Shotblasting

[CisMyArse]

Does anyone have experience of doing this themselves? We've exposed an old pennant stone fireplace after 180 years of plaster.
I'm in the process of cleaning away the old mortal but have been quoted £500 to shot-blast the surface to really clean up the stone.

I really can't afford it though, especially since it may not clean the stone up as much as I'd like (and I could very well end up painting over it with thick masonry paint anyway).

Is there something I could buy or hire? Would I be able to do this job myself? The wall is about 4m x 2.5m.

You could rent a fairly powerful power washer with the right attachments and do it yourself.

Personally I'd stick to water, it's a lot less messy and can be effective, if a bit more time consuming.

I think you can get an attachment for a pressure washer that basically incorporates sand into the water stream near the nozzle, turning it into a water-sand blaster.

You can also hire a compressor & traditional shot blast gear like you use to strip paint when restoring classic cars, that's very messy though

I agree with the power washer. Use a fan nozzle not a pencil jet.

Any form of grit, bead, sand or shot will mean you have a lot of dust to clear up, and the grit, bead, sand or shot as well.

You will find the jetwasher blasts soft or old lime mortar or plaster out of the stonework, so it will need repointing afterwards. If the stones are small it may wash away so much that they fall out.

Don't try it on a cob house.

Buy a builder's Wet and Dry vac before you start.

Fantastic. Thanks everyone

Is it an area that water from a pressure washer would drain effectively?. You are going to end up with a very wet room and more mess than dry shotblasting