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Miami-Dade County · Florida
Homestead dry ice blasting
Most of what we clean around Homestead is equipment somebody cannot afford to damage.
The practical side
We work on driveways, in yards and inside shops that cannot take water on the floor. Which means no downtime spent in transit and no risk of damage moving it out of Homestead and back.
Dry ice sublimates on contact, so there is no grit, no slurry and no secondary media to sweep up afterward. What is left on the floor is the grease or carbon that came off, and collecting that is part of the job.
What we clean
The work we take on around Homestead
Nearby
Also working across Miami-Dade County
Questions from Homestead
What do most jobs look like?
It ranges from a single restoration project to a plant maintenance window. The method does not change much.
Is there a travel charge?
Distance can factor in. You will hear about it up front, not on the invoice.
What is the first step?
Describe the job and send a photo or two. Giancarlo or Kenny will call you, not a scheduler.
Will you travel to Homestead?
Yes, Homestead is well within range, and the compressor comes on the truck with everything else.
Do you need anything set up before you arrive?
Access to the equipment and somewhere to park the compressor. No water hookup, no drain and no wash bay.
Can you come outside business hours?
Often yes, a lot of industrial work happens overnight or during a planned outage. Give us the window and we will say straight away whether it is realistic.
The local conditions
Salt carries a long way inland here, and it keeps working on metal every day of the year. Which is exactly the situation where a non-abrasive, low-moisture method is worth the call.
Shops, marine yards, warehouses and home garages all end up with the same problem in different forms. Site type barely matters when the air, the hose and the collection all arrive together.
Because the media sublimates, there is no slurry running toward a storm drain and no grit left in a machine. On a tight site in Miami-Dade County that is often the deciding factor.
What comes off
What comes off, and why
If it is bonded to the surface rather than part of it, there is a good chance this takes it off. The list below covers most of what we are called out for.
- Resin and mold release
Cured process residue on a mold or fixture. The surface has to come out dimensionally unchanged, which rules out anything abrasive.
- Paint and coatings
Taken off in a controlled way when what is underneath matters more than speed.
- Salt and corrosion product
A constant in South Florida. Removing it without stripping the protective finish is the whole trick.
- Ink and printing residue
Dried ink on precision roller faces, cleaned without altering the cell structure that does the work.
- Food residue
Carbonized product build-up in a plant where neither standing water nor a chemical film is acceptable.
- Grease and oil
The soft film that holds dust and swarf against metal. It is what makes a part feel dirty long after it looks clean, and it comes off first.
- Carbon and soot
The hard black crust on a housing, an oven or a weld cell. Bonded by heat, and the first thing to release under thermal shock.
How a job runs
Nothing about this should be a surprise
Nobody should have to guess what they booked. This is every stage of a job in the order it happens.
- We blast, then clean up
One mess instead of two: the pellet vanishes and we take away what it removed.
- You look before we pack up
A second pass while everything is still connected is free in every sense. A return trip is not.
- You describe the job
What it is, what is on it and whether it can stop. If the answer is that dry ice is wrong for it, you get that answer first, not last.
- We look at access and containment
The layout decides the method more often than the contaminant does. We work out reach and containment before quoting anything.
- We test a small area
Pressure and pellet size get dialed in on an inconspicuous spot before we touch anything visible. Painted parts, soft alloys and older finishes all behave differently, and the right setting on one is the wrong setting on another.
The comparison
Why not just pressure wash it
- Hand scraping
It is the fallback when nothing else is available, and it shows on the surface afterward.
- Media blasting
It takes the top off whatever it touches. That is the point on rusted plate and the problem everywhere else.
- Pressure washing
The water has to go somewhere, and on most equipment that somewhere is inside it.
- Solvent and degreaser
Chemistry works, but you inherit ventilation, waste handling and a film on the surface.
- Dry ice
Thermal contraction cracks the bond between deposit and surface, then the pellet gasses off. Nothing abrasive, nothing wet, nothing left.
What to expect on site
Everything the rig needs arrives with it. No tap, no drain, no outlet.
Anything nearby that should not be touched gets masked before we start. That is quicker than explaining it afterward.
The media is solid CO2, nothing toxic and nothing left behind, but it pushes oxygen out of a closed room. Ventilation gets planned before the hose is connected.
The process is loud. Hearing protection is standard for anyone in the working area, which is why you will see ear defenders in most of our photographs.
Tell us what needs cleaning.
Tell us what the machine is, where it is and what is on it. A photo or two speeds it up. One of the owners calls you back.