Zip Wall Dust Containment System
Zip Wall 4 Pack Plus Review
Ever have work done on your house and found yourself cleaning up dust on other ends of the house?
Construction, Demolition Dust and Lead Dust Containment:
There’s nothing worse than getting that fine construction dust in parts of your home that are not being worked on. It’s a pain to clean, not to mention there may be health concerns to worry about. This is even a bigger concern with today’s recent lead dust containment regulations. I you live in a pre-1978 house, dust created during remodeling from lead-based paint is another of your worries.
The folks at ZipWall® recently sent me one of their dust containment system called the “4 Pack Plus” to evaluate.
What is ZipWall?
Zip Wall Dust Containment System is an ingenious dust containment system that allows you to easily and quickly build a plastic dust containment wall. Normally, constructing a dust barrier wall meant using 2×4’s, screws or nails and tape or staples. Not only is this a slow and 
expensive to do but is also causes damage.
It works with spring loaded telescoping aluminum poles [SLP] with spring-loaded tips. These tips hold the plastic tight against ceiling and floor creating an effective barrier between the construction area and other areas of your house.
The Zip Wall Dust Containment System system also comes with two foam-padded rails that attach to the top ends of the telescoping aluminum pole to form a “T” along the ceiling. The foam compresses to the ceiling and forms a super tight seal to prevent dust from penetrating and infiltrating the rest of your house. Four grip disks are also provided to protect the floor as well as help hold the plastic tight.
ZipWall Package Includes:
- 4 SLP’s
- 2 Foam Rail cross bars
- 4 Grip Disks – to protect the floor
- 2 ZipWall standard zippers
- 1 Carry bag
First Impression:
The 4 Pack Plus comes with four poles, 2 Foam Rail™ cross bars to seal straight across the ceiling without marring it, two zippers and a large carry bag. The ZipWall bag is large enough to accommodate up to eight more poles or Foam Rails.
I was impressed with how light the telescoping aluminum poles were. Zip Wall Dust Containment System Poles are made of anodized aluminum making them durable and lightweight, only 1.8 lbs each.
In fact, 4 poles with the ZipWall® carry bag, weigh less than 9 lbs. They were easy to adjust and set up in a matter of seconds. A simple counter-clockwise twist of the inner pole allows the poles to slide easily and enable you to quickly set up and make adjustments to your poles.
Spring loading inside the pole keeps the plastic dust barrier under constant tension. This spring loading also lets you lift the pole to tuc
k the sheeting under it for easy setup and adjustments. You can even reposition the dust barrier with just a simple and easy twist of the pole.
The four SLP poles extend from 4′ 9″ to 12 feet. To use the Foam Rails you will need to remove the head of the SLP pole by pulling the head straight off. Then snap the Foam Rail onto the pole. Each foam rail is five feet long.
The poles can be spaced 10 to 12 feet apart if there is little or no air movement. For stronger the air movement or an area with negative air pressure, install the poles closer, 5-6 feet.
The weight the poles and jacks can hold depends on the strength of the person tightening the pole. On average most people will twist the poles tight enough so the pole can hold 60 to 80 lbs. However, with a stronger tightening twist, a person can produce a hold of about 110 lbs.
Before using the Zip wall on the job-site I tested it in the shop and on different ceiling surfaces. It works great on plaster, drywall, textured or popcorn, and suspended ceilings. Yup, I said suspended ceilings. I was surprised too.
Tip: When setting up the poles make sure that the top of the pole is placed on the grid that holds the ceiling tiles in place. It works great!
ZipWall self-adhesive zippers
The ZipWall® 4 Pack Plus also comes with two ZipWall® Standard Zippers. This zipper is great for interior work to make a seven foot tall doorway. ZipWall® recommends using the zippers in temperatures above 55 degrees.
I installed a zipper on my project. It certainly made makes getting in and out of the work area a cinch, especially since the dust containment barrier was installed for three days and the homeowner still needed to access that area of the house.
Use the zipper to put a doorway anywhere on your barrier using the self adhesive ZipWall® Standard zipper. Just remove the pap
er backing and stick the zipper to the barrier.
Tip: Make sure you start with the zipper on the bottom!
I erected my dust containment barrier wall first then installed the zipper. To do this I had my partner place his palm as opposing pressure as I applied the self sticking zipper. Once we cut the plastic I ran my fingers up and down both sides of the zipper to help the adhesive stick.
ZipWall® provides a special Zipper Knife™ sheeting cutter to cut the plastic once the zipper is installed. Once installed I was impressed at how easy the zippers opened and closed. The zippers have large sturdy easy-slide teeth and are 2-sided pulls for easy entry/exit to or from either side of the barrier
ZipWall Installation Instructions:
Click here, If you would like to see instructions on how to adjust and install a ZipWall dust containment barrier.
Using The ZipWall System:
In order to cordon off an area and create a dust containment barrier I needed to purchase plastic sheeting at my local lumber yard. I recommend that you get plastic on a continuous roll that is long enough to reach from the beginning of the wall you are making to the end.
We took the ZipWall system to the job-site and tested it under real conditions. Normally we erect plastic and still have some vacuuming and dusting on the “clean side” of the plastic. This normally takes a half hour at the end of the day. I was curious how the ZipWall would hold up in comparison.
We had to repair a rotted sub-floor as a result of a leaking door. The rot had spread under the tile and was visible from the basement and only showed as a 4’ long crack in tile floor.
The area we were working in also had the only first floor bathroom and the laundry room and we wanted to be able to 
allow the homeowner access after hours. Areas adjacent to this work had priceless butterfly and insect specimens displayed all over the house and we were nervous of dust getting out of our plastic barrier.
We set up two telescoping SLP poles, one on each end of the wall. I wanted to test the foam rails so we modified the foam rail clip so we could attach two poles to one foam rail.
The foam rail clip has a tab in the middle that indexes into a hole in the middle of the rail. These rails can be cut for custom applications but I did not want to do that. I used my side cutters to remove the tab on two clips and then mounted the foam rail to the poles. This created a continuous foam seal across the ceiling.
ZipWall® also sells clamps called Zip Hook®. The clamps attach to the aluminum poles and hold the vertical edges of the plastic firmly against the walls. I did not end up reviewing these clamps and used blue painters tape on the wall instead.
The plastic dust containment barrier was super easy to set up and went up in a matter of minutes.
Overall Impression:
The ZipWall system is the ideal dust control barrier. It provides remodeler, contractors, DIYers and homeowners a flexible option that accommodates variously-sized spaces and multiple applications. All without damaging the space.
The ZipWall system is ideal for a wide variety of projects that create dust or other potentially harmful debris. These include demolition, hardwood floor sanding drywall / plaster repairs, wood sanding renovations and painting.
The system I evaluated was super lightweight and portable, easy-to-assemble and provided an outstanding dust containment barrier.
The ZipWall 4 Pack Plus kit includes everything you need to create a secure dust barrier on your project or in your 
home!
Where To Buy:
The ZipWall 4 Pack Plus system sells for approximately $269.00 and can be purchased here:
ZipWall-4PL-Plus-Carry-4-Pack
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