Hi, my name is Mark Donovan from HomeAdditionPlus.com. Removing dirt and grime from home siding can be done by hand using a brush, bucket, soap and hot water but a much faster and better way is with a pressure washer as we have here.
A pressure washer is a great tool for moving mold, mildew from your home siding in a fraction of the time enough that you need if you do it by hand. A pressure washer basically takes water coming from your outdoor holes and converts it from a low pressure into an extremely high pressure near stream of water. This hose here is connected to the nozzle itself where we then have a number of nozzle options that can produce various high-pressure rates out of the end of the water.
Typical pressure washer will output anywhere between 1500 and 3000 pounds of a square inch of pressure out the end of the nozzle, slash one to something. There are two general types of pressure washer that are out on the market. We have here gas powered washer. And all that it requires to hook up is a normal garden hose and then additionally, there is an electric type pressure washer that requires in addition to the water hose, an electrical water. My preference is the gas powered pressure washer for safety reasons and for the fact that I only have to run a second wire behind the unit as I move around the home to remove the dirt grime off the side.
Typical cost for the gas-powered washer is between $200.00 to 500.00. For electric power washer, it is typically a little less expensive between a $100.00 and $300.00. An electric power washer typically put around 1500 to 2000 pounds of square inch whereas a Gas Power Pressure Washer can output closer to 3000 to 3500 PSI. When using a pressure washer on removing dirt, you have to stand at least 10 to 12 feet away. If you stand too close, you run the risk of damaging the side. The jet stream that comes out the power washer is so strong that literally drove a hole into the siding itself. So, you want to stand back about 10 to 12 feet. You also want to start at the top of the house and work your way down and have the nozzle pointed on the downward angle. You point it at an upward angle, you run the risk of having the water get injected up underneath the siding where it could sit there overtime and form mold or mildew.
Many of the power pressure washers have the ability to intake a detergent. And it is then mixed with the water and then output out of the nozzle. This is great because there are a number of detergents out there that have chemicals in it to prevent mold or mildew. Again, when you apply the detergent to the home siding, you want to make sure that you can start from the top, run just clean water on the pressure washer, and fully remove the detergent from the home siding or else you could potentially cause damage to the whole side.
When using a pressure washer, you have to take some safety precautions. Again, the pressure coming on the end of the nozzle is somewhere between 1500 and 3000 PSI. As I said earlier, you can literally punch a hole through the siding on your home. It will remove paint, stain from the side of the place too close to the home siding. As a result, you want to protect yourself. Always wear a pair of safety glasses, a pair of working gloves and working clothes. Just to prevent in case that you inadvertently point it in the direction of your body.
Power washers are a great tool for cleaning home siding. They are also excellent to cleaning desks, patios, driveways and even cars. So, I urge you, the next time you are on the home improvement store, take a look at one of this. It will save yourself a lot of time and money and good luck with your home siding-cleaning project.
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