Architectural Solutions

by Corn Cob Blasting

New Constructions Brick Cleaning by dry blasting with ground up corn cob.

• No environmental hazards
• No acids
• No water runoff
• No masking of windows or window frames
• No need to shut down work areas due to chemicals

Before Cob Blasting

After

Before Cob Blasting

After

New Construction Stairwell Cleaning of Safety Tread by dry blasting with ground up corn cob.

• Problem: Drywall gypsum, plaster and caulk embedded in the Safety Tread surrounded by iron oxide primer.

  • How to clean it in a cost and time effective manner and not destroy the stairs?

• Solution :Clean and Save the Safety Tread and iron oxide primer by Dry Blasting with corn cob.

• Low impact on the jobsite and construction crews with easy cleanup

Proper Surface Preparation can result in not only the cleaning of a surface but also in giving it a desired architectural effect.

As shown below, making use of the physical properties of Sodium Bicarbonate, Magnesium Sulphate, Corncob and Corn Cob Blastings can result in time and cost savings to the construction industry. In this case corn cob blasting was chosen over magnesium sulphate due to the the less aggressive surface cut and also the fact that cob is an inert, non-chemical media similar to sawdust.

Church of the Resurrection
Tualatin, OR

Architect: Diloreto Architects, LLC
Contractor: J. E. Dunn
 

This 14,000 square foot, one story building uses six different textures, looks and colors of concrete, stucco, wood and metal.

(click on each picture to enlarge it)

The pictures above show the work in progress with before/after surfaces. We are using corncob and corn cob blastings at high pressure and high volume to clean and remove concrete surface imperfections. At the same time the cob opened the pores in the concrete surface for a more visual architectural texture.

There were several major plus' here for the contractor.

1. The blasting could be done while other sub-contractors' crews still completed their scheduled work on time without shutting down the entire jobsite!
2. The concrete cleaning and texturing was able to be done as the building was raised and closed in.
3. The sensitive finish on the immediately adjacent wood ceiling, beams and on the tender anodized aluminum window frames and glass were not harmed by the cob blasting of the concrete.

The resulting textures are shown above. They are not color-corrected. You will also note that we "saved" the plaster on the 45°chamfered edge on each column.

1. BONUS! In fact, the cob blastings were then used at a lower air pressure to dress the exposed wood by removing footprints, mildew, water stains, attachment bolt rust stains, etc from the viewable surface of the open beams and roof surfaces. This eliminated time consuming hand-sanding.