Dust Free vs. Dustless Flooring Removal
A Brief Run-Through of the Traditional Tile Removal Method
If you’re considering replacing your commercial or residential flooring, these are the three tile removal methods you should know about: Traditional Removal, Virtually Dustless Removal, and Dust Free Removal. In this article, we will examine the differences between dust-free and virtually dustless tile removal and briefly cover the nuances of the traditional method as well. We’ll explore what makes each method distinct from the other, and follow along with DustRam® for the inside scoop.
As the name might suggest, the Traditional Tile Removal method is the most antiquated and riskiest flooring removal process. It exposes workers and homeowners to massive amounts of carcinogenic silica dust. Traditional methods utilize pry bars, hand tools, and hanging plastic to pry the tile off the floor. It also does not comply with OSHA standards and exposure requirements.
Traditional tile removal is an old-fashioned tile removal methodology that uses outdated technology and equipment to take out your floor. This method does not capture sufficient silica dust to keep your house and family safe from exposure.
When silica dust escapes into the air, it circulates your home via the HVAC system, spreading to all surfaces, windows, clothes, shoes, carpet, furniture, pantry, cabinets, and much more. Even worse, as the dust circulates through the HVAC, you’ll breathe it in and lodge it into your lungs.
Inhaling silica dust has been linked with various severe respiratory ailments, including lung cancer, COPD, silicosis, etc. Additionally, the spreading of silica dust will inadvertently create a hidden cost of cleaning the mess. You’ll have to pay for dry cleaning and professional maid services to remove the dust lurking in your home. Additionally, the clean-up can take months to years to get done, a process that will cost a significant amount of money in the long run.
Dust Free tile removal is superior floor prep and tile removal without the dust. Choose DustRam®.
Traditional tile removal releases hundreds of pounds of carcinogenic dust back into the air
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Differences Between Virtually Dustless & Dust Free Flooring Removal
DUSTLESS
DUST FREE
#1. Virtually Dustless
The dustless process is pre-defined as virtually dustless. This means that while you cannot physically see the dust traveling through your home, it’s still there. The processes and technology of virtually dustless removal filter up to 99.97% of the dust using HEPA filters, that’s true. However, that does not make this process dust-free … How much of that filtered dust is being captured and contained? Because virtually dustless tile removal methods have not been OSHA-tested for air quality, there is no way to know how much dust they are capturing on the job.
#1. Truly Dust Free
Not only does the DustRam® system filter out 99.97% of the dust produced during the tile removal process, it also CAPTURES 99.99995% of it. Our vacuums suck up the dust at the production source and retain it. The DustRam® system is OSHA Certified with Field Testing Results that prove our processes are truly DUST-FREE. Our system is actually 50X below the permissible exposure limits as laid down by OSHA. We are the inventor of the dust free method and specially designed equipment and tools to capture dust at the highest rates in existence.
#2. Unhealthy
Knowing that the process is not dust free, one can gather that this method for removing flooring is not the safest due to exposure. The dustless tile removal process simply means it sucks up more dust than traditional methods but not enough to be deemed dust-free. The equipment and techniques are outdated and are not designed to capture the dust at the source. The silica dust that escapes and gets released into the home puts one at risk for developing dangerous diseases such as Silicosis, COPD, lung cancer, kidney disease, and much more.
#2. Healthy
Our DustRam® tile removal system chips away the tile and uses the patented vacuum sucks up the dust at production, ensuring the dust is never released back into the air. This negates crystalline dust ending up on your ceiling, the pantry, shoes, clothes, vent, or any surface in your home. Our dust-free process is designed to be effective and environmentally friendly.
We guarantee dust-free tile removal every time because your health and the health of our workers is a top priority.
#3. Not OSHA Tested For Air Quality
Dustless contractors need to manually clean out their equipment. Since the vacuum is placed in the home, the process can be messy and cause the release of silica dust. That’s why the process is called virtually dustless rather than dust free.
#3. OSHA Compliant – Air Quality Tested ✓
DustRam® is not only OSHA compliant but also surpasses the exposure limit set by OSHA standards. We are the only proven dust free provider in the world. Our system of tools and equipment plus our methodology are all unique and created for the sole purpose of preventing exposure to carcinogenic tile dust. We invented dust free!
#4. Expensive Hidden Costs
When tens to hundreds of pounds of dust are released, it gets distributed throughout the home. Consequently, inhalation becomes inevitable. As such, this dustless process exposes you, your family, and your pets to the carcinogenic substance. The cost to your health makes these dust-free processes risky. Aside from the health cost associated with paying hospital bills, you’ll incur a considerable cost in paying for necessary professional cleaning sessions that typically go on for months to years.
