How to Clean Up Construction Dust After Building Work

Construction dust behaves unlike ordinary dust: it is finer, it stays airborne for hours and it settles for days after the work has stopped. That is why one clean is never enough, and anyone who has washed a flat the same evening the builders left has washed it again two days later.

What you need

• Floor cleaner — matched to the surface
• Washing-up liquid — 1 teaspoon per 5 litres for glass and tiles
• White vinegar 9 % — for cement haze on tiles

• A vacuum with a bag and a HEPA filter
• Several mop heads and a bucket
• Microfibre cloths, a stack of them
• A mask and gloves

Time: 8 hours for a one-bedroom flat, spread over two or three passes.

Step by step

1. Wait a day. Let the airborne dust settle, otherwise you will be cleaning the same surfaces twice.
2. Ventilate and protect yourself. A mask is not optional: fine cement and gypsum dust damages the lungs.
3. Work top down. Ceiling, light fittings, walls, furniture, skirting, floor. Any other order means doing it twice.
4. Vacuum before washing. Wet dust becomes a grey paste that spreads rather than lifts.
5. Wash in several passes. The first takes the bulk, the second what settled during the first, the third finishes it. Change the water constantly.
6. Come back in two days. A final pass over the horizontal surfaces — that is when the last of the airborne dust has landed.

Method 2 — the hidden places

The dust that keeps coming back after a clean sits in four places: radiator fins, the drainage slots at the bottom of window frames, ventilation grilles and the tops of door frames. Each is cleared with a brush and a narrow nozzle. Miss them and the dust returns with every draught and every time the heating comes on, which is what makes a flat feel dusty for months after the work.

Method 3 — cement and plaster residue

Cement haze on tiles is removed with an acidic tile cleaner, never on natural stone. Splashes of plaster and filler are softened with water and lifted with a plastic spatula rather than scraped dry. Paint on glass comes off with a blade on wet glass at 30 degrees. Everything mechanical happens after the dust has been washed off — a blade over dusty glass scratches it.

What to avoid

• A bagless vacuum. Fine dust destroys the motor and passes straight through the filter back into the room.
• Cleaning the same day. Airborne dust settles onto what you have just washed.
• Working without a mask. This is a health matter, not a comfort one.
• One bucket of water for the whole flat. After two rooms you are spreading dust rather than removing it.

Why it takes longer than expected

The area to be washed after building work is several times the visible floor: every wall, every top of every cupboard, the inside of every radiator, all the glass. And each surface is washed two or three times, because dust settles between passes. Hence the usual figure of a full day for a small flat, with hands that are not doing anything difficult — only doing it repeatedly.

The second factor is disposal. Bags of dusty material, offcuts and packaging do not go into the household bins, and that is a separate trip.

When to call a cleaner

Post-renovation cleaning is priced by area at UAH 150 per square metre with a minimum order of UAH 3,000: dust in the joints, mortar on the floor, several passes over every surface, and a team rather than one person. Windows after building work are a separate item at UAH 450 instead of the usual 320, because film, tape and paint come off by hand. We do not remove building waste — that is a skip, not a cleaner.

Frequently asked questions

How long after building work should I clean?

Wait a day for the dust to settle, then plan on two or three passes over several days.

Can I use an ordinary vacuum?

Only one with a bag and a HEPA filter. Fine dust kills a bagless machine and blows back into the room.

What does post-renovation cleaning cost?

UAH 150 per square metre, minimum order UAH 3,000. Windows are UAH 450 each on top.