FAQ About Sandblasting

Edmunds & Company uses sand, crushed glass and corncob for our blasting media. Our experience has taught us which media we need to use to effectively remove a given stain or paint.  About 75% of the jobs recently done were done using crushed glass. Crushed glass, which is not sharp but rather resembles white beach sand, is silica free.

Most likely yes, to some degree.  When blasting, the velocity of air outside is equivalent to that of a hurricane so if you think a little bit of  wind might come through your house in a hurricane, then a little will come in during sandblasting.  We monitor this while blasting and if a significant amount is coming in, we drape the interior walls to keep the dust from getting on horizontal surfaces.  It is not possible to promise a completely dust-free process, but it is possible to minimize it.  Edmunds & Company takes the time to do just that.

We take great pride in being a “clean” company. Our customers frequently comment on how our crews take the time to clean up carefully throughout the job.
We lay tarps down around the house to catch the blasting media and the old paint or stain that is being removed. This material is then collected from the tarps and properly disposed of.  About 10% of the material falls in the surrounding area off the tarps. This extra will either be swept up or will wash away in the first couple of rains after the job is completed.

Edmunds & Company has a dedicated crew that is experienced in the sandblasting and cob blasting technique. We do out best to leave the surface of the logs as smooth as possible, leaving very little of the old finish on the logs.  At times the grain of the wood gets raised slightly and the logs are a bit rougher than before.  In some cases,  it may be necessary to sand or scrub the logs to smooth out the surface but most projects don’t require any sanding after the blasting is complete.

Sometimes this decision is made prior to starting the project after a discussion of what the options are. Edmunds & Company works closely with the customer to find out what they prefer in terms of the new look for their logs.  Different samples and colors of stain are applied to the freshly blasted logs, which allows the customer to make a more informed decision. Once a stain color is chosen, we blast the samples off the building and the new stain is applied using a sprayer and then back-brushing.