#4. No Hidden Costs
DustRam® services do not have any hidden costs associated. In fact, when you consider dust-free tile removal, we offer a cost advantage compared to our competitors. We capture 99.99% of the dust meaning we do not expose you to the dust. We also leave your subfloor better prepared (flatter and smoother) making the installation process easier. An unwell-prepared subfloor can cause many foundational issues in the future. Along with this, you also won’t have to worry about developing respiratory diseases, racking up hospital bills, and costs from needing professional cleaning services to remove the dust. DustRam® gets the job done right the first time.
#5. Outdated Equipment
Dustless tile removal processes use vacuums designed and made for concrete polishing services. As such, they use a vacuum system rated at 265 CFM. Additionally, they have to purge their vacuums periodically manually.
The processes also involve using subpar metals, an adapter for tools, hanging plastics, and a negative air machine. As such, dustless tile removal is not as effective in preventing crystalline silica, as DUST-FREE processes.
#5. Advanced Patented Technology Designed for Dust Free Tile Removal
DustRam® owns over 26 patents (and counting) on tools and equipment. Additionally, all of our equipment is USA-made, ensuring the equipment is manufactured to strict standards. For instance, our vacuums are rated at 311 CFM, making them much more effective and efficient at capturing crystalline dust. Our equipment uses industrial-grade grinding shrouds and adapters, ensuring you experience dust-free flooring removal every step of the way.
We also give your floor excellent preparation. We leave you with a smoother and flatter floor with a thin-set grind to the concrete slab and the resulting scarification. This creates the perfect surface for adhesion to the new floor.
#6. Rookie Mistakes During The Tile Flooring Removal
Contractors using dustless systems will inadvertently make mistakes. Unfortunately, such contractors do not know they lack certain knowledge and experience to provide the safest, healthiest, and most efficient results to the customer.
With the above in mind, you need to ask yourself, are the small upfront savings worth it?
#6. Research And Development
DustRam® is the pioneer of the dust-free tile removal industry. Our success is pegged on extensive research and development of the dust free system, with a keen interest in producing a system with the highest airflow, excellent velocity diffusion, and an anti-clogging design. As such, we hold over 26 design and utility patents related to our system. Our tile removal systems utilize a range of proprietary equipment that our competitors can only try to imitate.
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Which Flooring Removal System Is More Powerful?
1. Filtering and Capturing Dust are NOT THE SAME!
Almost all contractors use HEPA filters to filter out crystalline silica dust. However, a HEPA filter does not translate to dust-free tile removal processes. For a process to be truly dust free, it needs to CAPTURE the dust and not just filter it out. While it might be true that contractors use HEPA filters to filter 99.97% of the dust, the actual task is to capture the dust and not release it back into the atmosphere.
Dustless companies do not adequately understand the rate of dust capture their system achieves without conducting air quality tests. We always advise customers to ask for air quality tests to prove how dustless they are. The main difference between virtually dustless and dust-free tile removal is the vacuum used to suck up, filter, and capture the dust.
2. Dustless Contractors Do Not Use Advanced Automatic Self-Cleaning Systems
DustRam® uses a patented vacuum – the PulseRam® – which allows contractors to CAPTURE over 99.99995% of the silica dust produced. The PulseRam® vacuum system is self-cleaning, negating the need for opening it mid-job to unclog the filters. On the other hand, dustless contractors typically have to open their vacuum system multiple times to clean the filters and remove the captured dust.
Opening up the vacuum and unclogging allows dust to escape and release it back into the air. Remember that silica dust is so minute that particles can escape through the vacuum exhaust. DustRam®s patented PulseRam® vacuums, are placed outdoors. Importantly, we discard the filter and capture dust far away from your home, ensuring we protect your home, and you from exposure to silica.
The PulseRam® Vacuum’s dust-capturing capabilities are revolutionary in the tile removal industry. It captures the resulting dust and self-auto cleans itself every 5 seconds. This is unlike the dustless system, where the contractors must manually purge the equipment before it clogs ups and malfunctions.
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The Vacuum System Is The Most Critical Part Of The System During Floor Removal Processes
1. A High Cubic Feet Per Minute Captures More Dust
The Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) rating refers to the air volume quantity flowing through the vacuum. The higher performance rating of our PulseRam® makes our system more effective and robust.
