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IAQ: Dust free cutting & demo of plater and expanded metal lath?

Alexander_Riccio | Posted in Green Building Techniques on

Anybody have any tips or ideas for dust free cutting and demoing walls made from plaster with an expanded metal (mesh/diamond) lath?

I’ve (finally) gotten very good at dust-free drywall work: I’ve figured out how to capture dust at the source for basically every part of it except cutting “v” edges on butt joints and shaving edges down tiny bits.

I can’t figure out equivalent options for dealing with the stiff steel lath in some of these 1960s plaster walls. The steel lath itself entirely prevents me from using my excellent Makita drywall cutout saw (it would wreck the blade immediately) and I’m very not sure it’s a good idea to use a grinder (spewing metal sparks) with a normal dust collection setup. 

I know this isn’t itself an energy efficiency question, but a big part of the reason why I got good at dust free drywall work is so that I could air seal giant gaps I find behind drywall in occupied spaces, which is wildly wildly easier if I don’t need to spend most of my time setting up attempted containment and then cleaning dust off of every surface inside AND outside the contained space.

It’s also probably helpful that other people who are trying to build more efficient buildings are the type to consider things like this when few in the larger construction and renovation industry do. There’s gotta be a way to do this – it’s not the most complex scientific problem in the world, just few others seem to care about it.

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Replies

  1. walta100 | | #1

    I consider it a victory if I can remove the metal lathe without spilling my blood.

    Dust free seems impossible but maybe you are more motivated than I am.

    Consider taping a box fan in the window so the room is under negative pressure and expelling the dusty air from the house.

    Walta

  2. Alexander_Riccio | | #2

    Oh yeah, I've been doing the room-scale air management thing for a long time. But it's *never* as effective as capturing the dust at the source...

    How do you usually remove or cut it? A grinder?

  3. cs55 | | #3

    "I’m very not sure it’s a good idea to use a grinder (spewing metal sparks) with a normal dust collection setup. "

    https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/combustibledustposter.pdf

    the plaster dust isn't combustible, the metal technically is.

    i'm not smart enough to say whether or not the metal "dust" from cutting metal mesh would ever be enough to cause a fire/explosion.

    would something like https://www.amazon.com/HIGHDRIL-Diamond-All-Purpose-Grinding-Stainless/dp/B09H6MPTG4

    +

    https://www.grainger.com/product/MILWAUKEE-Grinding-Dust-Shroud-For-Use-404M83

    work? description says it works on concrete and metal.

  4. walta100 | | #4

    When I ran into it was small areas around corners and such. I beat it with a hammer until the plaster was gone then I could see the nails and pull them.

    Walta

    1. paulmagnuscalabro | | #6

      +1 to that, Walta. Some hammering to free up access to fasteners is what I've always done. Still not easy work, and like you I consider it a big win if I'm not bleeding by the end.

      Alexander:
      One note about using a grinder: if you can find a wheel that'll work without getting immediately destroyed, I wouldn't worry about igniting plaster dust, but I would worry about any metal sparks flying towards glass / windows. Those little bits of hot metal can embed themselves in glass, or otherwise hit it hot enough that it leaves it pitted (ask me how I learned this...).

  5. Expert Member
    Akos | | #5

    One of the 3" or 5" masonry saws with a dust shroud and a segmented diamond blade. Something like this:

    https://www.makita.ca/index2new.php?event=tool&id=3890&catid=9

    Near impossible to do any plaster work without dust, but with a good shopvac, it will catch most of it.

    As a side note from one of the demo crews. One of the better ways to pull wire mesh plaster off is with a pickaxe. That one is definitely a dusty job.

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