Blog

If you have grime or a tough sticky dirt on your walls, then you definitely want to know about power washing. It is not so nice having dirt accumulate over the years since it spells out improper house maintenance. But you definitely can do something about it.

Power washing is a process that uses intense pressure to clean surfaces by running water through a nozzle. This process is usually effective when you want to paint the house or you are just looking to make your walls or surfaces look cleaner and free of dirt. This all sounds so easy, but it could be a bit risky if you don’t know how to go about power washing. In fact, you could cause quite a lot of damage. 

This is what we at Ernest Windows are here for, we have good experience when it comes to handling power washing and we would show you some beginner’s trick in this article;

Choosing a Power Washer

There are mainly two types of pressure washers that you can choose from, but they all work on the principle of using a pump to make sure that the water comes out with great pressure. The pros and cons of both of them are;
 

 

1. Gas power washer

• The gas-powered washer, allows you to drag it anywhere, no need for plugs

• They come with pressure as high as 4000 PSI and are more powerful, this means that they clean faster

Cons

• They demand more maintenance

• They are more expensive and still need to be used with detergents, oil, gas and some other kind of stuff

 

2. Electric power washer

• No harmful emission is produced and you could even use it indoors

• Low demand for maintenance

Cons

• It takes much longer to do the job since the pressure is not as good as gas power washers

• Lack of portability, they have to be constantly plugged.

Choosing size

There are different sizes for the power washer and each of them also has their benefits and limitations. 

• The light-duty pressure washers can produce up to 2,000 PSI of water and are good for small, occasional cleaning. Like the deck or patio.

• The medium-duty power washer would do just great for fencing, driveway  and it has a capacity of 2000 - 2,800 PSI

• The Heavy-duty power washer is for major jobs like cleaning large areas and cleaning multiple stories. The capacity is 2900-3300 PSI.

Nozzle selection

The nozzle mainly determines the direction of your water stream. There are different angles that nozzles are bent and you can choose the one you want. However, nozzles are universally coded

• Red; has the narrowest angle and can wreak a lot of havoc. So be careful with it.

• Yellow: 15-degree spray angle, great for washing concrete.

• Green: 25-degree spray angle, it is your choice for all-purpose household washing

• White; this is the most user-friendly nozzle and it comes at a 40-degree spray angle. It is useful for exterior jobs like walls and windows.

• Black: 65-degree spray angle, it is the gentlest and is not really great at cleaning dirt, instead it is good for rinsing and wetting surfaces.

You can also get attachments like surface cleaners, rotary nozzles, expandable wand, and pressure washing broom.

 

How to Power Wash

Now that you have gotten that out of the way, you need to make sure that you know how to power wash. For starters, the first thing that you need to do is get some safety gear that includes eye protective gear, hearing protection, and gloves. You should also follow safety guidelines like making sure that the spray tip is about 18 inches away from the surface that you would like to clean. Here are the tips for starters;

• Try not to let the spray linger in a place while cleaning, instead move it up and down or sideways.

• Don’t start spraying a board from the middle

• Brush and sweep surfaces before spraying them

• If there are areas that have oil (like your driveway), pretreat them with concrete cleaning solutions before starting.

• Use soap or detergent for stubborn stains before power washing

• When cleaning sidings, use a soap nozzle and fill the detergent reservoir

• When necessary switch the nozzle appropriate to get the desired result.

There are dozens of tutorials on how to power wash, and you could get the video so that you do it right. But the fact remains that power washing is a delicate activity - it can be fun, and it can be dangerous especially if not properly done. There is also the fact that the equipment to use can be expensive and might be the wrong one. So why not let us take care of that for you at Ernest Windows. We have cleaning services built on vast experience in power washing, no matter the surface. We also handle your service professionally and make sure that there is no damage. You can contact us today and be assured that we would be swift to deliver an amazing solution to your cleaning problems.