Need Help: Anyone Have LOTS of Dust in Their Home? (hardwood floors, house)

[DodgeViper01]

Last year I moved into a home that was built in the 1910s and I have noticed that this home collects dust like a magnet! I have a feeling it has something to do with either the age of the home, the old hardwood floors, or the oil heating system but this is not something I am certain about. Does anyone else have this problem? Anyone have any insight on this matter? I would love to know the reason!!!

[findinghope]

i am guessing you have forced air heat? i did in my last home and everything in the way of the vent would turn black. the best thing to do if this is the case is to get the ducts cleaned

[stevemorse]

I think I may have some answers!!! I had an old wreck 1919 craftsman, the walls were plaster and this causes more dust!! Also its not as sealed due to gaps in hardwood floors, also a fireplace if ashes or pushed underneath like this old wreck had a trap door and you would push ashes into it and it would kinda go in an under the house outside crawl space well think on a windy day!!

[sj3]

I dont know. My home is 5 years old and when we first moved in we loved the fact that there was virutally no dust.
But, we have gained a few kids :lol and plenty of "things" and WOW - this is the dustiest house! I dust the main areas where we spend our time at least twice a day and vacuum those areas twice a day (at least) and still it is constant.

[findinghope]

maybe you can get an ionic breeze. i have one in each bedroom and you wouldnt believe the dust it collects.
i also find that now that i have carpeting, it gets more dusty around here. i miss the hardwoods in my previous home

[Geoff MRT]

Old homes produce their own dust. They're made of compacted dust and as you walk through them, they slowly disintegrate back into dust.

Seriously, old homes have a lot of dust for all the reasons mentioned. You could talk to an HVAC contractor about getting your ducts cleaned and upgrade the filtering system on your home to electronic filtering. It works on the same principal as bug zappers but not as violent. It literally vaporizes the dust. All you have to do is clean the elements occasionally.

[DodgeViper01]

Originally Posted by stevemorse

I think I may have some answers!!! I had an old wreck 1919 craftsman, the walls were plaster and this causes more dust!! Also its not as sealed due to gaps in hardwood floors, also a fireplace if ashes or pushed underneath like this old wreck had a trap door and you would push ashes into it and it would kinda go in an under the house outside crawl space well think on a windy day!!

Plaster here too. I figured overall the older home produced the dust. It is just a pain since I came from a newer home and never had this problem. At first I thought that it was because of the wood floors but have since through out that idea.

[stevemorse]

yep, had an old wreck and ohh my lord the dust. When the sun shined inside boy the stuff you could see!! I was amazed and wondered what the heck!! Its the plaster walls, and all the gaps. I know I did everything then moved out of the old plaster walled wreck!!

[Summering]

Originally Posted by sj3

I dont know. My home is 5 years old and when we first moved in we loved the fact that there was virutally no dust.
But, we have gained a few kids :lol and plenty of "things" and WOW - this is the dustiest house! I dust the main areas where we spend our time at least twice a day and vacuum those areas twice a day (at least) and still it is constant.

You definately need the ducts cleaned. We have the same problem with the heat pump system in SC. Dust everywhere, and I am allergic to it.
They advertize cleaning the ducts, and believe me they get a lot of debris in them. They also have a sealing program. For people with crawl spaces, they seal off the dirt area. They run full page ads in SC for this service, and it is so, so, needed.

[sligogirl]

My contracted told me, my house was solid, BUT, had rock wall. Rock wall is a cement/plastered wall with NO
insulation. I dust, and one day later it re-appears.
My neighbor ripped this stuff out and there was even metal lathe in between the 2x's and the plaster/rock wall. YIKES!!