Sandblasting Equipment

[haulnazz15]

I'll take pictures, whether the outcome is good or bad. It'll serve as a reference for those who might come across something similar in the future.

 

[tcreeley]

Try soda blasting. Less toxic. - rent equipment or hire a pro to do it.
Plastic up all of the surfaces, ceiling too. You'll never get the dust out with vacuuming otherwise. Sand blasting medium is toxic (destroys lungs). There will be dust in the air after you are done. Plan on washing things down- repaint all surfaces?

Here is a link to explain soda blasting- Soda Blasting - Paint, Dirt and Coating Removal

 

[sparc]

Interesting project. It would help if you put a box fan in the window, and if there's another window one there too. The door can serve as a fresh air intake. If you can keep a slightly negative air pressure in the workspace, it will greatly reduce the amount of dust getting into the rest of the house. You won't get a perfect seal with the plastic sheeting, so you want house air coming into the workspace at all the little leaks. Without maintaining a bit of negative pressure in the dirty area the dust will be a problem.

For masking off things you don't want blasted, you could probably get by with a few pieces of sheet metal with short "handles" to keep your body parts away from the action.

would it be better to pump clean air IN with the fans instead of drawing it through the room and trying to push it out the door. The fans would stay cleaner. OTOH putting positive pressure in the room would help to force debris into the rest of the house. Keeping a negative pressure could help reduce infiltration into the house. Maybe double seal the room. Domthe one wall like you plan and a second barrier at the exits from that room to the restof the house and keep a positive pressure in this area relative to the work space. Itonly has to be a slight pressure delta, measured in inches of water.

 

[3v0]

I would go with negative pressure. It is your best chance to keep most of the dust out of the rest of your house. Use cheap box fans and toss them when you are done if you have to. Make sure the wind is now blowing it back into the house too.

You have to have enough air leaks into the enclosed area to allow air flow to carry the dust away.

Good luck.

 

[crazyal]

I would take some time and try to blast a few rocks from outside first. You may find that you'll actually rough up the face of the rock with some of the more aggressive media. You might like the look of it or you may think it's ruins the look of the rock.

There are options for blasting that use a brush around the nozzle with a vacuum hook up to recover the media. Most of the ones are more expensive units that will recover the media, filter it, and then reuse it. You might be able to rent one. They allow you to blast without having to wear all of the protection equipment and greatly reduce the amount of cleanup needed.

 

[Code54]

Exactly what I was thinking - would limit the mess to 1/1000 and is much safer.

A unique type of sandblasting is dry ice sandblasting.

It would require some special equipment, but the only waste is what is blasted off of your wall.

 

[haulnazz15]

I checked into the dry ice blasting, but no one here rents the equipment that I've found. I have a cheap $15 box fan from HD that I'll stick in the window to pull air out of the blast area, as I think the negative air pressure will work well. I've got a 10x200' roll of 4mil plastic sheeting, so I'll use that to create the blast room, with all joints tapes to the ceiling/walls (the whole room will be cleaned/painted after this anyway). Additionally, I'll have some tarps on the floor over a layer of plastic to help reclaim the media. I'm also going to drape a second barrier a foot behind the initial one to try and have a second trap for the dust. All doorways to other areas of the house will be sealed on both sides with the plastic as well.

 

[SPIKER]

Hauling there are also other media such as mentioned already the SODA but also WALNUT SHELL which is more aggressive than the SODA but much less aggressive than the SLAG. The shell is more $ however and not as "Reclaimable" as the slag. The shell however will take away the paint well without the heavy damage to grout & rock. It may take slightly longer than the slag as well due to the less aggressive & lower weight. It also is 100% non toxic & can be dumped out back other than the latex mixed in once the job is done.

Mark

 

[3v0]

As I mentioned in an earlier post. You want some air flow with the negative pressure to move the dust. Without some place for some air to enter the blast area the dust will just hang in the air.

 

[haulnazz15]

As I mentioned in an earlier post. You want some air flow with the negative pressure to move the dust. Without some place for some air to enter the blast area the dust will just hang in the air.

Agreed. The box fan will pull air OUT through the window in the picture. What you can't see in that picture is the back door to the patio just to the left of the fireplace mantle. That should draw air across just about the entire work area, aside from the small section between the bar and the wall.