FWIW, Rather than grinding or sand blasting, rent a floor sander.
Once the paint is off, dose the (concrete) floor with muriatic
acid (be careful!) to prep it for epoxy paint. If there's lead in the
paint, be sure to wear protective gear.

The little experience I have w. sand blasting taught me you need a big
compressor. Perhaps the Northern device would work but be sure to
determine what size pressure washer it requires to function correctly.

Don't know what to recommend for the irregular driveway. Perhaps paint
stripper?

BobAtVandy wrote:

I'm a homeowner with two projects that, I think, would be greatly helped
by sandblasting, but I can't find knowledgeable people in the rental stores.
In fact, I only found one place that rents a sandblaster, and they tried to
talk me out of it. So, I'm seeking knowledge and advice.

1. I want to epoxy the garage floor so I need to strip the floor of
existing paint (or perhaps stain). While the paint is worn through in
places, where it hasn't it appears firmly on. The last place I did this I
tried a high pressure washer; it would cut under areas beginning to flake,
but wouldn't cut through solid areas. (So I ended up grinding down the
entire floor with a hand-held grinder-vac -- which I'll never do again.)

The nearest rental shotblaster appears to be 4 hours away and would
require a truck, which I don't have. Only one place in my vicinity
(Sarasota, FL) rents a sandblaster and they're trying to discourage me from
renting it -- apparently because of the liability of customers dealing with
silica-sand. Plus, it's quite expensive.

My questions:

1A. This sandblasting unit is on sale at my local Harbor Freight sto
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...unction=Search
Would it do the job?

1B. Would 'playbox sand' from Home Depot be different than (less toxic
than) silica-sand? (It's certainly cheaper.)

1C. Regardless, would playbox sand work? If so, what size tip/nozzle
would I need for this?

1D. How much sand might be needed to do a large 2-car garage?

1E. Alternatively, there is a gizmo that appears to allow an abrasive
(sand?) to be injected into the water stream of a pressure washer, which
would help it to cut through paint. See he
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...Id=8520&R=8520
Would it work? Any gotcha's to it?

1F. Any other suggestions?

2. Next I need to clean a driveway as well as decorative stone facing,
both with many coats of paint. (And I'm guessing the stone is fairly
porous).
Would any of the above answers in #1 differ for either the driveway or
stone?

MANY, MANY thanks in advance for whatever help you can provide me.