Dry Sand Blasting

We specialise in using an adjustable pressure, low consumption sand jetting system that has been used nationwide for property restoration, including gaining approval for, and subsequently working on, many Listed Buildings.
The links on the left (and bottom of the page) - to 'Sand Jetting' (it sounds much better, and less frightening, than Sand Blasting) will lead you to a page with further details. The system works by injecting water into a blast pot, regulating abrasive into the blast stream - which appears as a gritty damp mist.

A ceiling in sheffield - dry blasted rather than damp sand jetted 2009

However, there are occasions where traditional dry sand blasting systems have their benefits too; Generally these systems are more aggressive because, to obtain a consistent flow of sand, the valve on the blast pot has to be wider open compared to our wet system, but the lack of water means that the abrasive and debris doesn't stick to a cleaned surface and so for some internal work, the end result can be less messy. So for some internal tasks we do recommend and use these dry blast pots.

A dry pot being used inside for cleaning a stone floor - Pickering 2009. Note the considerable dust cloud, and the 'significant' ventilaltion required for dry blasting. Dry Blasting is definitely unsuitable for external use! The fire extinguishers are outside to keep them clean - rather than as a result of a significant fire risk!

Key Benefits

• Flexible, many surfaces and contaminants can be dealt with quickly and easily.
• Relatively cost effective, perhaps twice as expensive as pressure washing, but typically less than half the price of chemical stripping. Similar in cost to sand jetting, there is generally an increase in throughput at the workpiece, but this is offset by the significantly increased labour required to fill the blast pot and to clean up.
• Easily scalable, Greenleaf Contractors, the Ashrose Group, and indeed other contractors, can easily support each other in this technique, meaning that multiple machines can be brought to a site if required.
• Suitable surface profile generation for subsequent treatments, such as Zinga cold galvanising.
• Longer timescales before flash rusting appears