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One situation that a commercial property manager or owner is bound to encounter is a parking lot with flaking paint due to constant striping over the years. Parking stalls, handicap stencils, fire lane, etc…all that paint will eventually stack up and make it impossible for new paint to stick to the surface below the current layer.

The answer to this problem in almost all circumstances is to sandblast, a process that’s been around since 1870, the present traffic markings to start over fresh with a clean surface.

Sandblasting, also commonly referred to as abrasive blasting, is a process of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface or object under high pressure to remove, in our case, the contaminants or striping paint currently on the surface. Our method when sandblasting parking lots or garages requires a compressor and a pot which is where the compressed air and sand are mixed. The mixture then travels through a hand-held nozzle where the sand is then directed towards the surface or work area.

Likely the first thought of people when the process of spraying sand around with compressed air is, “What a mess that must make!”

Those people aren’t wrong. Depending on the work area the media used in the blasting process will likely be widespread in the vicinity. However, C&D also specializes in the removal and clean up of the sandblasting process and so property managers and owners have nothing to worry about.

Overall, sandblasting isn’t super quick and due to the porous nature of concrete the removal of all striping paint is not guaranteed, but blasting when it’s all said and done efficiently cleans better and faster than other traditional surface cleaning techniques. Due to this, sandblasting is not an inexpensive procedure. There is the cost of everything involved including the sand pot, air compressor, sand or other media, labor, etc.

Due to this, it may be best for some properties with large parking lots or garages to sandblast small areas each year to maintain appearance and overall quality of the property.

One thing is certain though — you will have to remove traffic markings at some point and it’s much more welcoming to tenants and customers and less expensive to get it done sooner rather than allowing the paint to stack up causing an eyesore and driving away possible business.

We can remove old paint in a parking lot by either sandblasting, grinding or power washing. The method we use depends on the application. Sandblasting is the most effective way to remove old paint. We normally sandblast when a parking lot has been striped over and over again and the older base layers of paint are chipping, curling and peeling. Sandblasting removes all this paint and creates a good surface for the new paint to bond to. The disadvantage is that sandblasting is expensive and surrounding areas must be protected from the abrasive sand.

Grinding is used in smaller applications or in areas that are sensitive to sand and dust. For instance, if we are removing a few reserved parking stencils in a parking garage, we will likely use a grinder.

Power washing is used to prepare to re-stripe a parking lot when there are thin layers of parking lot paint chipping and peeling but it’s not pervasive. This method removes the chipping and loose paint so that a new layer of paint can be applied on top.

Sandblasting

Our parking lot sandblasting service is unique. Our “sand”blasting process does not actually involve sand. Instead of using sand, which contains silica and can cause health problems (such as silicosis) when the dust is inhaled, we use a health-friendly material called Green Diamond, which contains very little silica.

We use a dry sandblasting process, which uses compressed air instead of water. The compressed air blasts the medium on to the paint surface and acts as an abrasive – removing the paint from the pavement as well as a very thin top layer of pavement. This adds to the cost effectiveness (vs wet sandblasting) because the dry medium is easier to clean up and can also be reused in some situations.

The Quote Process

When you request a sandblasting quote from us, we will come out to your property within a few business days to review the area to be sandblasted. Depending on your goals, we will offer any alternatives, if available and then email you a bid. We can usually mobilize on a project within seven days or schedule further in advance, if necessary. We usually work at night but we can come out any time of the day or night – 7 days/week depending on your needs.