My deck railing (log) has been neglected for too long and it is time to do something with it. The wood has weather damage, some mildewy spots, and just generally looks like crap. All of that needs to be removed as well as any remaining log stain. Then, the plan is to caulk the cracks and restain the whole thing.

Sanding really is not an option so I thought that I'd look into sandblasting. A buddy let me borrow his soda blaster today and while I didn't try it on my railing yet, I did test it out on an old mildewy and weathered 2X4 and it worked great!

Problem is, I can't use it on my railing while it remains attached to the deck/house because the bicarb will kill my lawn. Other problem is that taking the railing apart is a royal PITA as it requires removing some of the decking itself. Big job, and getting it put back together after I'm done would be another big job.

So, I'm looking for a blaster media that will work good on wood, without damaging it, and one that will also not harm my lawn.

From looking around online, it appears that either pumice or corncob would be good choices, but I have no idea what size grit to get.

Does anyone have experience with this? Advice? Better ideas?

Thanks.

Tried a pressure washer yet? Just water, no soap? The media blasters can be quite aggressive on wood. Saw it done some years ago. Sand would work, no/little environmental impact.

I've tried water in the past and it just tears up the wood. It also "injects" water into the wood requiring a prolonged drying out time before I can restain.

I did find this stuff that looks good and reasonably priced. Maybe I'll give it a go.

I used sandblasting to make wood signs in the past but the idea was to blast away wood (we were creating raised letters/characters by blasting away everything else). It worked too well sometimes and tended to get pretty rough and "porous". Like Gustofer mentioned, it was kinda like a pressure washer, you had to get the feel and determine distances or you just blew the wood away.
But we were using abrasive stuff, no soda, shells or cob.

I remember seeing a set up of using a floor polisher with sandpaper underneath it for wood flooring. Are those still available?

I just checked, they do have deck sanders. Perhaps you can rent one.

There is dry ice (CO2) blasting...but cost may be high.

Can you get a photo? All [real] wood can be sanded. May just require the right tool or one used in a unique fashion.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Can you get a photo? All [real] wood can be sanded. May just require the right tool or one used in a unique fashion.

Yes, it could be sanded. If I started today, I'd be finished sometime around the 4th of July. 2023.

I'll tear it all out and buy new ones before I'll tackle that project.

No, blasting is the approach. I can be done with the whole thing in a couple of hours and have it caulked and restained in another couple of hours.

Just need the right media.

I have heard of using pecan hulls as a blasting media, but no idea where you get em.

Watched a show using dry ice and it was amazing... and no clean-up.

You stated sanding isn't an option, but what about a belt sander with some very coarse sandpaper?

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
You stated sanding isn't an option, but what about a belt sander with some very coarse sandpaper?

You'd never be able to get into the nooks, crannies, and rounded logs of the railing. Think fence with top and bottom horizontal rails and multiple small round verticles between them about six inches apart. Nearly impossible to sand by hand or machine.

Sanding is not an option. Blasting is it.

I like bendable's crushed glass (beads). Get 'em at HF. Gentle on wood. Small particle diameter means more particles in the blast stream = faster work.