied (not just the painted area).

V. ASBESTOS AND LEAD

Inspect areas prior to work for Asbestos and Lead containing materials.

Paint on interior and exterior surfaces (walls, windows, woodwork, and shingles) should be tested for lead, or presumed to contain lead. Lead dust can be generated when painted surfaces are disturbed by chipping, sanding, or removal of woodwork.

Asbestos and Lead which could become damaged should be removed properly before renovation. Asbestos removal requires a licensed Asbestos Abatement Contractor.

A licensed Lead Abatement Contractor is required for residences, and is recommended for schools, offices and other facilities to ensure workers and building occupants are protected.

Air samples should be collected during and after asbestos and lead removal to ensure that dusts are not migrating to other areas. Surface wipe samples should be collected after lead removal.

VI. RESPONDING TO ACUTE EPISODES OF INDOOR AIR QUALITY COMPLAINTS

Unexpected releases of dust or odors into non-construction areas could cause an episode of headache, nausea, or respiratory complaints among building occupants. The following action is recommended:

Stop construction work. Determine source of release.

Remove other occupants from area of building where symptoms occurred.

Implement engineering or administrative corrections, such as:
– Improve construction area ventilation.
– Ventilate non-construction areas with fresh air.
– Repair and replace airtight barriers between construction and non-construction areas.
– Clean non-construction areas with wet mopping and HEPA vacuum methods.
– Move the offending activity to a non-occupied time period.

Perform air monitoring for chemical contaminants if applicable. Do not occupy affected areas until testing confirms that chemical or dust concentrations are not hazardous.

VII. BUILDING VENTILATION

Many indoor air quality problems result from an inadequate supply of fresh air to occupied areas.

Locate outside air intakes and ensure louvers are operating, open and unobstructed. Air intakes should not be located next to, or downwind from: exhaust vents; loading docks; rest room exhaust vents; or cooling towers.

Check all thermostat controls. Fans should be set on the “ON” setting and not to “AUTO.”
The “Auto” setting only provides ventilation when the thermostat demands heating or cooling.

The “On” setting will provide a constant supply of fresh air.

Filters on ventilation units should be replaced with a regular frequency (often seasonally).

Building heating and ventilation system should be on a preventative maintenance schedule.

Post Renovation Cleaning Tip

If you do nothing else, hire the pros and have your ductwork cleaned out. There is nothing worse than cleaning a room, have the furnace/a/c kick on, and blow junk out through the ducts/vents. I’d so that before you kill yourself cleaning the inside of rooms over and over. Call your local heating repair company for recommendations as to who will do duct cleaning in your area

Cleaning Up After A Flood

Tips to clean up after a flood

January 13, 2011 by Kevin Annfield

Cleaning up after a flood

With my experience (which extends to managing flood damage mitigation of homes in Newcastle in 2007, just to give you an idea) this is what I would do if my house was inundated with flood water:

The key in these situations is to get the place clean and habitable as soon as possible – it’s always the best outcome.

1. Safety first

Gear:

face mask
sturdy gloves
wash water
hand wash soap
safety glasses

You are dealing with Category 3 water loss – this is the same category as raw sewage. You don’t know what is in the water, so you must treat it as contaminated and use some common sense.

Use a paper face mask simply to prevent water from splashing in your mouth. When working in affected areas, wear gloves, and have wash water and soap on hand, taking regular breaks to wash your hands and face. I’d also replace the mask if it gets splashed. Wear safety glasses to minimise splashing in your face and, hey, you’ll probably be working with power tools – it is common sense. This is the minimum protection I would suggest and is what I would do. If you have access to better protection, use it.

Switch house power off

Isolate power to the house if you can, the easiest way is to trip the main circuit-breaker. Use battery-powered tools where possible, instead of 240v tools, until you have the place cleaned up. If you use power tools, use a generator/genset, not mains power – leave the house isolated.

2. Cleaning

Gear:

large plastic tubs or cardboard boxes lined with heavy duty garbage bags
large sturdy garbage bags
friend with operational washing machine
friend with non-contaminated space to clean your belonging stuff
digital camera to take pics of your damaged stuff

Before you start, you’ll need a bunch of large plastic storage containers. Buy in bulk from a $2 shop as you will need enough to pack your household contents (at least the ones which copped flood water) into them.

3. Timing

Don’t be in a rush to get back to your house because I have seen first hand flood water recede and then come back with a vengeance. Check reports from several sources to make sure the flood is actually over and it is safe to return. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to clean places twice in two days. And be careful driving through flood affected areas.

4. Where to start?

Don’t be in a massive rush to rip into the clean up. I’ve always found when dealing with floods – whether it’s one house or 1000 – you’ll be more productive if you stop, sit down with the team helping you and discuss the plan and objectives.

