Stripping Old Paint: Why We Chose Shot Blasting
Stripping the paint from Betty, our vintage horsebox, turned out to be one of the most challenging parts of the entire build.
At first glance, it looked like a simple job. Stripping old paint that has built up over decades is very different from removing a single modern coating. A bit of sanding, maybe some paint stripper, and we’d be back to clean metal in no time. The reality was very different.
The paint on Betty wasn’t just one or two layers. It was decades of coatings, applied at different times, in different conditions. Some areas were thick and rock hard. Others were dry, flaky, and lifting away in sheets. In places, the paint had baked on so hard it barely reacted to anything we tried.
We started with chemical paint stripper, hoping it would soften things up. It barely touched it. Even after multiple applications, the surface stayed stubbornly intact. Sanding wasn’t much better. Progress was painfully slow, and it quickly became obvious that removing everything by hand would take weeks. Not days. Weeks.
Aside from the time, there was the finish to think about. Hand sanding old paint like this often leaves uneven surfaces, missed patches, and hidden corrosion underneath. For something that was going to be repainted properly, that wasn’t good enough.
That’s when we decided to send Betty off for shot blasting.
Shot blasting strips everything back to bare metal quickly and evenly. All the old paint, surface rust, and grime are removed in one go. It’s messy work, but it’s thorough. More importantly, it gives you a completely clean starting point.
Once the shot blasting is done, the horsebox will be primed properly and given a fresh coat of paint. No guessing what’s underneath. No hidden issues waiting to show themselves later.
This work is part of the wider Sauna Hus build project, where the horsebox is being converted into a working wood-fired sauna.
It was a bigger step than we first planned, but it was the right one. Sometimes the hard way is actually the cleanest way forward.
