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If you need a powerful one to do the job, you may be better off renting one rather than buying one. I picked up a cheap electric powered one at Home Depot for ~$50 or so, it's not super powerful but it works well enough for occasional sidewalk cleaning, etc. If you want something more powerful than that and are going to end up spending over $100, you might want to consider renting one occasionally when you need it rather than buying one. The ones you can rent are much more powerful than the ones that you can buy for a reasonable price, so they'll take care of the really tough jobs. And then you also don't have to find a place to store it during the 364 days a year you're not using it!
As far as cautions--make sure you wear eye and hearing protection, and if you're power washing wood be really careful and don't use the narrowest jet or else you'll gouge the wood.
Thanks for your reply. We have a 1910 victorian house with a wrap-around porch. It's in very good condition but would like to clean it and the wood siding (or what ever this board is) but not strip the paint off. Good cleaning. It's also 3 stories and theres lots of cleaning to do so a weekend rental can't be the way to go.
Again - nothing to strip paint but stong enough to get the road grim, etc off, since we live on a 4 lane road.
We saw one at Walmart on clearance for $59 and the power was around 1400. Water pressure was 1.3 gph (not sure that's the exact initials since I'm sure it would need to fund more than 1 gallon per hr.) But you see what I mean. I don't think that would be strong enough - or would it? It was electric.
With wood siding and not wanting to strip the paint off you're going to have to be really careful, even the cheapo pressure washer that I bought will strip paint and gouge wood if you're not careful with it. I think the one you saw at Walmart is probably about equivalent to the one I have. They all have adjustable nozzles, best thing to do is start off with the widest spray (least powerful), then turn it narrower just until it starts to remove the dirt. Even if you're careful though, if you have any paint that's loose/peeling it may come up along with the dirt.
I'll have to see if I can find it in my garage, I really have no idea. But it was the cheapest one I found, and generally the cheaper they are the lower the power, that's why I'm guessing it's pretty equivalent to the one you found at Walmart since the price was about the same.
I had a 1600 psi unit and a friend borrowed it - liked it so much he bought me a new 1800 psi unit. I really like the new one better than the old. It has more containers for cleaning solutions than the earlier model, and much better instructions.
A lower power setting will allow you to apply whatever cleaning solution you are using, ten by upping the power, you will remove the solution and debris, dirt, etc,
Learn on some boards that are NOT on the house - maybe some old boards stored outside that will have the same type of dirt, mold, etc. on them. The learning curve is not very long. Also when you actually start washing the siding, work small areas at a time. You will find that holding the sprayer does get tiring, so plan on several smaller sessions rather than one all-day affair.
If there are some stubborn spots, O'Cedar has a line of brushes from very soft to very stiff and poles that extend - 2-4 ft, 4-8 ft, 8-16 ft. I have them all and use them after applying the solvent with the power washer, when the initial cleaning does not do the job.
Mold on the north side of our house would have taken several more hours with only water power - finished in about 2 hours. Two story house about 40 ft deep.
Bought mine after using a neighboor's that was a 3500 psi commercial unit - too much power and $$$ for me, but he builds and remodels houses. All parts (hoses connectors, etc.)for his cost a lot more due to the extra pressure.
The wood siding on your old house can be ruined in seconds with one of these things, be very careful. Also, you have to work from the top down, spraying downward from a ladder or scaffolding, or you will force water behind the clapboards and cause serious problems.
Had a painter powerwash a house we owned before painting, years ago. After the job was finished, an electrical problem in the garage appeared a few weeks later - some of the light switches did not work.
My uncle visited (a retired electician), I asked him to have a look to see if we could solve the problem. Disassembled the light switch covers and finally the conduit covers - found the problem. The power washer had blown the gasket on the conduit, and shorted the wires.
Simple fix once we could see where it was, but took a while to find.
You guys are great! Very, very helpful info. Claypa that is something I would not have thought of - top down to keep water from going behind the boards. Straight ahead would have been my approach - without thinking.
Anything you want to know can be found at davesgarden. I swear by this site - since 2003 it's provided me with tons of info.
I just bought a 1500 psi electric pressure washer by Karcher, rated well by Consumer Reports, and it's more than enough for home jobs. It was about $100 at Lowe's and it's the best toy I've spent my money on in a while!! :)) When I get started power washing stuff, I want to do the whole neighborhood! LOL
I bought it to clean my year old deck before staining it, but I've done a bunch of other stuff around the house with it, too; wish I could use it to clean the inside of my house with. lol One evening my visiting, RV traveling, friend & I loaded the front yard with a bunch of things from outdoor mats, to bikes, to dry, mudcaked garden shoes, to yard furniture, and cleaned everything in about 45 minutes. It's a blast!! I even used the jet attachment to strip the peeling paint off an old milk can I wanted to repaint. I'm pretty sure the old paint was lead based, so I didn't want to sand it and the pressure washer worked great on it.
I got carried away and cleaned the street-side of our fence. Really should replace it, but sure looks "newer" - has maintained good looks for nearly a year now.
Cleaning sidewalks and driveways can be a long process if you try to get all the grime off - back to "fresh concrete look". Better to reduce the pressure and sweep the surface so that you don't wind up with "writing and swirls".
Now... you could get artistic with it... LOL Seriously, I practiced with it before I used it on anything of value, including my deck. I saw how easily the pressure could damage things. I haven't used any cleaning solution with mine yet; the water pressure's been enough.
I need to do my vinyl siding now, but think I'm going to wait until Spring. My landscaping guy told me to wet the siding down, then use some bleach with the pressure washer, rinse, and it would look like new.
