Many older homes have hidden beauty that has been covered up by once trendy products and yesteryear’s styles. Maybe you remember the ’70s colorful linoleum tile being slapped over real hardwood floors? If you’re a do-it-yourselfer with a long-term vision about restoring your home to its original luster, you’ll need more than a hammer and nails. One piece of equipment you would be wise to invest in is a sandblaster. Sand blaster guns are relatively simple to use and can strip away decades of unwanted layers. Here are just a few of the things you could accomplish with sand blaster guns.
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Restore Original Brick
It’s surprising how many brick fireplaces go unused and get painted over. If you were to apply chemical paint removers, it could take weeks of breathing in harmful fumes that would penetrate every inch of your home. Sandblasting is altogether different. Simply empty the room, seal the doorways with plastic and vacuum the abrasive materials when you’re finished. For a project such as painted brick, you’ll want to select one of the tougher “sands.” Silicon carbide or metals may make good choices because that paint is probably caked on like glue. Metals have been known to be particularly effective at removing paint and they are reusable, which can save you a few bucks.
Stripping Your Home’s Exterior
Removing old paint from the exterior of your home is a big job for most DIY homeowners. You’ll probably want a siphon sandblaster for this type of project. Siphons are among the most popular with handymen. A compressor pushes air through the unit while a hose drops into a container of abrasive material. The great thing about this is that you can use long hoses and large bins of material on the ground while you’re working on a ladder or scaffold.
In terms of material, if your wood shingles or clapboard is old and somewhat fragile, you can opt for a gentle sand material such as corn cob, walnut shells or even the very soft pumice. Another route may be to go with a wet-sanding method. It’s a very similar siphon setup. The difference is that pressurized water flows through one hose while another gathers the abrasive and both exit the gun together.
Cleaning Stained Glass
For whatever reason, stained glass windows seem to accumulate buildup faster than clear panes. But, they are gorgeous with the light hits them. It’s difficult to image using a sand blaster gun on glass but it has become fairly common. Sandblasters are among the most diverse cleaning and stripping tools because of the variety of available mediums. One of the best non-abrasive materials to use on glass is sodium bicarbonate (soda). It is relatively safe because it actually comes apart on impact.
Sand blaster guns are not commonly thought of as a must-have tool for general home projects. However, the diversity of the “sand” materials makes them valuable to remove unwanted layers and restore any home to its former glory.