Sandblasting Cost Calculator

Published 2026 prices run $1.50-$7 per square foot, and most jobs land at $2-$5. Residential work (brick, siding, decks) runs $1.50-$5/sqft. Commercial and industrial steel without lead runs about $2-$8/sqft. Lead paint runs $5-$18/sqft for the blasting, plus disposal (about $4/sqft more on government jobs). Cars are priced per vehicle, not per square foot: $550-$1,100+ for a full strip. The rate depends on media type, coating condition, and surface complexity. The biggest cost drivers are media consumption and labor speed, both of which vary with coating thickness and surface difficulty.

Coal Slag and Recycled Glass are the cheapest blast media at roughly $0.18 per pound. However, cheaper media is usually thrown away after one pass. Coal slag uses 5-17 lbs per square foot depending on coating condition, while garnet at $0.40/lb uses 1.5-4.5 lbs/sqft net of recycling (it is typically recovered and blasted 2-3 times). Total media cost depends on both price per pound and how many pounds you use up.

Media consumption varies significantly by type and coating condition. Crushed glass uses 4-14 lbs/sqft (light to lead paint), used once. Garnet uses 1.5-4.5 lbs/sqft and steel grit only 0.2-0.8 lbs/sqft, but those are net figures: the media is recovered and recycled, and a single pass pushes far more through the nozzle. Heavier coatings and lead paint always require more media per square foot.

Production speed depends on surface complexity and coating condition. Flat surfaces with light coatings run about 200 sqft/hr, while intricate surfaces with lead paint slow down to about 10 sqft/hr. A typical moderate-complexity job with medium coating runs around 80 sqft/hr. These are crew labor-hours, with setup, moves and pot refills included, not time on the trigger. Use them to estimate labor hours for your job.

Crushed glass is the best general-purpose media for paint removal. Garnet is ideal for precision work, marine jobs, and recoating prep. Coal slag works well for large surfaces where cost matters. Glass bead is used for finishing, peening, and delicate surfaces. Walnut shell is safe for soft substrates like wood and fiberglass. Steel grit handles heavy mill scale and is recyclable.

A typical house exterior is about 1,000 sqft. Using crushed glass on medium coating at moderate complexity, this calculator gives 7,000 lbs of media ($1,750) and 12.5 hours of labor ($938 at $75/hr). With a 25% markup is a 20% margin, the bid comes to $3,359 before travel, about $3.36/sqft, inside the $1.50-$5/sqft published for residential work.

Price cars per vehicle, not per square foot. Published prices for a full strip run $550-$1,100+ per vehicle (plastic media at the low end, glass bead higher). The blasting math alone is less: a 120 sqft body with crushed glass on medium coating takes about 840 lbs of media ($210) and 1.5 hours of labor ($113 at $75/hr), or $403 with a 25% markup. The gap is masking, disassembly, handling and the care a car takes, which per-square-foot math does not see.

A 6x12 utility trailer is about 154 sqft of steel to blast: a 77 sqft bed, counted twice for the top and underside of the frame, rails and tongue (our estimate, not a published figure). With coal slag on a medium coating, and the frame members slowing the nozzle down, this calculator gives 1,232 lbs of media ($222) and 3.08 hours of labor ($231 at $75/hr). With a 25% markup the bid comes to $566 before travel. Pulling a wood deck, wheels and wiring is time on top of that.

Price a log home by the square foot of log wall, not floor area. Perma-Chink Systems works an example: a 2,000 sqft home with 12 ft walls has about 2,136 sqft of exterior wood, and round logs add 25%, so about 2,670 sqft. With walnut shell (easy on wood) on a medium coating, this calculator gives 4,005 lbs of media ($2,003) and 33.38 hours of labor ($2,503 at $75/hr). With a 25% markup that is $5,632, about $2.11/sqft, before travel. Measure your own walls: two 2,000 sqft homes in the same example differ by 35% in wall area.

Across all job types, published prices run $1.50-$7 per square foot ($16-$75 per square metre), and most jobs land at $2-$5. Residential work runs $1.50-$5/sqft. Commercial and industrial steel without lead runs about $2-$8/sqft. Lead paint runs $5-$18/sqft before disposal. The biggest variable is coating condition and how much media each square foot eats.

Media blasting costs the same as sandblasting because it is the same job: $1.50-$7 per square foot, with most jobs at $2-$5, and lead paint at $5-$18/sqft plus disposal. The price depends on which media you run and how many pounds it consumes, not on whether you call it sand or media blasting.

There is no real difference in price or method. Media blasting is the broader, more accurate term: it covers blasting with any media (crushed glass, garnet, coal slag, glass bead, walnut shell, steel grit, and more), while sandblasting technically means using silica sand, which most shops no longer use because of silica health risks. The cost math is identical, so this calculator prices both.