Has anyone used a "dust free" tile remover contractor? We have 30 year old Saltillo tile and about 2000 sq feet. If this process is legit, I'll try to find a contractor in my area who will do it this way.

Probably a stupid question, but are their tile contractors who just ignore the dust and let it get everywhere? I've never actually had any removed, but I've talked to contractors before who basically said they put up plastic sheeting everywhere and used fans to suck the dust out of the room to the outside. I do not know why you would NOT want that done.

tell them someone in the house has asthma.

Highway6 said:

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Has anyone used a "dust free" tile remover contractor? We have 30 year old Saltillo tile and about 2000 sq feet. If this process is legit, I'll try to find a contractor in my area who will do it this way.

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Almost used DustRam to come out and remove my tile flooring. They have a bunch of good patents on dust reduction technology on their tools. They're very strict about their franchisees as well.

I was just too cheap and since when we weren't living in the house yet I did it myself and just cleaned my mess up.

By all accounts, it looks like these guys do good work.

My GC used CleanAir in SA to do ours this summer. It was all in a closed off section of our house and there was still plenty of dust on the other side of the sealed door closing it off. Not sure if that means it was worth it or not. Maybe it would have been way worse without "dust-free". It was mostly just noticeable on the wood floors so I guess it could have ben a lot worse and I trust our GC's opinion that it was worth it.

When I did dust free removal of tile several years ago I was shocked at the cleanliness of the process. The only dust in the house was from removing carpet in a bedroom. I highly recommend it.

Thank you! I am going to look into it further. We're out at a lake, so might have trouble getting someone but that's the story of life in the country.

I was quoted $5 sq ft to demo using "dustless"
obviously I didn't do that

OP what are you going to replace with ?

I removed about 250 sq ft in my kitchen a few years ago and ground the old thinset up with virtually no dust. Then last week I had a contractor remove about 350 sq ft and ground off the thinset with no detectable dust. It's fairly routine with all the contractors that bid my job- no extra charge. They put up plastic to adjoining areas but it wasn't necessary.

It's not that hard. You use a diamond cup grinding wheel on an angle grinder with a vacuum shroud over the head of the grinder. Connect the shroud to a shop vac. The real secret is to have the correct bags and filters in the shop vac- gotta have a bag for fine dust like ashes, drywall, etc.

We're most likely going back with tile. Lake house, but we live here full time now. All the kids bring their dogs when they visit or I'd seriously consider wood.

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Lake house, but we live here full time now.

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We moved to ours full time, too. Been procrastinating a major renovation for a year. We go between "it's pretty OK as it is" and "sure would like to vault this ceiling, sheetrock the house (painted paneling now), put in new floors.........."

Not sure what will win out. I mean, we're comfortable & it's just the 2 of us, but it could be nicer.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dustopper-High-Efficiency-Cyclonic-Dust-Separator-12-in-Dia-with-2-5-in-hose-36-in-long-with-2-Sweep-Elbows-HD12A/315749552

Those work really well for dust pre cleaning. Hooks up before air enters vacuum. This plus a hood over a grinder and a good shop vac and filter should do the trick.

jtraggie99 said:

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Probably a stupid question, but are their tile contractors who just ignore the dust and let it get everywhere? I've never actually had any removed, but I've talked to contractors before who basically said they put up plastic sheeting everywhere and used fans to suck the dust out of the room to the outside. I do not know why you would NOT want that done.

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Dust is one of my biggest problems on a remodel where we're only touching portions of the house. We put up plastic sheathing, build temporary walls, use fans and vacuums and other sorts of mitigation efforts.

That stuff still finds every leaky part of our set ups.


I'd hire our a ductless removal group to do my own home, if I had the option.

Follow up...

This is not a project we'd DIY. I did find a guy out of DFW who will do it for $4 a sq/yd if we have a dumpster brought in. The dumpster is necessary for other parts of our job--we're remodeling bathrooms, too--so that works for us. Got a good vibe from this gentleman, so I think we might give him a try. We're not rushing into anything. Want to be certain about our flooring choice and its availability, but the flooring issue is a big expense and big decision.

We have a grandson who spends a lot of time here who has significant lung issues. I'll spend money to cut down on dust.

Thanks for the input! Love TexAgs!!!