Media blasting in a california backyard.

Is it legal to media blast or soda blast in my backyard? Im in california. wanted to buy the eastwood soda/media blaster. Just wanted to get some advice before i shove out the 700 bones.(Thats withe everything u need)Maybe just a soda blaster would b better.THANKS!!!

 

"hey" it's california <<< you can't do anything ,anytime, ever ,,, man !

 

Might depend on how big your backyard is ... sort of. I think I read somewhere that soda will kill grass ... so, if you have a big backyard and are only killing your own grass then it might be ok, if you have a small backyard and you end up killing your neighbours lawn ... hmmmm.


Look deeper into the soda blasting (if you haven't already), I think I also read it take a tremendous amount of soda to blast a car. Sand and possibly walnut shells etc can be reused, but I think soda is a one-use-only type of product so factor in the amount of soda needed before making the purchase.

I understand the want to do it all yourself but sometimes (not saying that's the case here) it ends up being cheaper overall to have it done by a shop (and NO, I do not own a blasting shop).

 

depends on where it is. in city limits "NO" according to san berdo county code inforcemnet (i learned the hard way)
but if your the out skirts areas you can. same with painting the car.
if your nieghbors are cool just do it.

 

really it depends on your neighbors.and the times when you do it.also a no no if anybody has an open pool around.

 

Everything next door is going to be covered in dust, too. Make sure your neighbor is friendly.

 

The dust traveling around the neighborhood is going to be a bigger issue than the dead spot in the back yard grass. Building some sort of tent or using one of those carport frames covered in visqueen should keep the drift down.

I've used a small hand held sandblaster outside in the driveway before and got sand in and on everything within a fairly good radius.

 

If not, you'll be posting on this thread
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551136&highlight=neighbor

 

I do it all the time i just lay down a 20x20 tarp and blast away, of course i have cool neighbors and i work on their stuff also, and i have an acre and a half, so nobody ever asks what im doin or poke around bein nosey so im good but ive done it wherever i have lived with no probs!

 

you live in silverlake? i would be carefull! bunch of hipsters and hippies live there, im sure you will have some asshole next door bitch about something!!! soda blasting wont hurt anything, but im sure the hipsters next door will raise hell about it. oh buy the way i do love the homes right around the lake, some killer properties there in the area!

 

Probably not worth the hassle by the time you buy equipment and supplies plus the air coming out of the nozzle is PRETTY loud + the dust. It's so much nicer to drop off your crap and pick up nice clean stuff. Believe me, I'm the last one to say something like that - but I tried sandblasting at home a couple times, not worth the headache.

 

Wow, lots of stuff 2 think about. I asked the guy at eastwood and he said that it hits it and falls down. I would have been doing it in my moms backyard. and The neighbor is a huge bitch. And thinking about doing the enclosure sounds like a loooot of headache. So maybe its best to just forget about it. I almost bought it this morning 2.....Good thing I didnt. Thanks guys.

 

The pieces that don't shatter into dust do hit and fall to the ground. The rest of that shit goes microscopic and flies everywhere. When I blast in the driveway of my shop, the front of the shop and the roof turns dusty.....and it does drift.

Good call on your part. I live in the country and have 2 acres. The closest house to me is 500 yards away.

IF my favorite media blaster hadn't closed, I never would have started doing any myself. I do small jobs but I still haul the big pieces off to a pro who has the equipment.

 

The guy at Eastwood is full of shit. You will have a giant cloud of dust for all to see.

 

Its also much easier to drop your car off at a shop and pick it up finished.....

I love sandblasting, do it in my big driveway and sweep it up and reuse. Its not too dusty at first but if you reuse a few times you end up with fine stuff that gets in the air. There are six pre-war cars on my block(3 are mine) plus a bunch of muscle cars so they all tolerate me. I used red garnet #80 but have never used soda. I also know all my neighbors and often remind them that if I am doing something annoying to just let me know instead of calling Barney.

 

If you live in Silverlake no way, you will get it all over your neighbors houses/yards/cars. You will really fuck over your neighbors because it's in the 70's now and everyone has their windows open. Imagine having that covering your kitchen/living room/bed room, etc.

Plus you probably won't save yourself any money because you won't be able to recover and recycle much blasting media doing it outside. Blasting media ain't cheap and you will be surprised how quick you use it up.

I highly recommend paying someone to blast your car. I've blasted 3 cars myself and will never do it again. It's dirty filthy work. I'll gladly pay someone to do it for me.

I live in Silverlake and couldn't even imagine blasting a car outside anywhere here.

 

Well, I was going to buy the combo that eastwood had with the soda and the media. Because a friend of mine at school bought one. I helped him put it together and when the day came.......no answer.Next day...no answer....about a couple of days of that shit and i got frustrated and said fuck it. Ill buy my own. It got 2 the point where I was second thinking about it and never did it. (Because of the helpful insight I got on here from u guys.) Yesterday he called me and said "Im so broke, I wanna sell it". He paid around $700 for it with the soda, shipping, gloves....etc. Long story short. I ended up buying everything off him. never even used for $360! Figure, I can spray it outside of my school once or twice. And maybe spray my oxidised engine parts. So, worse comes 2 worse. I use it and sell it. Thanks for the help u guys!!!

 

If you use soda you better have a big compressor too . It will go through air like nothing . Eastwood will tell you anything to sell you something .
The only way to get around it , is if you get one of the plastic tarp garages with side then use taps to on the front and rear . Then duct tape it all up . Crawl inside and blast away . You will need to have a suit and a breathing unit too , BUT your neighbors will be much happier .

Really by the time you do all that and buy everything , just have a professional do it for you . Not worth buying all the tools just to do one car !
When I did my car I used the razor blade to remove my paint . Wasn't hard at all and didn't cost me $25 for a 55 Ford . It really isn't that hard and works great !
Just my opinion .

Retro Jim

 

I soda blasted a motorcycle frame ... there was a yellow/white layer of dust a half inch thick in the driveway ... there was no giant cloud and the stuff stayed close to where I was working ... water took it away over time but not right away ... It also didnt harm grass or bushes ... But be prepared to use a lot of sods ... I used 2 - 50 lb bags on a bike frame ... have to keep water separator clean and drain it a lot as moisture will stop the blaster.

 

Has anybody blasted a carb before? mine is oxidised. I was hoping i could do it without taking it apart. Is that a bad idea? it sat in a little bit of rain so maybe I should. Stupid blue tarps! those things never fuckin help for more than a couple of months.

 

soda blast it. i wouldnt do it with sand!

 

I know that guy.. and he is full of it..

 

Are you blasting large pieces or small?? small stuff is easy to get away with. large stuff... Silverlake?? I don't know.. also... Soda wont remove rust. It will take the scaley (is that a word?) crap off..

 

well i wanted to actually soda blast the carbs outer shell. kind of afraid because apart it has all those little passages. together i have to cover shit im sure. I would b doing it in my schools backyard. not my home.

 

By the way, anybody know of a place to pick up a couple of cheap bags of soda in the la area? I dont want to have it shipped. Shipping is expensive. And I want to be able 2 use it this week. If it dont rain.

 

Try McMaster-Carr.

 

Dude harbor frieght sells soda for blasting, i wanted sand and ended up with soda, and it removes rust that i have, tho not very fast.

 

I have a 56 Bel Air I need to have stripped.. Who does it around here in the I.E? As always, thanks in advance!

 

Thanks lethargic, junk yard!