Dust control FAIL (plus other progress)

New construction is a messy business. Really messy. I hoped we might be on top of the grime by now, but apparently we are not quite there yet. So far, our efforts have included:

• Roomba repair - $122
• duct cleaning - $208
• tacky mats for the garage and basement - $77
• stupid microfiber mop, plus cleaner and extra pads - ~$50
• whatever portion of the professional house cleaning we can allocate to the floors... mabye $50?

So, that's $507 on attempts at dust control. Yet this morning, a mere 12 hours after the house cleaning team from heaven left us with pristine floors, we had this:


Apparently the tacky mat in the garage didn't catch the dirt/dust off of Dennis's shoes. And the rugs in the laundry room failed at catching whatever dust the tacky mats missed. It was almost like a cartoon, the way you could read so clearly from his footprints that he walked from the garage, through the laundry room, to the tv, to the office, to the dining room, to the sofa, to the bedroom.

Epic fail.

Of course, the ducts needed to be cleaned anyway. And Roomba needed to be fixed or replaced. But come on. I'm not sure what else we can do. This weekend we'll be cleaning out the garage. Completely. Taking EVERYTHING out (even if it all just goes into the basement or onto the driveway) and cleaning the floor, complete with soapy water and a squeegie and everything. It will be CLEAN. Maybe we'll even get some paint onto the walls.

Hopefully we can refrain from tracking mud from the yard into the garage and then into the house after that. And if that doesn't work, I don't know what else we have left to try. Poor BBC will never get tummy time on the floor, because it will always be filthy.

September 2 edit: Several people have suggested shoe removal. Nice idea in theory, but tough in practice, especially at this point, when Dennis is quite literally making dozens of trips in and out of the garage carrying arms full of boxes and other junk to the basement. Ditto both of us with multiple trips to the car for groceries and the like. (Not that I can get my shoes on and off so easily these days anyway.) Plus, the laundry room is a design disaster - too small, poorly arranged, not really a spot for shoe storage. Besides. Dennis NEVER takes his shoes off. He is barefoot for showers and sleeping only and would probably start convulsing if he had to walk around barefoot.

In somewhat related news, the garage is looking MUCH better. Dennis has been chipping away at it a little bit at a time, and it's actually working. :) Still. Plenty to do this weekend if we're going to get those floors cleaned.




And, in completely unrelated news, we actually have a couple of things up on the wall. The entryway and guest bedroom actually have something on the walls. And the kitchen clock is hung! The entryway looks a little wimpy (I think we need another picture somehow, but I'm not sure how that would be arranged), and the guest bedroom seems to be hung a bit high. Maybe it'll look better if I put a vase or candles on those tables to take up some of that space? Or maybe I just have to suck it up and lower them. The DIY artwork for the master bedroom is done, but it's not hung yet. Measuring for that is a 2-person job, as is moving the bed or climbing on it, so it's taking a little more schedule coordination than I had hoped.