Sandblasting a trailer - buy or pay someone to do it?

montrose818

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I need to sandblast a 28' flatbed semi trailer, steel deck and headboard. Possibly other things here and there. I was quoted 800 from someone to do it. I am wondering if I should just pay it to have it done, or invest into equipment and do it myself.

My other questions are, is "dustless" sandblasting that much better? Do I need one of those big 165 CFM towable compressors?

Thanks
 
I would pay someone else to do it unless you are going for full PPE.

I've done normal sand blasting and pressure washer sand blasting... they fucking suck. But the pressure washer sand blasting was dust free and I now have a 3100psi pressure washer:lmao:

*EDIT*
This is the result of five 60lb bags of sand and about 2-3 hours of work:
Clean2_sml.jpg
I was still short 2-3 bags of sand. It is ~5 foot wide, about 1 foot deep and the legs are ~30" tall.

Clean2_sml.jpg
 
Last edited:
montrose818 said:
I need to sandblast a 28' flatbed semi trailer, steel deck and headboard. Possibly other things here and there. I was quoted 800 from someone to do it. I am wondering if I should just pay it to have it done, or invest into equipment and do it myself.

My other questions are, is "dustless" sandblasting that much better? Do I need one of those big 165 CFM towable compressors?

Thanks
Click to expand...

If you want to get it done in anything resembling a timely manor yes a diesel tow behind compressor is really your only option, and to go along with that you are going to need a pretty big blast pot. If you are thinking 800 bucks gets me an 80 gallon compressor and blast pot from Harbor Freight, you are going about this all wrong. The difference in what you can do with a real pro setup and anything resembling a home shop setup is mind blowing. Pay the man 800 sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
 
Thanks. I know nothing of sandblasting. I started to wire wheel it, but it wasnt doing much. Sandpaper got gummed up with rust and paint quick. I thought I could sand it off in half a day buy I was very wrong.

Ill check to make sure the guy has a big compressor and pay hire him.

Thanks again
 
I’d say that would be $800 well spent after doing some blasting this summer. It’s a big fucking mess, even while wearing a full body tyveck suit, face mask and hood I was sweating and had sand everywhere. Stopping to refill the pressure pot sucks....thanks for the reminder about how much it sucked.
 
4Eyedturd said:
I’d say that would be $800 well spent after doing some blasting this summer. It’s a big fucking mess, even while wearing a full body tyveck suit, face mask and hood I was sweating and had sand everywhere. Stopping to refill the pressure pot sucks....thanks for the reminder about how much it sucked.
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may be just a matter of shopping around. Try craigslist or something: I got a guy to blast AND paint a trailer barbecue pit, two kinds of paint, high heat and regular depending on where it was, $300... Place where i ended up dropping it off was exceedingly redneck, but who the hell cares..
 
Saloon65 said:
may be just a matter of shopping around. Try craigslist or something: I got a guy to blast AND paint a trailer barbecue pit, two kinds of paint, high heat and regular depending on where it was, $300... Place where i ended up dropping it off was exceedingly redneck, but who the hell cares..
Click to expand...

What did you search for to find your guy? My craigslist searching sucks :/
 
The local powdercoat outfit would sandblast and powder coat it black for less than $800.
I've got a pressure washer sandblasting setup and it works great but only if you have any easy source for sand. When I use it I first go out in the woods to a sand pit and pour it through a window screen into a few trash cans in the back of my truck. Sounds like it would be a pain but it isn't. Easier than handling bags and you don't have to worry about rationing the sand. It goes through a PILE of sand and obviously the sand isn't reusable unless you dry it and screen it again, which isn't worth the time. Sand HAS to be dry.

The setup works well for what it is, but man is it ever messy for a big project. Sand goes everywhere when you are trying to get to the nooks and crannies on something like a trailer. The sand a paint chips are also impossible to clean up so do it in a sacrificial spot on your property. Face shield and goggles is a must. tyvek suit is a good idea but I usually just wear swim trunks and flip flops and have my wife spray me down with the hose when I'm done.
 
Around here you can rent the compressor and blast pot (and ppe) and buy the sacks of black beauty...so maybe call a rental yard to compare prices.
 
$800 is well worth it. I did my 18’ steel deck a few years ago and it took me 2 solid days to do it with my harbor freight sand blaster.

0430A8BA-1C97-4D42-A6B7-97090EBA1111.jpeg


2D6355D8-B716-4639-B49C-57C069304B24.jpeg


917B1ACB-2A25-4A47-B924-F571CB283A00.jpeg
 
Oh I agree wholeheartedly but some folks (not me) have more $ than time.
 
Curbkrawler said:
Oh I agree wholeheartedly but some folks (not me) have more $ than time.
Click to expand...

i'm very impressed you did the whole job. thats a ton of work to get done it 2 days, especially with the steel deck. i would have gotten 2 hours in and said 'fuck it, i'm done'. ithink you had more time than money the weekend you did that project. hopefully you hit it with paint stripper first to help save some time.


to the op. pay for it to be done, 800 is pricey but i have found sand blasting and powdercoat cost to very widely by location. a 20' gate i pay 10-1200 to blast and coat here in the PNW, a friend of mine in Idaho pays 3-400.
if your bound and determined to do it your self (i call it paying for an education) use a pressure washer/ blaster set up. 4000psi 4gpm minimum. you could at least rent the pressure washer and buy the sand blast contraption from eastwood. shop around for media, price very widley, around here stone yards carry blast media the cheapest.

good luck
 
I will definitely pay to have this done, after reading the feedback.


​​​​​​I am in a dirt lot. Is waste sand an issue to have it done here on location? Theres gravel sand etc. here already. Or should I really try to avoid doing it at my location?

Is dustless sandblasting better?
 
tracyb said:
i'm very impressed you did the whole job. thats a ton of work to get done it 2 days, especially with the steel deck. i would have gotten 2 hours in and said 'fuck it, i'm done'. ithink you had more time than money the weekend you did that project. hopefully you hit it with paint stripper first to help save some time.


to the op. pay for it to be done, 800 is pricey but i have found sand blasting and powdercoat cost to very widely by location. a 20' gate i pay 10-1200 to blast and coat here in the PNW, a friend of mine in Idaho pays 3-400.
if your bound and determined to do it your self (i call it paying for an education) use a pressure washer/ blaster set up. 4000psi 4gpm minimum. you could at least rent the pressure washer and buy the sand blast contraption from eastwood. shop around for media, price very widley, around here stone yards carry blast media the cheapest.

good luck
Click to expand...

I like learning life lessons the hard way. Fortunately my dad is just as dumb as I am. That job involved about 10 bags of filtered sand (recycled multiple times), me doing the dirty work, and the old man sitting on a stool with an umbrella working the valves on the sand blaster for me to keep it from plugging and adequate pressure. Would I do it again? Probably bc dumb...
 
How much sand did you use? And other supply cost? I'm kind of at the point where I have enough to do that $800 to not have to deal with blasting would be a treat.


Then again, I probably wouldn't have blasted that trailer. I have one just like it and every few years I'll take a big wire brush on my 9" grinder and knock all the loose shit off, hit it with the pressure washer and then dump on some black rustoleum. I just dump a little out and use a throw away roller to roll it out and a couple of cans of spray to do the tongue and hard to reach areas on the sides. It'll be fine for a couple years until I drag something across it or haul mulch and scoop it off with the tractor. Cost me $25 for a gallon of paint every few years.
 
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