How dusty and smelly is tile floor removal and installation?

[kanonka]

I did this myself in my house
First of all, process is not smelly (well, almost; there is some very light smell (nothing unpleasant though), but no "fumes"). But, it is extremely dusty. When I was pulling tiles out, I had all floor covered with quite thick layer of water hoping to prevent dust. Well, it works to some extent when you pop tiles up - dust was minimal (but still there was some). But you cannot lay new tile over old mortar/thinset - it has to be removed. And that process is extremely dusty no matter what you do. Even with floor covered with water dust still goes into the air and in quite big amounts. I was wearing the best painters mask available, and still was coughing out dust after I was done with thinset removal. There is no way in the world I would recommend pregnant woman to be around during the process.

Putting new tile, on another hand, is completely dust-free (provided you mix new thinset outdoors or in the garage).

[Rickcin]

Originally Posted by ansible90

Where do you set up the fan? I would think that will just blow the dust all over.

The fan gets set up at the window or door area blowing out so that it draws the dust into through the fan. You can rent a fan for this use and or even rent an negative air fan ( with a hepa filter if requested) that will provide negative air pressure in the room to exhaust all air particles.

As another poster has mentioned that this is an extremely dusty process regardless, is absolutely incorrect! They just are unaware oof the correct method and procedures that need to be followed.
It happens all the time on commercial sites with OSHA’s enforcement of air quality monitoring.