We can restore any surface with our mobile blast cleaning service. The best types of media for media blasting are corn cob, walnut shell, crushed glass, garnet rock and baking soda. Be careful when blasting with walnut shells as people with severe nut allergies can cause allergic reactions and even death. Blasting can be dangerous and should be performed by trained personnel with proper personal protective equipment.
Sandblasting often gets a bad reputation for being "dirty" as the silica sand contains carcinogens that should not be inhaled or in contact with humans. WC Blasting only uses environmentally friendly blasting medias. Another mistake you see a lot of sandblasting crews make on residential properties is not cleaning up properly. Blasting media needs to be contained and disposed of. Our crews do an amazing job cleaning up, and it is something we pride ourselves on. You cannot tell any blasting has taken place when we are done a project. Often we leave the customers property cleaner than when we showed up.
Contact a WC Blasting representative to see what would be the best type of media to use on your project. We often will test different medias and grit sizes before making a selection. You can imagine that each type of media and grit size can be related to a different size or type of sand paper. Surface preparation from blasting to hand sanding is often similar just much more time consuming and labour intensive; its best to leave it up to WC Blasting to save you time and not compromise your health with chemicals that are being removed from the surface of your restoration.
Another hidden risk with media blasting in older buildings are asbestos + old lead paint, which can often be overlooked in the quoting process. Lead paint was produced and used up until about 1980 and asbestos was an ingredient that was manufactured into a wide range of building materials for North America up until 1990. Be especially careful and sure to get things like ducting tape, piping insulation wrap, drywall mud compound, ceiling and flooring tiles etc. tested before removal or disturbing them in any way. Asbestos fibers are extremely dangerous and easily inhaled - get a professional crew in and get it tested. All known asbestos currently needs to have a plan for removal. There is a ton of asbestos left in Alberta, make sure to be aware of that when dealing with older homes. The WC Blasting team looks at restorations from all angles to make sure everyone involved is safe.
Media blasting is often seen as something anyone can do with rental equipment but trust us, we can tell you that running a blasting system for consecutive hours will take trouble shooting and proper training to do it safely. The problem with do it yourself sandblasting is that the rental companies do not rent breathing air equipment and the home owner rarely will shell out the money for the proper protective gear. We do not advise attempting to blast on your own as one slip or fall can definitely result in a lifelong injury or an infection needing amputation or even in the worst cases, sandblasting can kill you.
WC Blasting has been media blasting since 2009 and we intend to be here serving the Western Canada area for many years to come. Call us any time from 8AM to 8PM any day of the week, we are open every day - holidays and weekends and always are waiting to hear from you about your restoration. Even if blasting is not the right application for your restoration, we will give you honest advice and point you on the right track.
Contact us any time, we look forward to it.