PulseRam® has a content and utility patent allowing the vacuum to perform up to 311 CFM, which puts us a cut above our competition. It creates more suction, allowing more volume of air and dust to enter the vacuum system. Notably, the vacuum system maintains a high CFM rating throughout the job, resulting in faster, better, and cleaner tile removal.
On the other hand, dustless companies typically use the Ermator S-26s or the Husqvarna. This tends to be 15% less efficient than our patented PulseRam® system. And since a higher CFM rating system is more effective, DustRam®’s patented system is your best bet as it captures most of the dust.
2. Dustless Systems Need A Periodic Manual HEPA Filters Purge, & DustRam® Doesn’t
Vacuums used by dustless contractors require a manual purge of the filters. As such, operators only know that it’s time to purge the filter when they experience a loss of suction. Unfortunately, thousands of particles are dispersed throughout your home when suction loss sets in. To yield a dustless process, a vacuum system must maintain a minimum of 285 CFM throughout the job. However, most dustless vacuums drop their CFM to 265 during the job.
To avoid the loss of suction and the subsequent release of dust, dustless contractors modify their systems by installing pre-separators. They must add an extra 8-15′ hose to enhance suction. Unfortunately, all these modifications lead to a 15% loss of suction, reducing the efficiency of the system can create and the amount of dust it can suction.
DustRam® on the other hand is the inventor of the dust-free method and the technology that protects you from dust. We are the expert and the only entity whose systems can capture dust at the source at a high rate every single time. We care about you and our worker’s health. Find a DustRam® certified and factory-trained contractor in your city.
DustRam® Is Without A Doubt, the Most Powerful and Efficient Tile Removal System and Method in Existence. No Dust, No Mess!
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Would You Rather Inhale 20 Pounds of Dust or A Quarter Of a Gram of Dust
1. The DustRam® Is Installed On The Chisel – Our PulseRam® Sucks And Collect Dust at a Consistent Rate
The dust-free method that DustRam® employs allows us to capture and suction more dust consistently and constantly throughout the job. As such, we remain 50 times better than OSHA’s set standard of silica exposure limits throughout the floor removal process. Limiting your exposure to crystalline silica is the sole purpose of the creation of our dust-free system. We are this effective because the DustRam® is installed right on the chisel, which means dust is suctioned at the very point of production. Competing systems are not as effective as our system is.
We have over 26 patents on dust-free tools. We’ve optimized every aspect of our system to enhance dust capture, eliminating carcinogenic dust from your indoor air. Our competitors typically use one patented product rather than a fully patented system. This is critical since they cannot control every step of the removal process to ensure silica dust is captured, filtered, and contained. We can!
Every component is essential in preventing silica dust from dispersing, going airborne, and ending up inside your lungs. Whether you’re prying off the floor or collecting the rubble in a tote, to removing the tote from your home, there is potential for creating exposure to silica dust. Our DustRam® is optimized to prevent dust production every step of the way.
2. OSHA Compliance and Air Quality Tests Matter Greatly
It’s not possible to know the accurate rate of dust capture without conducting an OSHA field test.
You have to follow the strict stipulations of the newest standards set by OSHA on permissible silica dust exposure, yet dustless tile removal techs and processes are not OSHA-compliant. For instance, they do not conduct air quality tests that prove the dust capture level and rate. In fact, most dustless contractors are not aware they need to conduct air quality tests. The tests quantify the concentration of crystalline silica in the air, helping you understand your level of dust exposure. With this test, one is able to determine how dust free their process really is.
OSHA has set a permissible exposure limit of 50 μg/m3 in an 8-hour work period. This is down from the previous standards of 100 μg/m3. Additionally, contractors above 25 μg/m3 must establish and implement a silica exposure control plan. The plan should identify the practical methods and process of protecting workers from silica dust exposure. Typically, the program includes restricting access to the workspace.
DustRam® complies with the OSHA 19.26.1153 standards. Additionally, our studies show that our patented systems and equipment exceed these standards. In one study, a job that produced 500 lbs. of crystalline silica dust, our silica dust collection device measured less than ¼ of a gram of silica dust particles. An independent lab verified these test results.
Consider this, if 1 square foot of tile produces a pound of dust, then 1,000 square feet of tile produce 1,000 pounds of the dust. Unless you use a genuinely dust-free contractor, you can expect to be exposed to respirable crystalline silica dust.
Our DustRam® has been tested and proven to be 99.99995% dust free. Our system effectively captures and contains silica dust and will never release it back into the air. Choose DustRam® for a top-quality, best-rated, dust free tile removal that will keep you safe from the dust.