Powerwashing house walls

Lanshane

Hi,

I am painting a house for the first time and was advised before I do to power wash parts of the hosue first. The walls are not green or red as I have sprayed them previously with mossgo stuff but the corner stones have become a bit murky so need to give them a quick lick. I am just wondering what would be a safe operating pressure to do this? I have read that you have to be really carefull how you wash your house walls as damage can occur. I was thinking of this one:

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7404087/Trail/searchtext%3ENILFISK.htm

It has a maximum pressure of 100 bar and a rated pressure of 75 bar, so guess I would be using it somewhere between both!
Would that be sufficient for the job or would I be better off getting a stronger/powerful washer? If so, any recomendations?
Tks all.

AckwelFoley

psi and water volume is what counts.. neither alone..

14l/m with 3000 psi is ideal, and faster.


I suggest you hire one. One you would buy under 800 quid is in my opinion a waste of money.

You cn rent a good one for 40 - 60 quid

Lanshane

snyper wrote: »

psi and water volume is what counts.. neither alone..

14l/m with 3000 psi is ideal, and faster.


I suggest you hire one. One you would buy under 800 quid is in my opinion a waste of money.

You cn rent a good one for 40 - 60 quid

Thanks for that Snyper.

I would like to have one around though for other jobs all the same so I will be buying one. Anyone else with other ideas based on my original thread would be much appreciated.

AckwelFoley

Lanshane wrote: »

Thanks for that Snyper.

I would like to have one around though for other jobs all the same so I will be buying one. Anyone else with other ideas based on my original thread would be much appreciated.

That being said so, what is your budget? Electric power washers are very poor.. you can buy cheaper, lower end petrol washers, the're not great - but alot better than electric washers

looksee

I let some eejit painter power wash bricks when he was painting the rest of the (rendered) house. He used a narrow jet and left black squiggly lines all over the bricks. I was never able to figure out how the lines were black - they were yellow bricks - and have not been able to resolve it. I suggest if you are going to do it to use a wide fan spray.

Lanshane

snyper wrote: »

That being said so, what is your budget? Electric power washers are very poor.. you can buy cheaper, lower end petrol washers, the're not great - but alot better than electric washers

I would be hoping to keep it within €200. I really do take your point but remember, only some of my walls (Mainly corner stones need a spay as there is a bit of dark material on it from the 8 years of driving rain etc. I do not have the red/green problem. So all in all not a huge job required, and maybe not savage power required also as I don't need that kind of power to take this stuff off....I do agree though, they are not great but might the example (Nilfisk) I gave in my first thread do what I need? It would be handy also just to have one to clean the paths every now and again...That's all I'm thinking.

danjo-xx

Was out with me new Lidl green broom and a screwdriver today:D brushing and scraping the moss off the tiles outside the front of house.

Would these Aldi/lidl power washers be any use at removing walked in moss especially in the groves or even cleaning the tiles. Can a chemical be added!

danjo

Try diluted Domestos bleach. Two thirds bleach to one third water. Spray or paint on , leave for a few hours and then wash off.

antoinolachtnai

I have one of the 150 euro Karchers, and it removes a lot of moss, etc, including some moss that had been on a wall for years and that no one had ever been able to remove manually before.

A petrol or higher end washer would definitely be better, and if you have a lot to do, renting might be a good idea. But the less expensive ones are certainly useful.

danjo-xx

danjo wrote: »

Try diluted Domestos bleach. Two thirds bleach to one third water. Spray or paint on , leave for a few hours and then wash off.

Great suggestion don't know why I didn't think of that myself and with good cheap bleach in aldi/lidl have to give it a go.

Got most of the moss up manually just a few stuborn patches here n there.



thanks danjo 2


@antoinolachtnai. Not really worth my while spending that kinda mula..but thanks anyway.

antoinolachtnai

Sure, you can use a chemical, and that's fine if the surface is reasonably smooth. The great thing about the power washer, even a fairly low power one is that it will rinse all the dirt out of the crevices on the surface. Otherwise it is very hard to really move the dirt completely, you just loosen it.

danjo-xx

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Sure, you can use a chemical, and that's fine if the surface is reasonably smooth. The great thing about the power washer, even a fairly low power one is that it will rinse all the dirt out of the crevices on the surface. Otherwise it is very hard to really move the dirt completely, you just loosen it.

Do you reckon then that even a cheapy from aldi/lidl would wash out walked/ground in moss (by the public on a daily basis) from the crevices?
that would be brill if it did that for me. Will use the bleach for the few flat surfaces.

What minimum bar/psi etc would you suggest I should go for.

antoinolachtnai

well, the model i have is a karcher 2.99

(see for example - http://www.amazon.co.uk/KÄRCHER-K2-99MB-Pressure-Washer-1500W/dp/B0001I1MQW)

so anything better than that is what you should be looking for I guess, spec-wise.

The high pressure lance is what I was using when I got the really ground in moss out.

The ones that Aldi sell now and again seem to be very similar to the Karcher, I have heard they are made by Karcher, but I do not know for sure if this is true.