I have a big job coming up, I need to pressure wash a huge deck, long neglected, covered in moss or algae or whatever. I want a gas engine driven unit, will be feeding it (unfiltered ?) well water. Any thoughts on deck wash, etc. appreciated. Cost is not the deciding factor, a good quality, long lasting unit will get plenty of use in the future.
Make sure your well pump’s output is more that the pressure washer’s input requirements.
Good point, that wouldn’t have occurred to me. Thanks!
I can’t recommend one but I suggest avoiding Karcher. I had one that started leaking oil. There was a nice big sticker on the machine with an 800 number claiming “No hassle warranty”. It was the biggest hassle I have ever experienced; they kept lying, stalling, claiming they didn’t receive my emails, getting ‘disconnected’, telling me that guy is off today, etc. I eventually realized that their whole system is set up to stall and delay hoping the customer will give up.
It took several days of EXTREME frustration to get the thing replaced. I will never buy one of their products again.
The most reasonably priced small pressure washers are usually not great products. The cost of maintenance is usually far too high to make them worthwhile. They all can break easily, too much pressure and they blow seals. They don’t get the kind of regular use that let’s small engines survive.
I recommend renting, it shouldn’t cost much for a day to clean your deck and any other big projects that come along. You’ll do just as well with a hose as you would with a pressure washer for most other uses.
That would be fine except the deck is very large and I’m hoping to do it in sections over the summer. That would mean multiple rentals. I am also thinking of doing the stone work on the front of the house and several other jobs. I see your point but I’m still leaning towards buying one. The volume of water my well puts out seems OK but the pressure is kind of iffy. Also, the ground here is mostly clay and it would be nice to have a pressure washer to clean the mud out of the tractor tires and the hose has proven to not be very good for that.
Be careful of the output pressure and rate. Some are 1600 psi and others are 3500 psi.
How sturdy is the deck?
For mold/mildew: cheap terrycloth toweling placed over the crud and then saturated with household bleach will work wonders. The chlorine is the same as is used to control crud in swimming pools.
Thanks. All experience/tips appreciated.
I got a 2800 psi Generac. Thing is a beast.