If you love instant gratification, you’re going to love pressure washing. Those clean lines of new-looking concrete on your driveway or siding on your house are enough to make you consider leaving your 9-to-5 and opening your own pressure washing business in Atlanta!
Of course, DIY pressure washing is not for the faint of heart. You can really, really hurt yourself and whatever you’re washing if you aren’t very careful during the entire process. Since we’re in the pressure washing business in Atlanta ourselves, we put this handy list together so you can get the best (and safest) results possible out of your DIY pressure washing.
And if you’d rather have us do your pressure washing job for you, just call. Whether you want to save your weekend or the job is just too big, we’re the pressure washing experts you need in Atlanta. Call us today!
Choose the right pressure washer – If you’re buying a pressure washer for home use, you’ve got two choices – gas or electric. In general, gas-powered pressure washers are more powerful, meaning you get results faster. But they’re louder than electric pressure washers, and many people find the pull-start assembly difficult to use.
Electric pressure washers are more convenient, as long as you have an outdoor outlet. A big bonus of electric pressure washers is that you can avoid filling them with gas every few hours.
- Pick the right nozzle –Pressure washer nozzles are color coded from largest surface area of the spray to smallest. The smaller the angle of the water coming out of a pressure washer, the greater the pressure. Red nozzles are the smallest and most powerful nozzles. You can do the most damage with a red nozzle, so be careful not to use a red nozzle up close on any surface. The nozzles are ranked from the smallest, red, to yellow, green, white and black, the largest.
- To soap or not to soap – Your pressure washer will likely include a reservoir to hold detergent. While some jobs require detergent, many do not. In fact, sometimes, using detergent some surfaces may actually cause damage. Before you start, research the surfaces you’re going to clean and make sure detergent is necessary to clean them. Many times, just plain water and pressure do the job just fine.
- Wear hearing and eye protection – Pressure washers are loud, even the electric ones. Make sure you’re wearing ear protection for the entire process. Eye protection is also a must, as the pressure will dislodge dirt, stones, sticks, and debris that can easily come back into your eyes, and at high pressure, too.
- Be extra careful with delicate surfaces – Wood, vinyl siding, and even cars can be pressure washed! But the more delicate a surface is, the more likely you are to damage it. Be especially careful around windows, doors, vents, signs, joints, etc. Anywhere there is a seam, high-pressure water from your pressure washer can seep in. So be careful if you don’t want to have to call us for water damage restoration, too!
