Pressure Washing and Deck Cleaning 101 – Part 2

We are back. And, this is the second part in our series, pressure washing and deck cleaning 101 by All Pro Washing. Next, we’re going to get started and we want to make sure first of all is that your on/off switch is flipped on. So it has power. And secondly, you want to make sure that your gas is open. Then, you’re going to make sure if you want to try to choke it if hasn’t started recently, have the choke on which is to the left. And, you want to make sure your throttle is about ¾. With that then we’ll give it a pull.

One of the nice things also is that you can actually, because this unit comes with a 50-foot hose, you don’t have to take unit up the stairs. We’re going to go ahead and pass the wand up this way. It keeps the pressure washer out of the way. And then we can watch the deck up top without having to deal with having the pressure washer up there in our way. In this scenario what we’re going to want to do is we’re going to want to start in the far corner and work our way back. Now we’re not using chemicals today because this pressure washer is plenty powerful enough to do this without using chemicals. If you have a deck that’s very old and has a lot of build-up of different stains and stuff on it, you might want to use chemicals to get started but we try to avoid it as much as possible. They’re not great for the environment.

If you have a pressure washer has enough pressure and flow you don’t really need them. So we’re going to start in this corner and when I start working our way back. You also might want to think about starting on your railings or higher areas and work your way down from the top. And that’s always a good methodology to always keep working from the top down from the furthest corner in.

Next, what we’re going to show you is actually how to use what we call a broom. And what this broom will do is extend your spraying surface to three nozzles. It will actually help you increase your efficiency and get the job done three times faster. This is not always going to be perfect for small spaces like maybe the cap rail of the deck, but when you get to larger surface areas you’ll see how much this can actually help speed up your job.

Another important thing to note is that after you get done doing your upstairs area that you want to make sure that you clean off everything below it before you move on to your lower area. Essentially, you want to figure out what tip you want. You can probably go back to the same tip you were using the 25-degree angle. Or we also have another connection that you can put on and this tip is actually called turbo nozzle. The way the turbo nozzle works it’s actually very similar to a pressure washer tip. But what it does is take a 0-degree tip and it actually rotates it and gives you great blasting power. This is good for cleaning brick surfaces or cement, but you want to be careful not to get too close. Sometimes on wood products it’ll actually leave a swirling look which you can get rid of but it’s just something to take a consideration.

After you shut down your unit make sure you always release the pressure that’s built up in hose before you take off the tip. And that way you won’t have any extra pressure with that tip. After you’ve gotten everything done and cleaned up, you disconnect your water and your hose, you can coil up your hose and you can set it right here and the special spot that’s been designed for it. And then also, if you’re going to be leaving the pressure washer running period of time you want to put some kind of pump saver into it. What that does is, it coats the valves and all the mechanisms inside the pump. It also prevents if you’re in a cold climate from anything from freezing and cracking the pump. This is a very important feature. It’s a very simple thing to do. You essentially just attach a plastic bottle to this fitting and you pull the cord once for the starter. It then pumps some water through and some of the fluids special pumps a burr fluid that takes care of your pump. And will make it healthy for many years to come. Something else to keep in in mind is how good of shape your wood is and down below we had a deck that was only a year or so old. When we come to the upper deck here we actually had a deck that was much more porous and all older wood.

And with the older wood, you’re tempted sometimes to really get deep down in. Essentially, you don’t want to overdo it with your pressure washer and get to close with your tip and tear that up. Because that will actually cause you problems and damage the wood even more. So, be careful with that. In heavy duty situations you might want to use a chemical there to help bleach the wood versus trying to blast it out. And there you have a nice and clean deck.

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Pressure Washing and Deck Cleaning 101 – Part 1

Here at All Pro Washing, we’re going to show you how to pressure wash your deck. This is a 2 part series starting today with part 1. First thing you want to do is assess the situation. The downstairs of my deck is actually in bad shape. That will be pretty easy to clean up. Then we’re actually going to go and do the upstairs which is quite a bit more worn.

Now, what you want to make sure you do is, you want to make sure that you start at the top and work your way down. You also want to make sure that you clear anything out that could get messed up from debris. We’re not going to be using chemicals today, but if you use chemicals it’s even more important to get the stuff cleaned out from underneath the deck. Today what we’re going to be using is we’re going to actually be using a vortex pressure washer. It’s called the prosumer plus.

And basically this unit is a prosumer unit which means that it’s not quite professional-grade, but it certainly could do some big jobs. And, it’s definitely on the high end of what you would call a consumer grade. So, it’s definitely do anything you need to do at the home. What we have on this machine is a couple things; one we have a triplex plunger pump. And, this triplex plunger pump allows you to rebuild. It’s one of the things with a lot of pressure washers where the pumps are pretty much so disposable. And, if they go bad, you can’t rebuild it. But this one is rebuildable. It also has a lot of other options on it with a cooling hose underneath.

That cooling hose actually allows you to go in a bypass mode without overheating the pump. One thing when you’re getting started with any of the vortex pressure washers that have the oil on the top which is for the pump oil is that it usually comes with a red shipping cap. This is a vented cap. And the other one is a non-vented cap. When you ship it, nothing leaks out. But you want to make sure you remove the red cap and put in the permanent cap.

It’s well marked that’s something to get started. The other thing you’ll want to do is make sure you check your oil and you have a good full ol. And then make sure you have clean gas and then from there you hook up the hose and make sure that you have a good water flow.

