pressure washer questions

[ssaamm]

I know a little off the regular subject matter. I am going to buy a pressure/power washer to brighten up my deck, clean the siding, and some other general cleaning around the house. I was looking at spending about $300-350 for a 6hp Briggs and Stratton model about 2300psi. I heard if you overdo it you can really beat up your deck. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great. Thanks

[Hooked On a Feeling]

ssaamm....

Actually a 1500 p.s.i. would do just fine, I've ran one for 5 years and just recently bought a 2600 p.s.i. You just want to be carefull with your tip selection, because their's enough pressure in those machine's you can carve your name in the wood.

Hooked

[Valv]

I agree with Hooked.

I have a Karcher 2300 and I am very happy with it. Be sure to never reduce your tip to a stream, keep spray wide, and you will do good.

My deck had some old boards, and with the single stream I went through the wood....

[Rip_Some_Lip]

I can cut a 2x4 with my 2400 psi washer. You never know when you may have to cut your way out of the garage.

[jaxmn05]

I've had a 2400 honda for 3 yrs and like everyone says, you do have to be careful around wood. My gun dosnt have replacement nozzles just an adjustable streem. Around wood keep it on the widest stream and Im sure you will do ok with your deck. The closer u place the stream to the wood the cleaner it will come. Just make sure you practice in an out of the way part of the deck or better yet on a seperate piece of board so you get a feel for what it will do.

[luckyc]

Also unless you don't like the decals, numbers and license on your boat, be very careful. They come off slicker than you know what. Also be careful around any seals on your 4wheeler, the pressure will drive thru and cause some big problems down the road.

[beer batter]

How about electic pressure washers? Do they work as well as the motorized ones? I know they typically have less PSI but like someone said you don't need much over 1500psi anyways.

[New Yankee]

Those electrics do OK for small jobs. One of the more critical aspects of these washers is GPM rating - the PSI is sometimes secondary to Gallons Per - it can take an awful long time to do a deck or house with any washer that has a lower H2O flow than one with a greater one. I'd rather have more water than PSI for most home applications.

My two...

[Fishing Junky]

I have a Karcher electric that I just used to clean my deck prior to staining it. Worked ok for me. I think it is a 1300 psi unit that I bought at menards for around 200 bucks. Overall, I'm happy with the unit. Junky....

[bucketmouth64]

I have a Caulfield 1500 psi from Walmart for about $150.00 that works nice.

[CapnJack]

Another thing you should be aware of besides sawing thru your deck is to make sure you put a piece of plywood under the washer when it's on the lawn or you will end up with what looks like crop circles the next day. The heat from the engine will burn it.

[Gadgetman]

I had a campbell hausfield (?) from menards that is electric and after two years it has stopped working. Only hums when you turn it on. Also never worked very well with a long extension cord, so house washing was a bit tough. I will be replacing it with a gas powered model as I am sure that will last much longer, tho cost more up front. I think you can find them for around 250-300 bucks with a nice honda engine.

[Moose-Hunter]

Quote:

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I know a little off the regular subject matter. I am going to buy a pressure/power washer to brighten up my deck, clean the siding, and some other general cleaning around the house. I was looking at spending about $300-350 for a 6hp Briggs and Stratton model about 2300psi. I heard if you overdo it you can really beat up your deck. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great. Thanks

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I've got a 2600psi, 2.5GPM, 6.5hp Briggs powered sprayer and YES this thing can do considerable damage if you're not careful. Not only to wood but black top and concrete as well.

An adjustable spray wand is the ticket. These little gizmos allow you to run a pencil thin stream as well as a fanned out stream. Mine also allows you to go fron high pressure to low pressure at the wand without having to throttle down the motor and risk starving the pump.

Another thing to look for is an all brass pump. Housing and impeller. The composites just don't hold up to regular use. And believe me, you'll be using it quite a bit when you find out just how useful these things can be. My neighbor has one with a composite pump and he's on his third pump replacement on a unit that's two years newer than mine.

House cleaning, boats, ATV's, trucks, cars, farm equipment.... Even a bit of hole boring in hard clay soil! Wet and Messy, but it worked like a champ!! Pressure washers are fantastic tools!!

Basically, just use a bit of common sense while using a high pressure washer and you'll be just fine.