shop air, VOCs and baby...

[drumpriest]

I now have a new baby boy in the house. A couple of shop related questions arise...

1. Am I keeping the dust from things such as plywood (resin glue dust) out of the house enough?

2. VOC issues with finishing??

Now, as for 1, I dunno what more I could do, honestly, the shop is 1st floor, attached to house, but insulated wall with exterior door between the shop and house. Jet canister filter DC1100, about 14' run max, jet air cleaner, and a fan that vents to outside if needed. What else can I really do? Also have a shop vac w/ heppa filter that I use for hand held electric tools.

As for the VOC's though, bigger issue. I "finished" a project just before Harry was born/surgically removed, and it would have been out of the house had he not been 3 weeks early. The fumes are not noticable in the house from the off gassing, and I run a fan to the outside daily to clear the shop air. (first few days, it ran constantly, but then temps dropped to the teens again around here.

I am thinking that poly finishes are fine, if they completely cure in the shop in this fashion before coming into the house, problem is that means about a month per project sitting in the shop. Any input? Obviously I could use wateer acrylic finishes, but honestly, they are not as tough, and don't amber like oils, any input appreciated.

I suppose this is more about a discussion of such things than a direct set of questions...

[jackellis]

If the shop is detached from the house, or at least isolated by a door that mostly remains closed, what you do in the shop should not bother the baby. If you really want to be careful, you might consider wearing coveralls in the shop that you remove before coming inside so that the sawdust on your clothes mostly remains outside the house.

I personally prefer water-based finishes precisely because they're easier to clean up and don't produce the odors oil-based finishes do. If you're concerned about the volatiles that oil-based finishes produce, and you probably should be for a newborn, then either switch to water or keep them outside until they've fully cured. I don't think there's a way to speed up the process, though someone else might.

[LCHIEN]

The obvious: keep the door to the house closed when not transporting yourself into the house, use your dust collection and air cleaner. Should keep most of the dust from the house.

[LarryG]

Less obvious: make sure the shop's fan does not exhaust near or upwind of a fresh air intake for the house. The mechanical codes typically require a 10' minimum separation between such things; more distance is better; having the exhaust downwind (WRT however the prevailing wind prevails in your area) of the intake is better yet.

If you were getting finishing fumes in the house because of this, you'd no doubt notice it. Simple fine dust, you might not.

[JR]

Is there any chance that air from the shop could "leak" into the house? Under sill plates, through switch plates, etc.?

You might look at the adjoining wall as you would if weather sealing your house. Just a thought.

I am in the dog-house this morning for lighting up a Churchill in the shop last night. It was double-frosty when I came to bed to find the window wide open, and LOML... well, you know.

JR

[mschrank]

As far as dust collection, sounds like you're doing a pretty complete job.

Regarding VOC's in finishes, I'm going to sound like a broken record here and refer you to my Hydrocote thread.

I really encourage you to give it a try. For my part--based on your previous recommendations-- I've added Seal-a-Cell and Arm-R-Seal to my list of things to pick up when I go to Woodcrafters in the Big City this weekend.

When my first child was born, I suddenly became aware of all the "dangers" in the world he could be subjected to. I remember my brother (who has three kids) laughing at my wife and I as we fretted over getting sunblock slathered on his little head during a family camping trip. He's now 5 and we also have a 2 yr-old girl, and we're much more relaxed. Point is: do all you can, but don't let yourself get too caught up with it.

if they completely cure in the shop in this fashion before coming into the house, problem is that means about a month per project sitting in the shop. Any input?

Now that you have a lil one, leaving projects untouched in the shop for a month is probably going to be the norm rather than the exception.

[atgcpaul]

My shop is detached from the house but I've gone as "natural" as I can
regarding finishing. Gel stains not withstanding, I'm using BLO, shellac, and
water based lacquer. I don't flood on the BLO and the shellac does a great
job blocking the smells. The WB lacquer has its own odor but it dissipates
much faster than regular poly. For me I can't smell it after 2 days. Even less
if I open the shop doors when I'm spraying.

Paul

[MilDoc]

Dust is one thing and do what you can to avoid it getting into the house (close doors, etc, as mentioned).

Use low VOC products - newer ones coming on the market all the time. But just because you can't smell it doesn't mean it's not in the air.

VOC concentrations in a home depend on a lot of factors, such as how tightly sealed the home is, the temperature and humidity level (higher temp = more outgassing), etc. And many household products are VOC emitters, including carpet, furniture, some plastics, cleaning chemicals, air fresheners, newspaper, vinyl floors or furniture, printers, caulks, adhesives, even cosmetics and cooking.

Given the "normal" level of VOCs in most homes from the above things, I wouldn't worry too much if you stick with low VOC finishes, water based finishes, etc, have good ventilation to the outdoors when using them, keep shop doors to the home closed, etc.

[wardprobst]

Keith,

Paul's reply makes sense but be aware that almost all finishes contain some form of nasty. In particular, it's best to keep the little one from crawling anywhere near your finishing area, most VOCs are heavier than air and settle at the lower part of the area. Also applies to pets for those who have them.
DP

[GaryA]

Keith - I've recently gone through the same concerns around air quality and what type of finish I use, as well as painting that we're doing inside the house on the walls. Here in Tampa (check to see if there is one in your area) there is a store called ICI Paints that mainly sells to contractors, but they will also sell to consumers. ICI is the parent company of Glidden, Dulux, Devoe and many others - www.icipaints.com . They have a line called Lifemaster (used to be under the Glidden brand, now under Dulux looks like (see last link):

There is enough compelling information on VOCs for me to be a believer in what I use at least in the house. Here are a few articles that I had bookmarked:

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_paints.htm
http://www.immuneweb.org/articles/icipaint.html (article a bit old, but good perspective)
here is the product page for Lifemaster paint: (towards the bottom)
http://www.duluxpaints.com/listFeatu...productFeature

Not quite sure how this will translate into my projects yet (this is a recent find for me) - but being water based, and that I am doing a lot of painted furniture type projects/built-ins now, i'm going to give it a shot in my HVLP when next project goes to finish. Hope this helps.

Gary

[JimD]

I agree with Mike on both of his inputs. Resisthane is great finish. No odor and dries fast - an hour. I did not see any on the Hood site but there are additives for at least some water based finishes to get the amber cast that some find attractive.

My babies are 25 and 23. I used oil finishes when they were little because that is all there was. You need to take care of those you love but also recognize that they are not as fragile as you may think initially. Common sense and listening to your parents will go a long ways.

If you house is as leaky as most, it changes air at least every several hours and possibly multiple times an hour. If that is true, whatever leaks in will be rapidly dissipated. If you house is super tight, you need an air to air system to change the air while pre-heating or cooling the incoming air by passing it past the outgoing air. You do not need it just because of your woodworking, however. If you range is gas, it gives off carbon monoxide and dioxide. Cleaners give off fumes. There are lots of sources of things that nobody should breath much of. For a normal house, it is no big deal but for a really tight house, they could be a problem. Woodworking dust and fumes would be at most part of the problem.

Jim