It’s also very important that when you are going to pressure wash that you wear the right clothes, because it’s tempting on a warm day to throw on your flip-flops and walk out with some shorts on. But, this pressure washer can put out 2,750 psi and three gallons per minute. Now those are numbers that we can talk a little bit more about later. The important thing is that that can really do damage to your skin if you for the one gets loose or if it starts banging around and you get a slice across your foot. Having the right shoes on and having the right pants and being also very keen with protective glasses, in case something flies back hitch in the eye is all important. So when you’re getting started, the key is that you have to have water to the machine.

That’s always a clean water scenario where you want to have the best water flow you possibly can. Vortex actually builds their pumps in a way that there’s straight shots with why filters on the bottom. And this fly filter allows you to clean that out in case debris gets in there. Many times in the spring, people will have dirty garden hoses and they hook them up to a pressure washer and that will get debris into your pressure washer really quick. And it’s difficult to get that out once it’s in there. There are screens built-in and a white belt in order to make this work. The other thing that’s really important is to have enough pressure. So if you have low water pressure or if you’re running off a well, usually you’ll be okay but you want to make sure that you look at your manual and have enough pressure flowing through there. Usually if the garden hose, when you hold it up if it’s squirting outward and not just dribbling down, you’re going to be okay. But make sure you have enough pressure. So the pressure washer always has clean fresh water flowing through it. Next you want to make sure that you hook up the Quick Connect.

When you hook up your Quick Connect, what’s really important is that it locks into place. So it’s nice and tight. If it’s not tight and what ends up happening many times it’ll just pop off. So now that we’ve got it hooked up we’ll turn on the water and make sure we have good flow. Now that our water is turned on we can definitely take a look to see if we have flow. The best way to do that without a tip on is actually just pull the trigger and you can see that there’s good flow out of out of the one.

Another question I get many times is how much pressure and flow do I really need to clean my deck properly. And the reality is is the only problem need about 1,500 pounds of pressure to do a good job on the deck. (The same applies to any roof cleaning if you have been able to check out All Pro Washing’s website.) However, if you start with a small electric unit or a small gas unit that only has low flow, what it does is it actually creates a lot of pressure in a very focused area. But you can’t move enough dirt. So you will be cleaning a very small area at a time it will be like using a pen to paint a wall versus using a roller. What’s very important to understand is that you have to have a good combination of pressure and flow. And that’s really where the difference comes in. We’re going to be using a tool but actually, because we have enough flow along with the pressure that we have it’s going to make this job much much quicker. It’s important to understand that you have pressure and flow and the more flow you have the better ability to have to clean faster. The next thing you need to do is determine which tip you’re going to use. And with this unit that comes with 4 different tips.

Tips really regulate your pressure. A lot of people don’t realize that, but the tip is actually what creates the pressure and regulates it at the actual end of the wand. Here we have a 0-degree tip. 0-degree tip is actually one that you would use here, the red one for blasting. It’s a straight on tip and there’s no fan to it. Then you go out and you come out from there different degree angles. This one is your 15-degree tip for heavy cleaning and closed rin. And then the higher you go to here the 25 and then to the 40-degree tip, the wider swath you’re going to be able to cut and clean, but also the less pressure actually going to have at the point of contact. For pressure washing the deck I would start with a 25-degree tip. And if you have light cleaning you might move up to the 40. But for the most part you’re going to be a 25. And if you have something real stubborn you might actually move down to the 15. So we’re going to take the tip out and we’re actually going to insert it into the end of the one. You want to make sure that it clicks in nice and solid and that it’s fastened. Because these will shoot when you turn on the pressure washer if it’s not locked into place.

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If you need help with pressure washing your deck, patio or driveway, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today by checking out our website allprowashing.com.

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How to strip paint with a pressure washer

Here at AllProWashing.com, we are all about quality pressure washing. If you’re planning a painting project, it is important to understand that proper preparation is an essential step in the painting process. A new coat of paint is only as stable as the surface underneath. Peeling or flaking paint should always be removed prior to applying a fresh coat of paint. Pressure washing is one way to remove paint from wood, metal, concrete and other exterior surfaces. Because of the high pressure levels, it can be very efficient and can drastically cut the time to complete this task. Selecting a pressure washer with a range of 2000 psi to 4000 psi will give you the most effective power for removing peeling paint. As with all power equipment always wear safety glasses and closed toe shoes. Prepare the area around the structure you are working on. If necessary, cover all outdoor fixtures and make sure all windows and doors are shut. It is very important that you use the correct nozzle or you can quickly damage the surface. The yellow 15-degree nozzle is the best choice for this task. Hold the gun and wand firmly at an angle while maintaining a distance of approximately 12 to 18 inches from the surface. This will allow the spray to get under the layers of paint without damaging the surface. The key is to work in sections and keep the nozzle moving at all times. Spraying in a downward and sweeping motion will direct the paint chips away from the surface. If stripping paint from a wood surface, be sure to move the nozzle along the grain of the wood. It is not necessary to strip all of the paint. Therefore, once the surface has dried completely you may need to scrape or lightly sand any loose paint that was not removed with the pressure washer. Depending on the surface type, you may need to wait for several days before you can begin to repaint.

If you feel like you need help with pressure washing, such as removing paint or dirt, why not get in touch with us or visit our homepage, AllProWashing.

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