I’m going to pretend the water was 1m deep and go from there. If you had more or less water, the response might be slightly different, but the basic idea is the same: use your common sense.

Remove all clothing items and linen, stuff it into bags or put it in plastic tubs/lined boxes. Call a friend and put them on washing duty – this means everything, even shoes. Wash them thoroughly and dry them out, as you can then make an assessment as to whether they are salvageable.

If you leave them dirty, you don’t have a choice – they will be ruined. A good option is to wash everything twice, but the second time ‘round, use an anti-microbial in the rinse cycle. You can then be sure there will be nothing to fear lurking in the fabrics.

While your friend is washing clothing, remove any soft furnishings, furniture, carpet, underlay, beds and the like. Soft furnishings are anything porous or which can soak up water. Unfortunately for the kids, their soft toys and pillows, cushions and the like are all ruined. The only thing to do with that stuff is to dump it – sorry kids. For the time being, dump it on your footpath as the council will do curb-side collection – in some cases with a front-end loader!

At the same time as stuff is being dumped on the footpath have someone pack up the house. And that means everything, the whole house, from CDs to crockery, to china dolls to cutlery. Pack everything (and I stress, everything) into plastic storage tubs/lined boxes and give them to a friend.

Tell this friend to take care of your worldly belongings, but “scrub the bejesus out of them”. I’d scrub everything by hand, with brushes and detergent. Goods should be rinsed with an anti-microbial solution if possible and run everything that will fit through the dishwasher – it’s already been in practically sewerage, so going through a good scrub is not going to make it worse, just sanitary. Be careful with items that are not suitable for high temperate or scrubbing eg. CD’s and DVD’s – these are generally not affected by water and only require a gentle wash and rinse with anti-microbial.

Electronics are beyond the scope of my tips here. At this time, I’d assume everything electronic is ruined and dump it. This applies to appliances as well – everything from the fridge, to oven and cooktop, washing machine dryer and that nice new TV. Sorry, but it’s probably all stuffed.

That’s belongings and contents (electronics and furniture) taken care of. The house should have no carpets or anything like that left, and this includes removing fake timber floors and the like. Now, it is onto the house itself.

5. Once it is stripped of the belongings

Once the place is stripped we look at stuff like hard furniture. A lot of hard furniture, even timber furniture, may be ok to keep if it is cleaned properly (ie: scrub the bejesus out of it). It’s already been submersed, so putting it in water again to clean it won’t make it worse.

Make a judgement on what to keep and what to dump, but remember that water gets everywhere: you will have to disassemble every/anything that was affected and check everything closely and clean thoroughly.

Next up is the walls. Most places have Gyprock, so my advice is based on this fact. Gyprock panels are 1.2m so take your battery angle grinder with a blade, or your small hand saw, and cut out all Gyprock touched by flood water. Yes, all of it.

I’d advise cutting 100mm above where the water reached, and remember to take care around plumbing and wiring. You should have already isolated the power, so there is no risk of being zapped, but you don’t want to pay for electrical repairs when putting the house back together, so go easy. Once you’ve cut it all out, dump all the flood affected Gyprock on the curb.

By the end of this, you should, if you get on your knees, be able to see all the external walls of the house and be left with nothing but a timber frame from (just above) the height of the flood, down to ground. Skirtings need to be removed, as well as internal doors, too.

The concept is the same if your house went under to the roof. You just remove more Gyprock, so you are just left with the frame in the house and roof. However, be careful handling insulation in roofs it is generally extremely disgusting to handle (and smell) and you should use thick gloves when handling fibreglass insulation and the like.

If your house has been inundated up to the roof, be careful removing ceiling panels for 2 reasons:
1. Insulation may be soaked above the ceiling and it may come down with a crash.
2. Where do you think the local wildlife ends up in a flood? Watch for snakes and other creepys in your roof and walls as you pull the place apart.

6. Washing/sanitising the house

Gear:

detergent
scrubbing broom
pressure cleaner
or mop & bucket
large squidgy
or drying towels
anti-microbial liquid and garden sprayer

Next up is detergent and broom and pressure cleaner time. A fire hose is best, then the next best is a pressure washer (Karcher or Gerney type thing), then mop/bucket.

The detergent doesn’t matter too much, either – Truckwash will do. The most important factor is to “scrub the bejesus” out of everything from the inside of the external walls, to all the frame work and, of course, the floor. You can then towel dry the frame and mop the floor.

After it has been cleaned, you can go around with a decent pump pack and apply an anti-microbial to absolutely everything the flood water was in contact with. Let the anti-microbial dwell and drip dry. I’d apply a helping to the floor too, then after a couple of hours of dwell time, squeegee the floor again.

If you follow the above concept – mould etc will not be an issue so don’t listen to what will inevitably become the next lead story sensationalising massive mould problems. If you get it clean and dry in a reasonable timeframe you’ll have no problems.

