House not looking as colorful as before? Time for a new paint job? Perhaps not, If you are not trying to change your house colors, you probably do not need to re-paint. Simply pressure wash your house. You will be surprised at the result that pressure washing your house can bring.
Requirements
- Safety glasses if (one story)
- Safety shield face mask if (two story)
- Pressure washer
- Pressure washer gun
- Pressure washer hose
- Water hose
- Chemical if using
- Foam cannon optional if using chemical
- Nozzle Tip attachments, wide highly required, turbo/vortex optional(see section:”Dealing with nozzle tips”)
Pressure wash your house, PSI requirement?
The psi requirement to pressure wash your house, varies between 1,300-3,200.
PSI is dependent on the type of siding your home has.
What are the different types of housing exterior materials?
Note: one that is recommended using the 3,200 may be done with the 1,300 psi but will be drastically lower, up to 3x slower depending on the type of siding. The closer to its recommended PSI the better.
Standard Nozzle Tips
Dealing with nozzle tips
A big thing here is the nozzle tip being used, which can substantially increase your rated psi. Well, not literally, but it can be perceived as such since what matters is the pressure being applied within a specific area at any one moment.
Ideally, you would use a variation of the wide nozzle tip options. The wider the spray, the higher the PSI you can use or the closer you can get to the wall. The more narrow the tip, the less PSI you will be using or the further you will be from the wall.
Using Turbo/Vortex Nozzle Tip:
The only reason you would want to use the turbo/vortex nozzle tip circle motion) is to compensate for a low PSI pressure washer. This compresses your output.
This nozzle tip can damage your house siding, regardless of what component it is made of, if you get too close to the wall. The closer you get, the deeper the clean, but also you will have to pay attention to the circle marks it leaves as you clean.
Optimizing your distance:
The key here will be to adjust to the distance from the nozzle spray to the wall. I would recommend using a similar separate object similar to that of the house siding, and play with the distance to find the optimal result. What your looking for is when your able to clean it without damaging the material.
Alternatively, select a small section of your house which is hidden from sight, and use that as your sample. It is not necessary to get close to the point of damage, just keep getting closer until you are satisfied with the result. Start from a good distance from the wall, let your spray open up more that 12 inches. At most, a 4 inch spray is the closest you would want to get, and closer and you will damage your siding.
Once you have determined your optimal distance, and begin pressure washing your house, you will notice it leaves a lot of circles on the wall. You will need to strife side to side 2-3 times depending how close you are to the wall. Do not wash going up and down or in circles or any other motion, only wash going side to side. This will help reduce the chance of visible circle marks once dried.
How to deal with higher areas?
Extendable ladders are okay, but you must not only have the ladder tied to something to prevent it from falling, but also you must be tied to the ladder. There will be a lot of pressure coming from the gun handle, it will try to push you back, especially when you first pull the trigger.
Height platforms are the ideal work around, though it is the most expensive, and sometimes not even an option depending on the surroundings of the house.
Extensions + attachments will most likely be your top choice most of the time. You can have multiple extensions, and an L attachment with your nozzle tip in the end.
Rugged condition work arounds
- If you see something coming off, or peeling, make sure to avoid a contrary angle to the peel to prevent further peel from occurring
- When you are going over Overlaps, or adjoining segments, increase your speed, give it a light pass
- If you are working on wood, repair cracks prior to washing
- Also on wood, you need to wet the wall before applying any chemicals, this is to prevent the chemicals from seeping in deep and causing damage to your wood
- On Stucco, repair cracks prior to washing, and maintain yourself 2ft away, with a 25-40 degree nozzle
- Brick and stone, same exact process as wood, repair anything that needs to be patched prior to wash, and wet before applying any chemicals to avoid damage
Chemicals?
- Dish detergent, not antimicrobial,(must not contain alcohol)-3oz
- Clorox bleach regular -10oz
- Mix with water
- This is for a typical 32oz foam cannon bottle, if you have a bigger bottle the ratio should be always 1: 3. ⅓oz detergent for every 1oz clorox
Agitation?
This is completely optional and will not make too much of a noticeable difference.
During your pre-soak and chemical application phase, you can use an extendable pole with a scrub to help the chemical penetrate and cover a more even area. You do not need to apply pressure, you just want to agitate the outer surface.
Not only will it give you a deeper clean, but also help take off some residue. Even though the pressure washer has a lot of pressure, things that are sticky, do not tend to separate from its surface when water is applied. I mean even by scratching it, it would easily come off, but when washed it will just move it around on the wall. So scrubbing would leave less of these on your house walls.
What attachments must I use?
- Extensions
- L-Extention
Hose length?
100ft is recommended to allow you to wash two sides of your home with one placement position of your pressure washer. It also reduces limitation when power washing other things besides your home
If your worried about how to handle a pressure washer, check out one of our other articles, where we talk about the do’s and don’t of a pressure washer. Like this one: https://machinesmadesimple.com/pressure-washer-maintenance