It sounds like you have done everything you can do. the drywall won't really make much of a mess until they sand it, and get them to use a shop vac while they are sanding. make sure the shop vac will accept bags and get a bag for it that is made for drywall dust. Suck up the dust while they are sanding. I have heard of a drywall mud that they claim is dustless, but I have never seen it and really wonder if that's even possible. The wet saw will make almost no dust, but will be really messy. I always use mine outside. Keeping the area as clean as possible while they are working will go a long way in preventing dust from invading your living space. Is there a separate enterance they can use into the work area without tracking through the house? If so, that will help a LOT. Good luck!

gosh, we just got the worst done with yesterday, we have been going though the dust and mess now since Dec 5th. it laster for about a week and a half. we removed brick pavers in the kitchen and installed wood floors which had to be sanded. i don't know which was worse. the old brick mortor or the sanding dust.

it sounds like you have it all covered with the plastic and painters tape. if you have any doors, make sure to tape the threashold underneath the door and the sides all around. it will come through those small cracks. we had a doorway leading from our dining room(our temp kitchen) that I just made a curtain for with the plastic. I made it so that we could open it back enough to pass through and then tape it back. Or, we would go through an outside door around to another door and back in again. believe me, it was not fun.

put rags/mats at the entrance to any room that cant be sealed. religously wipe your feet off everytime you go in our out of the dust area. I even kept the rags wet and kept a separate pair of shoes to switch off between.

Thanks all for your comments.

Queen, good idea on the rugs and mats. Will do!

cc, I hope the drywall guy has a shop vac. We are in a teeny tiny town. He is good, but he does drywall as part of his general handyman business. I don't know how sophisticated his tools are. If he doesn't have a good shop vac, maybe I can rent him one.

Tile cutting should be done outside. We have the same sort of set-up and all tile cutting was done in the garage. It helped tremendously.

We went through this last week. Sounds like you'll be fine. The only place you'll see dust will probably be where people enter and leave the plastic areas, and not too much there with the precautions you're taking.

Dust makes me crazy, so this is what I did, other than sealing off the work area. After the work is done vacuum well, preferably with a HEPA filter on the vacuum. Floors, ceilings, walls, surfaces, everything. You might have to do it again the next day because of airborne dust that settled. Keep the plastic up until you're sure it's all gone.

I think you'll be surprised how dust-free your adjoining rooms stay.

a tip from the guy who did the inspections for our electrical permit (gotta love small towns, and the friendly inspectors!)...

When they do start sanding the drywall...Hang a slightly damp old blanket in front of the plastic sheets (we used the blanket we found around the old DW). It will catch all the drywall dust that would just slide off the plastic sheeting.

Damp blanket...interesting idea. Thanks.

All morning I hocked DH to put up more tape, more plastic, to seal things up better. And all morning he replied, how bad could it be (he is absolutely the eternal optimist but he did help me get stuff covered, sealed, etc.) After the guys left today, he saw how bad it could be. We have dust every where and the dry wall guy hasn't even been here yet!

Thanks for all of the ideas!

I love the idea of the damp blanket to catch dust! I think it will definitely be worth a try. I've almost given up on the house ever being clean again after this remodel! It doesn't help that my husband is the one at home (works from home) while everything is going on, however either doesn't think of covering anything or doesn't think it's important!!!

So far we've gotten through the plumbers making a huge mess in multiple rooms due to needing to cut through walls, as well as people constantly tracking through the entire house due to no easy way to access all needed areas. The primary issue is that the remodel involves a 3 level addition so no one area of the existing house is off-limits to contractors. The thing I am most thankful for is that since the new kitchen is an addition and does not include the old, hopefully it will not have to be completely demolished until the very end :) We do have a tiny kitchen in the basement including sink, stove, fridge, but it will not be pleasant due to contractors continuously going through and getting the area dirty/dusty.

Oh well, anyway, I'm honestly more afraid of the drywall dust than anything else right now, after hearing horror stories. We started mid-Sept. and am hoping (keeping fingers crossed!) to be finished by at least March. Although it's difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Any tips for cleaning the house AFTER the remodel is completely finished?? We were thinking of possibly just hiring a cleaning company to clean everything once it's done - probably expensive, but I'm sure it would be well worth it!