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This guide will teach you how to pressure wash your house safely and efficiently. You can pressure wash most types of stucco, provided you take steps to protect the delicate surface. If your machine offers a lower gallons-per-minute setting, choose that, and set a fairly wide spray radius so pressure on the siding is dispersed.
Prepare the Area and Put on Safety Gear
Also, move your car out of the driveway to keep it safe from dirt and debris. When cleaning overhead, point the spray forward and to one side to avoid spray-back and drips. Lee has over two decades of hands-on experience remodeling, fixing, and improving homes, and has been providing home improvement advice for over 13 years. Your home is more than just a structure; it’s a space where memories are made. Keeping it clean and well-maintained is a way of honoring those memories and looking forward to many more. Once you have made your choice, it's time to prepare the area and assemble your safety gear.
Rinse the Siding
More delicate types of stucco, such as bottle-dash and rock-dash stucco, should not be pressure washed. To avoid damage, use the right pressure setting for your home’s material. Stay at a safe distance from the surface, and never use a zero-degree nozzle on siding. Now that your pressure washer is all set up, it’s time to get down to the actual washing. Pressure washing your house can be satisfying, especially when you see the dirt wash away, leaving your home looking fresh and clean.
What Are the Key Safety Tips for Pressure Washing?
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If you plan to paint the home afterward, wait at least 2 days for the exterior to dry thoroughly. Once you’ve established an appropriate distance from the siding, begin power washing from the top of the scrubbed section. Spray overhangs and gutters first and work your way down. If you think your home might have a lead-based paint, Macfarlane recommends buying a test kit or working hiring a professional for an inspection.
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Set up the pressure washer so it will be ready to go when you’re finished with the garden sprayer and scrubbing. Locate the hose mount on the back of the pressure washer. Attach the garden hose to this mount, making sure that the other end is attached to the spigot outside of the house. Pressure washers come in both gas- and electric-powered models. If you have a smaller home or it is a one-story house, you'll want to treat your siding gently as you will be in close proximity, so an electric pressure washer will suffice.
Set up the Pressure Washer
If your home is two stories or more, the siding will be further away from you at ground-level, meaning a stronger gas-powered pressure washer will be needed. When considering pressure washing your house, it’s important to think about the costs involved and whether to do it yourself or hire a professional. When it comes to pressure washing, safety is as important as the cleaning itself.
Q. Can you pressure wash stucco?
If you haven’t handled a pressure washer before, be sure to take a few minutes to practice, get a feel for the wand, and choose the most effective spray pattern. For better control and to keep your arms from tiring, use two hands. Rent a washer that produces at least 2,000 psi (pounds per square inch) of pressure.
A pressure washer is one of the best time-saving tools to come along in years. Its high-velocity water spray cleans dirt, grime and chalking paint from otherwise sound-painted surfaces. Pros like pressure washers not only because they’re fast, but because they scour the old paint so the new coat will adhere better. Using a pressure washer to remove paint definitely beats the old garden hose, scrub brush and TSP cleaning method, a task so slow that many people just skip it. Painted, soft-grain wood siding, stucco, and aluminum siding are best treated with 1,200 to 1,500 psi models. For delicate stucco, it’s also best to use a 25- to 30-degree wider spray nozzle to disperse water over a wider area and with less force, preventing any gouging or nicking.
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Check your equipment before starting, especially for any leaks or damage. Be aware of your surroundings – keep kids and pets away, and watch out for things like electrical wires. Use the right pressure settings and nozzles to avoid damaging your house.
Whether you’re a first-timer or looking to refine your technique, this article is here to help. While it’s an efficient way to refresh your home’s exterior, it’s not as simple as pointing a hose and watching the magic happen. This method can breathe new life into various surfaces like stucco, wood, and brick. Our guide to pressure washers will give you more tips for finding the right machine to pressure wash a house, fence, driveway and more.
This task, however, is more involved than simply connecting your garden hose to a pressure washer and turning the water on. "Cleaning tough stains and grime on your home exterior may first require a detergent—you'll use a low-pressure spray pattern to apply this," Macfarlane continues. If you use a detergent, let it sit on the surface for a few minutes and then work the pressure washer from top to bottom in small sections. If you have a two-story home, he recommends getting spray tips and extensions to make sure you can reach the areas that are higher up. For a new exterior paint application to succeed, the siding must be very clean—a job that can be pretty laborious if done by hand scrubbing. A pressure washer offers a quick and easy way to get the job done, but it can be tricky to use on siding.
Pressure washing can be performed every few years for general maintenance; it’s also necessary to prepare a home’s exterior before it is painted. Before you begin your exterior house-cleaning project, make sure you have the right pressure washer. House exteriors vary, so you’ll need a machine that’s right for your exterior. Restore the beauty of a home exterior with a pressure washer. A house collects dirt and mildew over time, but you can easily clean grime away with these tips on power washing.
Pressure washers generate a high-pressure water spray that’s ideal for cleaning boats, sidewalks, decks, and houses. Their power is measured in pounds per square inch (psi), which is the amount of pressure the liquid contents put on the walls of the container. Pressure washers are available in gas and electric models; the gas variety can create greater psi and is advised for tougher jobs and hardier material. Because they don’t have to be plugged into an electrical outlet, gas pressure washers are also more mobile, so they’re better suited for hard-to-reach areas.
We’ll have to scrape additional loose paint after pressure washing this area anyway. The good news is that water, generally, is fairly cheap, as in less than a penny a gallon. There are a number of variables, but assuming you use about 250 gallons of water to pressure wash your house, that would be somewhere around $1.25 worth of water. If you’ve used detergent, make sure to rinse your house thoroughly. Any residue left behind can interfere with the new paint adhering properly.
More robust materials like brick can handle a higher PSI. The power of a pressure washer is measured in pounds per square inch (PSI). This tells you how much force the water will hit the surface with. Repair or replace damaged siding before pressure washing. Keep the spray away from gaps such as those around door and window trim. If the siding panels overlap, work across the topmost panel to the one it overlays.
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