Pressure Washing
One of the questions we get asked a lot being a pressure washing company is how much psi do I need to effectively clean my home? Customers are concerned with using too much pressure or maybe they have damaged their property in the past. Currently, Portland Pressure Washing uses a machine that produces about 3000 PSI or pounds per square inch. What actually more important is the gallons per minute, not the (psi) pounds per square inch. Water volume is a much better rinsing agent than the amount of pressure used. You can actually effectively clean your home with a garden hose with the correct cleaning solution. Our current residential setup is a Landa Northwest 6/3200 which means 6 gallons per minute at 3200psi. With hose extensions and the fittings we get around 3000 psi at the tip. But we can simply change the tip to increase or decrease the pressure. We do not use any pressure when washing a house, we clean by water volume alone. There is no gun or wand attached which can create high pressure. A surface cleaner is used to clean a flat area evenly with the maximum amount of consistency and efficiency to provide the best results for our pressure washing clients.
Local pressure washing expert talks about the damage caused by too much pressure
Often we show up at a pressure washing job site and see small swirl marks on the driveway about as wide as a finger in various places with a trail of missing aggregate. Or that new $30,000.00 cedar deck that was just installed last year chewed up with deep gouges all over the place. This is a good indication that the homeowner realizes that the pressure washer purchased at the local big box store is not quite up to the task of those large jobs. We want to educate the consumer with pressure washing information so they can save money, and not ruin their property. We do run into the occasional customer who has us back year after year after spending 3 weekends to clean their driveway just to prove they could do it! In the end, instead of pressure washing, go golfing or fishing instead and leave the dirty work to Portland Pressure Washing!
Commercial grade pressure washing equipment provide superior results
Commercial grade pressure washers range from 4 to 10 gallons per minute and can cost between $1500 to $20,000 depending on a number of variables such as hot water, mounting options and quality of components, and type of engine. Commercial grade pressure washers are made to run day after day providing years of service with good maintenance. For cleaning large flat areas surface cleaners are used to provide the best quality cleaning with the most consistent results. Surface cleaners range in price from $500 – $2000 and can improve the clean up speed while providing superior results. Surface cleaners also eliminate the “tiger or zebra stripes” that often appear on driveways after a driveway is pressure washed by hand. This is caused because of the inconsistent swing of the operator while controlling the pressure washing wand.
Portland contractor gives advice on pressure washing decks
Pressure washing wood decks such as cedar takes many years of experience to clean them without showing washing marks. Often we see “stop and start” marks, pressure washing gouges, paint missing from the siding. When pressure washing a wood deck you should not use more than 1000 psi, using more can cause massive damage to the wood. The average person should not even consider the cleaning process of deck restoration if planning on using a pressure washer. If you want to save money when restoring your deck, learn how to stain it yourself you can save on average about half. Portland Pressure Washing will even explain the process and give you a free consultation