Log Home Blasting
Log home blasting with corn cob blasting grit is an ideal technique to maintain and preserve the interior and exterior wood of your log home. By corn cob blasting (cleaning) the surface of the logs, you will not only remove dirt and debris as well as stain and coatings, you will restore the original appearance to your log home.
Why Blast a Log Home?
The proper care and maintenance is crucial to the longevity of your house, be it a log home or not. If you allow dust, dirt and debris to collect on the logs, this could create a moist area that causes decay and rot, leading to degradation of your log home. This can happen inside the home as well as outside. By log home blasting the exterior of your log home on a regular basis, you’ll maintain your logs for many years to come. For the interior, use the corn cob blaster about half as often.
How Do You Blast a Log Home?
You will need a few items to properly clean your Log Home:
- Portable Pressure Blaster
- Corn Cob Blasting Media
- Gloves, goggles, protective clothing
- Cover or remove furniture and other items that will trap the used corn cob media
A high quality portable sand blaster, with at least a 35-50 minute blasting time is ideal for saving time and labor. The PPB Model KF150DM is perfect for log home blasting applications.
Corn cob blast media is the most effective blast media for cleaning log homes without damaging the wood surface. It is virtually dust free, biodegradable and highly cost effective. Corn cob media comes in 5 different grit sizes from extra fine to extra course. Most commonly, Fine (20-40 mesh) is used on the exterior areas. The less aggressive Extra Fine (40-60 mesh) is used on the interior of the logs. The specific grit size and amount needed for log home blasting will depend upon several factors:
- Condition of wood logs to be cleaned
- Surface area to be blasted
- Degree of cleaning required
For safety reasons, handle the log home blasting equipment as you would the wand at a car wash. Do not point the nozzle at people, animals or plants and be sure to wear goggles to protect your eyes.
Do not fixate on one particular area for very long as you could “eat” through or etch the log. Use long, back and forth strokes. Start from the top log and work down one log at a time. If you encounter a problem area (stains, rot, mold), use very quick, short strokes over and over the area until the damage is removed. It is less likely for the logs to be damaged if multiple passes are used versus a single, slower pass. When blasting the interior of a log home, use very long strokes only one or two times per log.
Once you are finished blasting the log home, inspect the entire area to make sure all the dust, dirt and debris was removed. By blasting a log home, once a year outside and every 2-3 years inside, the beauty and strength of the logs will be maintained.