I'm a homeowner with two projects that, I think, would be greatly helped by sandblasting, but I can't find knowledgeable people in the rental stores. In fact, I only found one place that rents a sandblaster, and they tried to talk me out of it. So, I'm seeking knowledge and advice.
- I want to epoxy the garage floor so I need to strip the floor of existing paint (or perhaps stain). While the paint is worn through in places, where it hasn't it appears firmly on. The last place I did this I tried a high pressure washer; it would cut under areas beginning to flake, but wouldn't cut through solid areas. (So I ended up grinding down the entire floor with a hand-held grinder-vac -- which I'll never do again.)
The nearest rental shotblaster appears to be 4 hours away and would require a truck, which I don't have. Only one place in my vicinity (Sarasota, FL) rents a sandblaster and they're trying to discourage me from renting it -- apparently because of the liability of customers dealing with silica-sand. Plus, it's quite expensive.
My questions:
1A. This sandblasting unit is on sale at my local Harbor Freight store:1B. Would 'playbox sand' from Home Depot be different than (less toxic than) silica-sand? (It's certainly cheaper.)
1C. Regardless, would playbox sand work? If so, what size tip/nozzle would I need for this?1D. How much sand might be needed to do a large 2-car garage?
1E. Alternatively, there is a gizmo that appears to allow an abrasive (sand?) to be injected into the water stream of a pressure washer, which would help it to cut through paint. See here:1F. Any other suggestions?
- Next I need to clean a driveway as well as decorative stone facing, both with many coats of paint. (And I'm guessing the stone is fairly porous). Would any of the above answers in #1 differ for either the driveway or stone?
MANY, MANY thanks in advance for whatever help you can provide me.