[MassHistPres] Soda blasting interior brick walls?

[Garrett Laws]

Ward,

I had a soda blasting co look at a job where customer wanted to clean the
"weathering" off a weathering green slate...til they saw the cost. During
the process we frequently heard that we should also looking at using
crushed walnut shells.

Garrett
Copper & Slate co.

On Friday, March 7, 2014, Ward Hamilton at Olde Mohawk Historic
Preservation <ward at wardhamilton.com> wrote:

> Interviewed a soda-blasting company owner and walked through the client's
> house in Boston's South End today with him. He insisted that, in his
> experience, thoroughly soda-blasting interior brick to clean and remove
> any residual paint, plaster, or dirt might do more damage to the brick
> than hitting it for a briefer period of time with what he described as a
> lighter "sand-type" media (which he called "Green Lightning").
>
> I gave him a couple of sample bricks with and without paint to test, but
> it was his opinion that any media is going to eat into the brick surface
> somewhat, and that as long as he used a lighter media (and not the heavy
> "Black Beauty" sand used in industrial sandblasting) the brick should be
> OK, especially as it is interior masonry not exposed to weathering and
> moisture.
>
> I have a real aversion to the idea of using sand-type blasting or
> abrasives on bricks, so I am not sure what to make of this fellow's
> insistence on blasting something harder than soda against the walls. Do
> you have any thoughts on this situation? We are still trying to find
> another vendor to bid on soda-blasting (or whatever "blasting" is
> appropriate), to compare against New England Soda Blasting.
>
> If you have any recommended soda-blasting companies that you would be
> willing to refer to us we'd appreciate it.  Thanks in advance for your
> advice, thoughts and input re this and/or other techniques.
>
>
> Ward Hamilton
>
> OLDE MOHAWK HISTORIC PRESERVATION INC
> 877.622.8973 online at OldeMohawk.com
> Slate Roofing | Masonry | Restoration
>
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-- 
Cheers,
Garrett Laws,
President

The Copper & Slate Company, Inc.
Fine Roofing and Exterior Finish Carpentry
238B Calvary Street,
Waltham, MA 02453
(781) 893-1916

 Work we do:
http://picasaweb.google.com/copperandslate

 Where we've worked over the years:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=206210316541901083869.00049065ef8543e1ef9c3&ll=42.40115,-71.126862&spn=0.125241,0.289421&t=h&z=12
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