Wait, then start
Leave windows shut until the outside dust has settled, usually about a day. Opening up during the tail of a storm undoes everything you are about to do.
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Health & EnvironmentCleaning a Home After a Sandstorm
A shamal puts fine dust into a sealed home through tracks, thresholds and the AC return. Cleaning in the wrong order moves it around rather than removing it.
Filters first
Change or wash the AC filters before anything else. Running the system on a loaded filter pushes dust through every room you are about to clean.
Tracks before sliders
Vacuum window and door tracks before opening them. Opening a slider first grinds sand into the rollers, which is how doors start sticking.
Top down, dry before wet
Cornice, light fittings, fan blades, shelf tops, then furniture, then floors. Dry-dust or vacuum before any water — wet cloths on fine sand make mud, and mud stains grout.
Outdoors last
Balcony and terrace at the end, including the drainage outlets, or the next rain brings it all back inside.
Everything we do is scoped against indoor air quality testing, priced after an inspection and fixed in writing before any work begins.
Questions
Answered plainly.
Two to three days for the finest fraction, which is why a single pass immediately after a storm rarely holds.
If the property is sealed, the filter is clean and you keep it on recirculation. If the filter is loaded, you are distributing dust.
No. After a storm with the system running and the house shut, it is worth inspecting rather than assuming.
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Related reading.
Questions this did not answer? Just ask.
An inspection, a written scope and a price that holds. We will also tell you when the job does not need us.