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Pain Cave - Air Quality and Garage?
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 2017-01-09 5:17 PM |
 185  |  Subject: Pain Cave - Air Quality and Garage?We bought a house this winter, and it came with a great garage that we immediately earmarked for "Gym." Only problem is, it's old and dirty, and I'm worried about the air quality in there. There was some mold in the ceiling which I cut out and painted over, and I'm going through and covering all of the big holes in the ceiling with stapled-on plastic sheeting. After a big run through with the shopvac, we still have: --Some small exposed sections of fiberglass insulation. The drywall on the ceiling doesn't reach all the way to the wall, so there's some exposed sections scattered throughout. --The dryer vent. For some insane reason, the dryer vent dumps into the garage about 20' from the desired workout area. We'll be moving that eventually. --Lots of dust. Shopvac'd everything, but it's going to take a while to get all of the cobwebs and dust out of there. I'm just really sketched out by the idea of putting the trainer down there as it currently is and sucking wind for an hour at a time without having a great grip on the air quality in the space. I have a small room-sized air purifier/filter that I'm going to run for a while in the workout area, but it's not going to cover the whole garage, and it'll also pull in some outside air since the room isn't weather-tight. Are we right to be nervous about the space, or would you just work out in there and forget about it? Is there some kind of air quality test we should run in there? Thanks! Jeff |
| 2017-01-09 5:42 PM in reply to: runningmon |
Master 5557   , California | Subject: RE: Pain Cave - Air Quality and Garage? Testing - get the mold tested / analyzed (make sure it's not a bad one) and get tests for other hazards if you think it's needed, like radon or asbestos. Stuff to do on your own, I'd say the dryer vent is #1, otherwise you're just pumping dust back into the area every time you think it's clean. If there's any moisture getting in, get that sealed up asap to combat mold. And then leave the door open and let it air out if possible. |
| 2017-01-09 5:52 PM in reply to: 0 |
Master 2406 Bellevue, WA | Subject: RE: Pain Cave - Air Quality and Garage? You are right to be worried. They're your lungs, man! You sort of need them. :-) Everything is pointless until you fix the dryer vent. There are length limits to the run. Check an owners manual, or visit http://www.appliance411.com/faq/dryer-vent-length.shtml You have to cover that fiberglass. You DO NOT want to risk breathing that. You have to blow out the place, not just vacuum. My shop vac lets me connect the hose to make an OK blower, or get a real blower. You'll be surprised how much dust remains after the shopvac session. Blow the garage out every day for several days in a row, obviously blowing from back to front out the door, until the no more dust is blowing out. Edited by brucemorgan 2017-01-09 5:54 PM |
| 2017-01-09 6:48 PM in reply to: brucemorgan |
Expert 1074 Tyrone, Georgia | Subject: RE: Pain Cave - Air Quality and Garage? Originally posted by brucemorgan You are right to be worried. They're your lungs, man! You sort of need them. :-) Everything is pointless until you fix the dryer vent. There are length limits to the run. Check an owners manual, or visit http://www.appliance411.com/faq/dryer-vent-length.shtml You have to cover that fiberglass. You DO NOT want to risk breathing that. You have to blow out the place, not just vacuum. My shop vac lets me connect the hose to make an OK blower, or get a real blower. You'll be surprised how much dust remains after the shopvac session. Blow the garage out every day for several days in a row, obviously blowing from back to front out the door, until the no more dust is blowing out. Agree with all that has been said but in blowing out the garage please make sure you are wearing an appropriate dusk mask, half face respirator, or even full face respirator with the correct cartridges installed. Especially for the mold, below is a link from 3M that can help. http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/259815O/molds-and-mold-remediati... |
| 2017-01-09 7:00 PM in reply to: brucemorgan |
Extreme Veteran 657 | Subject: RE: Pain Cave - Air Quality and Garage? I agree with getting checked for mold. You realize all these environmental hazards do get absorbed. Many of them circulate every where in your body. Your liver and kidneys will breakdown most of them, but they'd prefer to be concentrating on other toxins. Two places I've worked out that have worried me in the past were running down a busy street on a calm day with a dense tree canopy, and going by a feedlot on a windy day. You know you're breathing that stuff in and it's going to stay with you for quite awhile.  |
| 2017-01-10 1:02 PM in reply to: NeilsWheel |
| 185 | Subject: RE: Pain Cave - Air Quality and Garage? Thanks, all-- great advice. We'll keep working on it! |
| 2017-01-23 8:51 AM in reply to: spudone |
Expert 1111 Albuquerque, NM | Subject: RE: Pain Cave - Air Quality and Garage? The dryer is pumping warm moist air into your garage... that's probably a huge contributor, if not the complete cause of, your mold issue. Definitely get the vent fixed and check for mold before you work out in there. |
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