Home Design Ideas - Dirt Control

[SLOBuds]

We are going to build a new house in the country. The architect has been hired and we now are in the process of organizing all of our thoughts regarding various design aspects.

One part of the design I am spending a lot of time with is general dirt control. We are city folks and could notice right away that country living presents a real challenge regarding intrusion of OUTSIDE into INSIDE. So right from the beginning I could see that a lot of thinking and planning needed to be done for dirt control.

So far I know that a mud room is indispensable. And I can also see that it's important to generally put a 'clean barrier' around the living structures - things like wide gravel walkways and maintained lawns.

What are some of the other ideas and techniques you have used to build an effective transition from plowed field into clean kitchen?

Thanks,
Martin

 

[MossRoad]

Boot scrapers.
Door mats.
Hot water heat instead of forced air.
Outside entrance to basement.
Outside entrance to garage.
Outbuilding for workshop and/or tractor storage.
Paved walkway between outbuildings and main house.
Place to put your shoes when you come in the house, like cubby holes or trays.
Umbrella stands with drip trays near doors.
More boot scrapers and door mats. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
I saw a central vac system that had little doors cut into the kick plates under the kitchen like these. Very cool!

Do you have pets?

When I was a kid, we had a very smart dog. He'd come in all muddy and we had a rag box near the front door. Mom would say, "Wet feet!" and that dog would plop down, roll over on his back and let us wipe his feet off. Then mom would hand him the rag and say, "Put it away." He'd take it to the laundry room and drop it on the floor in front of the washing machine(then he'd waddle over to the kitchen and sit in front of the dog biscuits until properly rewarded).

Train your pet to do that. Well, at least get a rag box near the door /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="red"> When I was a kid, we had a very smart dog. He'd come in all muddy and we had a rag box near the front door. Mom would say, "Wet feet!" and that dog would plop down, roll over on his back and let us wipe his feet off. Then mom would hand him the rag and say, "Put it away." He'd take it to the laundry room and drop it on the floor in front of the washing machine(then he'd waddle over to the kitchen and sit in front of the dog biscuits until properly rewarded). </font>

My dog's code word is FOOTIES and she will roll over and let you wipe her feet down. . . but I never thought to train her to put the "dog towel" into the laundry room! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I find that pet can track more dirt through a house than a whole bundle of kids ever will dream of bringing in.

 

[DocHeb]

* Entrance to a bathroom from the garage.

We just built, and although the bathroom is close to the garage, I still walk across the foyer tile to get there.

It is such a pain to take the boots off for a two minute visit.


Other than dirt, also consider outside air intrusion. I don't know if it gets cold where you are, but consider an "airlock" setup (using the outside door, and a second door into the living space) for the most used doors so wind doesn't blow through the house each time the doors are opened

 

[SLOBuds]

My dog??? Hang on while I catch my breath from laughing so hard! And yes ... at this moment I'm looking at a smudge of dirt on the floor caused by that bad boy.

So the mud room gets pet gear.

Thanks for the ideas. I had not considered the idea of separating outbuildings, with connecting walkways.

One of the things I did on our property (which now has a small cabin) was to build gravel walkways. I did that originally to get walkways on the cheap. But the grinding action of the gravel also cleans your shoes to a degree.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I saw a central vac system that had little doors cut into the kick plates under the kitchen like these. Very cool! )</font>

Hey, that is cool.

The Shakers were fond of putting a hidden hole in the floor of each room that you could uncover and sweep the dirt into. The holes led to a box in the basement where the dirt fell and was was collected. If I built a house I would opt for putting these in every room. What a help.

Cliff

 

[JazzDad]

Hey, Martin. We opted for all hard floor surfaces. We had considered this before we started building, but the decision was brought home when we took out the wall-to-wall carpet in the old house. Whereas the carpet may have weighed a couple of pounds per square yard, the dirt contained in it was much more. (Oh, and JazzMom wants it made clear at this point that she vacuumed regularly, and had them steam-cleaned routinely, also.)
We could not have imagined the amount of sand (dirt) we pick up now that would otherwise be caught in the carpeting. Yuck!

 

[MossRoad]

Another thing they put under the kick plates along all the kitchen cabinets was some type of dimmable rope type lighting. If he hit a switch at the kitchen entrance, just the rope lighting came on. It was nice at night because it was perfect to guide your way to a midnight snack without blinding you... a soft orange glow to the cookie jar /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( We opted for all hard floor surfaces. )</font>

Yes, we also have hardwood or tile everywhere for the same reason. Carpets just don't come clean and hold lots of mold and mites and all that nasty stuff. Hardwood you just sweep the floor relatively clean and mop them completely clean. Throw rugs work great and can be tossed in the washing machine.

