The Cost of Sandblasting
Among the quickest and most efficient methods to smooth down a surface area is by sandblasting, which is a procedure where an abrasive product is blasted on a surface area to make it as smooth as possible.
If you read this post, the possibilities are that you are seeking to sandblast a metal area or perhaps a woodworking job. If this is your case, something that you must be wondering yourself is “just how much does sandblasting cost?”
So how much does sandblasting cost? It’s going to depend upon numerous aspects, including just how much of an area is to be sandblasted, and if you want to pay a contractor or if you want to do the sandblasting yourself. However, to give you a concrete number, sandblasting will cost you about $50-$100 an hour, depending upon the kind of surface area being sandblasted. This does not include the products to be utilized, mainly abrasives like aluminum oxide or silica sand.
There are some folks that are going to see this as a bit excessive for their budget plan, and if it is the case for you too, we are happy to tell you that you can usually do the sandblasting yourself with your own equipment. Doing so will save you a great deal of money, particularly if you are thinking about sandblasting again in the future.
So Why Is It So Costly?
A lot of people will find the already discussed costs a bit too much, however, they are expensive because of one important factor: Sandblasting contractors charge you a lot due to the fact that there are some areas where you will need a special license to do the blasting.
This will mean that people can’t do the work themselves, requiring them to call expert aid. Companies take advantage of this situation and charge up the rates of their services, which means that sandblasting even a little wood cabinet can cost you quite a lot.
You might also like our articles about the cost to fix car rust, to paint a car, or to fix a keyed car.
Also, sandblasting can get truly costly if there’s a great deal of space to be worked on. Clearly, costs for sandblasting a whole wall will be totally different than the rates of sandblasting a couple of brick steps on a deck.
Lastly, another thing that will impact the rates of sandblasting is the kind of sandblasting that is going to be carried out. As you will see below, there are numerous kinds of sandblasting, consisting of damp, dry, and vacuum blasting, to name just a few. The main and most important ones are the very first 2 that I pointed out, and nowadays, dry blasting is typically the more costly of the 2, because it tends to be more dangerous and businesses require a unique license to be able to do the work.
Kinds of Sandblasting and Differences Between Them
As already pointed out, the expenses of sandblasting will partially depend upon the sandblasting technique being utilized. They have a couple of other differences though, so here is a list pointing out the different kinds of sandblasting and the way they differ from one another.
Wet Blasting
The most typical kind of sandblasting, this technique works by integrating an abrasive product such as silica sand with water and then blasting the mix onto a surface. Because of the water being utilized, this technique is perfect for dealing with softer surface areas that are too vulnerable to be dry-blasted. This technique also tends to be less expensive than dry-blasting, however, it’s typically less efficient at smoothing surface areas.
Dry Blasting
Unlike wet blasting, dry blasting does not utilize any water or liquid in general, instead, it will push extremely pressurized air, which blasts abrasives onto a surface area. Since there is no water added, the blasting is less lubed, making this kind of blasting perfect for rusty metal areas. Dry blasting also tends to be more dangerous than wet blasting for everyone involved in the abrasion procedure. The blasting produces a great deal of dust and there is the possibility of the device operator breathing in the abrasives. This is among the reasons why you require a license to really do this kind of abrasion.
Dry-Ice Blasting
A more modern-day kind of blasting, dry-ice blasting is precisely what the name suggests: instead of utilizing a traditional abrasive, solid carbon dioxide is utilized instead. This approach has actually been applauded since it’s much safer than conventional dry blasting, and while it can be costlier too, it also tends to be more flexible of the surface areas being blasted. Nevertheless, it could be difficult to find a business that would offer this type of blasting, so utilizing it may not even be possible.
Bead Blasting
Also referred to as glass blasting, this is a kind of blasting that utilizes glass beads as the abrasive to clean up a surface area, thus the Bead blasting name. The huge pro for this technique is the fact that the surface area is not going to be damaged in any way, which is the reason why this technique is frequently utilized for getting rid of paint from a vehicle and in vulnerable metal areas. It’s also a popular method to modify metal pieces for cosmetic functions.
Hydro blasting
Also referred to as water-blasting, many individuals confuse this kind of blasting with wet blasting. However, we will tell you what the distinction is: waterblasting is merely utilizing a high-pressure stream of water to clean up a surface area from particles, dirt, and so on. Wet blasting in fact means mixing water with abrasives to ravel a surface area. To put it simply, water-blasting isn’t even a kind of abrasive blasting per se, but simply another name for pressure cleaning.
These are only a few kinds of sandblasting, however, they are not the only ones. Some other kinds of abrasive blasting include soda blasting and ice blasting, to name just a few.
Do It Yourself Sandblasting – Is It Possible?
This is something that most of you might be asking about, and the quick answer is that it depends. To start with, depending upon where you live, you may require a license to do any sort of abrasion work, so it might be a good idea to call your city’s authorities to see if that is your case.
Other than that, if you have the necessary tools, you can get into sandblasting and save quite a big chunk of money by doing the work yourself.
Conclusion
Many people consider it to be too costly, and if that’s your case, the only option might be to do the sandblasting yourself. You can either purchase a sandblaster from Amazon or you can make your own sandblaster utilizing one of the available Do It Yourself techniques found online. Either one is going to save you cash both in the short run and long term. Just be sure that there are no special requirements for sandblasting authorizations where you live.
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My dad would like to preserve his factory’s exterior painting, which is why he’s thinking of hiring an industrial coating service that will offer to sandblast. Well, it never occurred to me that wet blasting is more affordable compared to dry-blasting. Thank you for also sharing here that dry blasting is safer compared to the dry process.
I mean, $50-$100 an hour sounds pretty reasonable for sandblasting. I don’t want to get into it because it just seems too messy. So I’d rather just hire someone to help me out the couple of times I’ll need it.