Soda Blasting

[The Mitten]

New owner of a 1999 Mack. Looking to soda blast the old bottom paint off. Has anyone bought an Eastwood or Harbor freight unit and had any success? I hate to pay 800 bucks,when I can own the tool. Thanks, Kurt

[holty]

Pay the bucks and have it done asap. You want the bare hull to have time to dry completely. A good barrier coat and continued use of ablative bottom paint will keep her smooth for years. My two cents

regards Holty

[gary s]

I agree. You need a hugh air compresser as well,you don't want to be blasting a 1/4" line at a time

[Ship]

Another voice for having it done. It's extremely toxic, dirty, time consuming, and local regulations are another hurtle. I had one from harbor freight and it did the 1/4" line. Oh yeah, there's the learning curve.

[Quik Fix]

Where are you located? Pay the money, Doing it yourself with a homie machine will take you a month @ 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.

[The Mitten]

I'm in Michigan. I have a commercial 100% duty cycle sullair compressor that runs a 1" hose. But, as referenced, I have no experience with soda. I have run sand and walnut media.

If I pay to have it removed, how many years, or recoats until it needs stripping again? Maybe I can just recoat at this point? I'm not sure how much is on the boat. It has a total of 246 hours on it. Spent several Michigan boating seasons in the water.

[Fisherlady2]

My biggest warning beyond the learning curve for something you will only need to do every 4 or 5 years is local regulations. The debris will need proper disposal and some areas may not allow it to be done outside. Research the options thoroughly before investing either way. If you have the facilities and support equipment and want go go through with it I hope it goes well. We can all understand the desire to do it yourself, but just want to warn you of the potential roadblocks you may face.

edit to add... you posted as I was posting... on fresh water I would expect a lot more time between coatings, whether you moor it in the water or it is a trailer boat will also impact time frames. If docking you can ask others in your marina how often they have to get bottoms cleaned, that will give you a better idea. I don't know the rate of algae growth in lake Michigan.
if you have the time and facilities then 'do it yourself' becomes much more attractive, but there is a reason so many pro blasters are out there (at least in coastal areas).... it is a messy and time consuming job.

[Mako2]

On our last boar we used a barrier coat of one color and an ablative bottom paint of a different color. Each year we would touch up areas where the barrier coat would show through. The bottom stayed great. As Holty said it will keep her smooth for years. We used the same process with our current Shamrock with great results so far.

[Fish Witch]

Agree with above, have it done. I bought a Harbor Freight soda blaster (actually two, the first one didn't work), and it's only good for small areas regardless of how much air you have, and very messy. If you get the bottom clean, barrier coated properly and two coats of good bottom paint suitable for trailering (some don't like to be taken out of the water), it should last for many years with yearly touch ups and a new coat every other year or as needed. Preparation is everything and it's a must that you record which paint you use otherwise you'll run the risk of putting something on that's incompatible with the underlying paint. That's why I bought the soda blaster learning the hard way when my paint started to peel off not knowing what the PO used. A tip for those touch ups and extra coats is to wet sand it with an 80 grit dry wall open mesh sanding pad after pressure washing. Even with my 38 footer it could be sanded and ready for the new coat pretty quickly with little mess from that crappy dust that can cause trouble (another learning experience!).

[Fishineer]

Proper PPE is important, especially respiratory protections. I always sacrifice an inexpensive tarp on a slight grade to collect the material blasted off.

All of my boats have been blasted with crushed glass media and water. We placed a sump (wheelbarrow size pond) at the downstream end for any suspended sediment to settle out. Then just plan to dispose of the tarp and material from the sump properly.

Some words of caution. If you or whoever operates the equipment are not familiar with the power of the apparatus and the media to quickly cut through all of the paint layers, original gelcoat and right on into and through the fiberglass, I suggest you find someone with experience,

I have had the bottoms of two Shamrocks blasted. Both bottoms were blasted by a very experienced blaster who has 10+ years of experience blasting helicopter components at MCAS Little River where the tolerance for minimum aluminum sheet thickness is much tighter than the gelcoat of a boat hull. As long as this gentleman is available, I will continue to use him at $50/foot.

I prefer rolling and brushing Intelux 2000E per the instructions for the barrier coating system.

[Quik Fix]

Dan, $5 a foot? Thats sq ft, right.

[Fishineer]

Jerry - Thanks for the question. I corrected the post to change $5 to $50. Bottom of 22’ Predator $50/ft $1,100.

[The Mitten]

Thanks guys. Ill pay to have it done. I got a few quotes. Both around 800 bucks.

[Pequod]

Thanks guys. Ill pay to have it done. I got a few quotes. Both around 800 bucks.

My bottom was cleaned by South Coast Soda Blasting.
They tented the entire bottom and ground to capture all the debris. Professional job.
Barrier coat and two coats of Micron CSC black.(not included in price).
Satisfied with the job they did.
The price you received is fair.