I'm trying to transition into commercial painting specializing in the horse farms around central KY and my first job involves taking down 11 heavy metal powder coated horse stall doors that have gotten somewhat rusted, sandblasting them then painting. I've done a lot of stuff but sandblasting isn't one of them. So I'm wondering just how does someone like me go about doing something like this. Do equipment rental places carry stuff like this? Other than handling the doors which I've got help for, is this blasting job something your average motivated joe can tackle?

Also, was wondering what'd be the best environment to get it done. The doors are installed in an all wood stable, and although a horse stall sounds like the ideal place to lean these gates up and blast away, I'd be afraid the wood wall behind it would disintegrate. There's another stable nearby that's made of cinder block which I imagine would make for a better staging area. These stalls are about 13 ft square which seems ideal for keeping the all the sand contained. I'm sure the wall would need repainting after everything was finished, but would a cinder block wall generally stand up to being hit with lots of sand?

 

I’ve done a lot of commercial/construction blasting..

Heavy metal, like coragated, flat gauged steel, or ?

Powder coating as a Polymer Resin can be tough to remove if the coating is fairly thick, and still holding its adhesion. Internal corners , crevasses etc being the more difficult.
The thing when blasting thinner tin is not to generate too much heat during the blasting. When blasting tin, the nozzle if held against or stationary on the tin generates heat, and the media ‘peens’ the tin meaning distorting or stretching the material.
Like with auto body panels, they can be blasted, but carefully so not to beat the surface up to badly. More so with aggressive sized media.
In your description it sounds like the doors are more substantial. If heavy gauge metal,, no worries..

There are modile blast outfits that may offer the option of sand, shell, oxides etc, and even soda blasting (no dust).
When considering blasting, there are rental outfits that have all the equipment, a capable and suitable compressor (sand blasting requires very large volumes/steady high PSI/CFM) for the job, more so when removing PC.
Sand blasting does create dust, as well as airborn silca within the dust so personal safety equipment is a must.
Blasting in more open areas, in well lit conditions is ideal for work piece visibility. Constantly removing your hood, checking your progress slows down the job. And blasting in a haze, poor visabilty, also means constant or more regular shield cleanings to keep visabilty at the optimum.

Generally when I blast outdoors, i spread a large tarp under my work station so spent media is easier clean up if that’s a concern. In fact, at times and depending what’s being blasted, if the media is contained it can be collected filtered/screened, and reused cutting material costs.
If blasting against a structure etc, plywood and/or heavy tarps will help or stop and blasting where it’s not wanted..
If considering equipment purchases, a used decent sized pressure pot and rotary type compressor can usually be sourced fairly easy, without breaking the bank..