Having dogs, I wish we had a bathtub installed about two feet off the ground in the mud room. Sometimes, just washing the feet isn't nearly enough and the trip upstairs to give them a bath is pretty messy.

Cliff

 

[DocHeb]

Further helpful new home hints at: New House Tips please

 

[RobertN]

Oh man, you got that right! Carpet and padding hold stuff like you would not believe. About 5 years ago, we took all the carpet out of the hallway and living/dining/family rooms. Oh my goodness!!!

We kept the carpets cleaned and vacuumed regularily and from the top, you could tell. From the bottom though, it was terrible with fine silt and dust and ickyness. It went through the carpet, and on top of the pad. It went through the pad to the underlayment. I was really amazed.

Now, with tile we see things more, but it is easy to stay on top of it, especially if there is a spill.

 

[anojones]

Having just finished our home, and now surrounded by mud awaiting landscaping in the spring and with a couple of dogs, we have had some thoughts on controlling mud. Sidewalks and gravel are important, a lawn will help. A mudroom with a bathroom, with either a shower or dog tub is helpful and if I were to do it again I'd do as another poster suggested and have a second door to avoid weather entering the rest of the house. If I were to do it again, I'd make the mudroom bigger as well. We also have an area for shoes etc as you walk in, but still keep the workboots in the garage. We also went with solid surface floors- our first place was hardwood and we vowed that it was too hard to clean with all the dust bunnies made of pet hair, our next place was carpet- still dust bunnies but the capet was disgusting- just can't keep it clean with pets- so back to solid surface floors. This all reminds me to replace the filter in our furnace (and oh yeah, as another poster suggested, radiant heat would be pretty nice).

anojones

 

[Henro]

Well...

I can tell you how to do it, but I doubt you will be able to pull it off...

Just absolutely, positively never allow a shoe in your home. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

That is the way we live. Comes from my wife being Japanese and our having lived for six years in Japan. I guess it is a philosopy of life or something. We treat our house like many here treat their bed. That's how I think about it anyway.

We have lots of windows and probably the only carpet in Western PA that keeps getting lighter with time. It started out about 15 years ago as medium brown and is now approaching very light brown. UV does come in through window glass, even 1/4 inch thick glass! (two panes of 1/4 plate glass).

An entrance with a step up of about 16" also helps keep dirt/duct down well below the house floor level. It is an old style Japanese entrance (more or less). But even 4" is enough if you take off your shoes... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Really, even if you let a shoe in occasionally (since that is the American way) taking off shoes most of the time is the key to keeping most of the dirt out.

Nuts like us just carry it to the extreme. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif We do provide slippers for guests if they desire them. Actually, when my brother comes around we encourage him to wear them (he's not mister clean socks). /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PS...country dirt may be cleaner than city dirt. I think it is anyway... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DaveNay]

Martin,

Are you going to be in a producing agricultural area? We are surrounded by thousands of acres of corn and soybeans, and when the farmers are harvesting, the crop dust gets everywhere. If you have the windows open in the fall, you will have a fine dust on all horizontal surfaces. We live with it because we don't have central A/C.

The spring can get pretty bad too if they are plowing, and the fields are dry.

Dave

 

[Bird]

Bill, when we bought our place in the country, the first neighbor to come visit pulled his shoes off just inside the door. My wife and I started that habit right then, and still do it even after moving back to town.

 

[SLOBuds]

Dave,

We are kind of in the farmer-wannabe section of country. Cows yes. 300 acre crops no. But believe me there is PLENTY of dirt in the air come summer. Even dirt caused by the smallish projects I do around the 10-acre parcel.

So that is going to be an issue. To leave doors and windows closed means that we miss the natural ventilation. With them open, dust storms.

Henro/Bird - are the shoes left outside on the porch, or ??? And ... what do the Japanese do with their animals?

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( are the shoes left outside on the porch, or ??? )</font>

At our house, they're left just inside the door.

 

[MMM]

<font color="yellow"> It is such a pain to take the boots off for a two minute visit. </font>

You musty have neighbors. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Gatorboy]

<font color="blue"> We are city folks and could notice right away that country living presents a real challenge regarding intrusion of OUTSIDE into INSIDE. </font>

I didn't realize that the city has no dirt.


<font color="blue"> What are some of the other ideas and techniques you have used to build an effective transition from plowed field into clean kitchen? </font>

Stop plowing before you hit the kitchen. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[SLOBuds]

City, dirt? Sure - those little square places between the concrete that have popup sprinklers which only work during rain. Our biggest cleaning task is replacing the element on our hepa total-house air filter which gets clogged from the smog.