Jeff Whittemore, Founder and CEO at ZipWall, explores the benefits of using a complete dust barrier system to protect the home.
A recent survey from Hiscox reports that more people would rather remodel their current home than buy a new one – despite the potential disruption and mess. When homeowners look into hiring a contractor their attitude towards a clean workspace therefore often ranks highly, alongside the skill level, the cost of the work and timescales. That’s why, when working on a residential job, it is important to uphold a duty of care, not just for the area where the work is taking place, but also for the rest of the home.
The risk of damage
High-energy tools (like electric saws) can produce a lot of dust in a very short amount of time. Without a dust control strategy in place, the ultra-fine particles – that can be up to 70,000 times thinner than a human hair – have the potential to cause costly damage within a customer’s home.
Dust is hygroscopic, meaning that it has the ability to absorb moisture. Therefore, the specks of dust given off during renovations or remodelling can suck up liquid and subsequently disperse that liquid wherever the fleck settles. This can have a devastating effect on furniture and can also tarnish mirrors, stain marble and cause damage to wood furnishings. Working in a tidy fashion is therefore paramount; ensuring all surfaces in and around your workspace are protected, to avoid any expensive remedial work further down the line.
Reputation and professionalism
A great deal of mess can be created during remodelling or demolition jobs, and so providing a duty of care to the client demonstrates that you respect their home as much as they do. Taking the time to set up a dust barrier system minimises disruption and ensures that both the property and occupants are protected. By putting the customer experience first and making the building work as pain-free as possible, this approach will lead to more referrals; making incorporating a dust barrier solution a smart business decision.
A complete solution
With builders often working on a single area of a house at a time, dust barriers are an ideal solution. Whether you are creating dust from sanding, drilling or cutting, specialist systems are an easy and more effective solution to tape and plastic sheeting.
Incorporating a dust protection solution – such as the ZipWall Dust Barrier System – is strongly recommended. The system features spring-loaded poles and enables builders to secure a dust barrier in place by fixing a plastic sheet to the pole, adjusting the height as needed and twisting to lock the pole in position. This eliminates the need for tape – saving a great deal of time on site whilst reducing the possibility of damage to the client’s property.
When selecting a dust barrier solution, it is strongly advised to pick a system that is flexible. As builders know, no two jobs are the same and so no two dust protection plans should be the same. As such, flexibility is at the core of the ZipWall Dust Barrier System.
The poles are fully extendable and can form dust barriers up to 6.1m high and can be installed as wide as required for the application. For entering and exiting a workspace without spreading dust, self-adhesive zippers create openings in the barriers whilst ZipDoor kits are ideal for sealing off existing doors.
The system also features a number of add-ons, such as adhesive mats that are specially designed to remove dust from footwear and wheels; a range of products to quickly secure and seal a barrier without tape, and ZipFast – a green alternative to plastic sheeting.
Putting the customer first and providing a duty of care is crucial for builders undertaking any residential project. Dust can damage property and cause the client additional anxiety. Contractors implementing a robust dust control strategy – such as a barrier system – can be assured that they will be making the process of building work comfortable for the client whilst providing them with a service worthy of a referral.
