Recommendation on sand blaster

tstex · Wednesday at 9:05 AM

Hello to all,

In addition to removing old paint off a tractor, for now the wife is on a tirade about pool. Got a quote to remove X for $2800; that's not going to happen.

Need to blast off some black mold, calcium & efflorescence on and above my pool tile line. This includes both the grout & stones. The stones are a porous travertine.

Can someone plz provide a recommendation on a sand blaster and what type of medium i will need to remove these contaminants from the stones & grout?

thank you very much,
tstex

chim · Wednesday at 9:55 AM

I realize this isn't what you asked for, but "30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner" has worked well for removing mold, mildew and whatever scab-like growth we had on our brick and siding.

Funny though that with a name like "30 Seconds" they tell you to keep the surface wet for 3 minutes

tstex · Wednesday at 10:00 AM

Thank you chim. Do you know the name of the primary active ingredient(s)? Travertine cannot have any acid based cleaners bc it will eat the stone.

Thanks again.

chim · Wednesday at 11:05 AM

Other than the "inert ingredients" (water?) it's mostly bleach with 1.2% secret sauce. Bleach-based concoctions from the 'net didn't do as well. Must be something to the proprietary ingredients.

Here's the difference it made on my sheds 2 years ago. I did work in smallish areas so it would stay wet. A little brushing with the car wash brush and rinse off. Since it does have bleach, wear old clothes and something over your eyes. My baseball cap brim got lighter spots when enthusiasm kicked in

JeepHead · Wednesday at 11:24 AM

What us professional power washers use for killing algae is sodium hypochlorite AKA Pool shock. You can mix a half a gallon in a 2 gallon pump sprayer and it will kill just about anything so don't get it on yo9ur plants. Or you can downstream it from your power washer in which I will do 2-3 gallons in a 5 gallon bucket with the rest water. I will add in some Gain dish washing soap to help in cling a little longer on the surface.
You can usually buy a 4 gallon case of it for under $20 and it will go a long ways. Try to find pool shock that's at least 10% SH.