I recently had a stone wall installed and my a/c filter in the attic was caked in less than a month!?

Question

I had luckily just changed the a/c filter before the stone wall next to the house and when I heard buzzing one day, I went to investigate and the blower must have had trouble trying to get air past the grey-caked a/c filter. I quickly changed it and the noise went away.

It's been 8 months and I've been changing the a/c filter every 2-3 months just in case and only that one month has it ever been so dirty. I checked it monthly soon after and nope...practically clean, nothing like before, nor the last 3 years I've owned it.

So...what does that indicate? Stone dust getting sucked up in my attic - does that sound normal ? I thought the a/c pulled air from inside the house, no ? Also, the carpets, my room ionizer, etc were not exceptionally dirty that month and no one's allergies flared up, furniture/counters were not extra dusty... What does this all mean ?

Answer 1

IT IS DEFINATELY NORMAL FOR YOUR AC TO SUCK UP ALOT OF DUST EVEN THOUGH IT WAS COMING FROM OUTSIDE. IT IS JUST LIKE BUILDING A NEW HOUSE. YOU WILL FIND DUST FOREVER. I BUILT A NEW HOUSE ABOUT A YEAR AGO AND I STILL FIND DUST FROM THE SHEETROCK THAT HAS BEEN PAINTED! IT IS DEFINATELY WEIRD BUT YES YOU CAN HAVE DUST SUCKED UP FROM THE AIR. IF YOU LEAVE YOUR DOOR OPEN TO OUTSIDE IT WILL BE SUCKED INTO THE AC.  

Answer 2

Building a stone wall creates lots of cement dust. Fine grey matter that seeps into everything. It should disappear after the wall is wet down and the dust washed to the ground.

The fact that you didn't notice the dust means your A/C filter did an outstanding job of keeping the air clean.

It should have been replaced as soon as the wall project was finished.