7. It’s sanitary – what next?

Gear:

plastic sheets
staple gun
flatbed scanner

What you are left with is a gutted house that will dry quickly if there is adequate airflow. It should be ready for plasterers and paint, and you’re back in business.

Your friend will deliver your clothes and other stuff that could go through the washing machine. Your other friend will deliver all your kitchenware and other bits and pieces that could be salvaged. Leave all that stuff in tubs and live out of plastic tubs until the house is done as it will keep things clean.

Have an electrician come through and give your lights and power the OK. The electrician will probably put a single 10a GPO in and give you one circuit to live on, because the rest are basically exposed and will remain exposed until plasterers put up new Gyprock.

For privacy (only if you absolutely need it) inside, just staple heavy black plastic to the exposed frame. If you do this, it is very important to only put it on one side of the wall, as the frame needs to dry properly.

Council will look after sewage. Leave the toilet a few days, then flush it and clean it.

You’ll have friends helping – that’s what friends are for. Make sure one of them has a camera and they need to document the damage and document everything you dispose of – no matter how small! This is particularly important for electronic items, and they need to photograph serial numbers, too.

You will probably also have a lot of paperwork that is important and worth protecting. This is all stuff you can give to a friend who has a flat-bed scanner (and they need to be a good friend as their scanner is going in the bin when you are finished with it).

Try to scan everything/anything you can, including family photos, title deeds, receipts, tax info and the like. It’s not economical to have a commercial restorer try and salvage this stuff or your computer stuff – just have a savvy friend do their best and accept that if they get a good scan of one document or photo, it’s better than nothing.

8. Rebuilding your house

If you get your house clean, habitable and get some essentials in there, it doesn’t matter how long it takes to get restorers/builders in. In fact, you are freeing them up those resources to help those that may not be able to do it themselves (i.e. the elderly/disabled).

Your house may be a bare frame/shell for a while, but it’s safe, sanitary and you can live in it for the time being. Your insurance will rebuild it, but who knows when and how long it will take? There are crews of restoration guys doing this for insurers, but who knows how long the queue is?

Feel free to copy and redistribute this document as required, it is important that information is shared. We only ask that you credit PerformanceForums (PF) for producing this original document.

VCT/TILE – CLEANING & MAINTENANCE

Daily/ Regular Maintenance:  

1. Sweep or vacuum thoroughly and clean walk-off mats frequently.  
2. Damp mop using a neutral detergent solution.
3. Damp mop with clear water.

Periodic Maintenance:  

1. When needed, scrubbing with an automatic floor machine and appropriate pad
(red for light scrub, blue/green for a deep scrub) or equivalent brushes may also
be performed.  
2. Thoroughly rinse and allow to dry.  
3. If there is sufficient (three to five coats) polish remaining on the floor, buff,
spray-buff or burnish to restore gloss.  
4. If needed, additional coats of floor polish may be applied at this time.

Restorative Maintenance: 

Note: Stripping is the process of removing existing layers of sealer and
finish and should only be performed when routine daily/periodic
procedures are no longer effective.  

1. Scrub the floor with a properly diluted stripping solution using a single-disc floor
machine (300 rpm or less) equipped with a scrubbing pad (blue/green or equal)
or equivalent scrub brush.  
2. Remove dirty stripping solution with a wet vacuum or mop.  
3. Thoroughly rinse the floor with clean water and allow it to dry.  
4. Apply three to five coats of high-quality commercial floor polish. The use of a
high-quality stain-resistant floor Sealer should be considered in areas of high
traffic, soil load and staining potential.
 
 

Adam Westbrook // ideas on digital storytelling and publishing

One of the first and best bits of advice I’ve ever been given has been this: write everything down.

Writing an idea down – making it physical on the page – engages your brain in imaging how that idea might happen. As the words form on the page, you think about logistics, treatments, audiences.

It also gives you the ability to vocalise and understand a problem. If a film you’re making isn’t working for some reason, try and write down why: if you can put your problem into words, you have power over it.

So for the last three years I’ve written ideas down as a matter of routine. I’ve got notebooks upon notebooks, as well as a 50 page Word document on my hard drive full of them. Many of the ideas are now redundant as I’ve moved onto other things, and following last week’s confessional, I…

View original post 581 more words

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Church Cleaning – BCFM

BCFM’s, church cleaning plan can be customized to meet the challenges of your church cleaning needs. We can provide Sunday only cleaning or porter services or we can partners with your staff cleaning to assist with special needs. We understand church scheduling and we are flexible to meet your time requirements. In addition, we can also assist you with additional cleaning for special events such as weddings, funerals or various family events. Building a new church? we are experienced post construction cleaning specialist, we understand that proper care, techniques, and chemical usage dealing with a variety of different surfaces is of the utmost importance. Don’t ask us, our post construction and janitorial church cleaning references. Since 2007.