Several of you asked me to share the system that my engineer neighbor came up with to prevent dust coming all thru the house.

First, here is what the finished screen looks like. You will need to build three poles, as show in the below picture. One for each edge and one in the middle.

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Each pole consists of two pole pieces. One is slightly smaller than the other. In other words, you could push the smaller pole inside the larger one. Kind of like the way a curtain rod might work. You are going to create a spring where the larger and smaller pole connect. In order to do this, you will need a washer, a spring and the screw tightener (sorry I don't know what this is called). I am hoping you can show the hardware store clerk the picture. As you can see, the washer sits on the edge of the larger pipe. It allows the smaller pipe to fit inside the larger pipe, but prevents the spring from going anywhere. The screw thing holds the smaller pipe in place.

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At the end of the poles, you may want to put some kind of protectant. My neighbor used duct tape and the rubber things that are at the end of crutches.

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You will now cut your painter's plastic, which should be wide enough to cover the area you are screening plus an additional couple of feet. It should be long enough to reach the ceiling to the floor, plus two feet. To set the first pole, position your plastic to the edge + 12 inches. The extra 12 inches are to be taped to the wall. Where the top of the pole will meet the plastic, wrap the plastic with strong duct tape. This is so the tension of the pole does not rip the plastic. Squeeze down on the pole, place the taped area over the top of the pole. Release and now the first pole is in place. Do the same thing for the middle pole and the other end pole. Remember to have around 12 inches extra, to tape on the other wall. This should provide a taught screening area, which acts as a temporary wall.

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On the bottom, wrap the extra plastic around a 2 x 4, or another heavy object.

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Now to create the wind source. Place a boxed window fan in another room and in front of an open window. Seal off any extra open areas if you can. Close all other windows and doors in other rooms. This creates wind to push back any dust that might escape the plastic. Note the cardboard on top of the open window. It does not have to be exact. After the fan is on, you should see the painter's plastic being pushed in the direction of the wind.

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To wrap up, in my pictures, the system is not as neat as I would like. That is because I put it up on the third day of the remodel. So I really didn't have a clear area to work with. Also depending on the thickness of the plastic, you may have to do repairs. Also the plastic was placed close to where the workers are working. In hindsight I would have placed it further away, so they don't rip it.

This works and is not as complicated as it reads. I tried to be very detailed in the explanation, but the whole thing took 15 minutes to set up.

Karin