Note: This post features a heavy-duty, gas-powered pressure washer we rented from the store. To see how we now use a $99 electric version we own, please see this Getting Started With Pressure Washing post.
Guys. I have a new favorite thing. And no, it’s not a pint-sized plastic vehicle.
Yup, we took our spring cleaning to the proverbial next level and rented ourselves a 2000 PSI pressure washer (just got it at the Home Depot in their tool rental department). For 80 bucks and thanks to borrowing my dad’s Kia to haul it, this puppy was all ours for a day. I was happier than a hip hop hamster.
I had never used a pressure washer before (and I had the usual “don’t want to break what’s not mine” anxiety), but the guy at the store gave me a crash course. It was pretty simple. Hook up the sprayer “gun” to the hose, hook that hose to the machine, and then screw in your garden hose. Crank the motor (it runs on gasoline) and spray away.
The main reason for renting it was our deck. It wasn’t looking so fresh after the winter so it needed some “rejuvenating” before we could stain it. We hadn’t stained it yet because, after finishing it in late August, we were told to give the pressure treated wood 2-3 months to dry out before sealing any of the moisture from the treatment in (apparently sealing or staining PT wood too soon can lead to terrible results). So by the time staining was advisable by the wood’s standards, it was no longer advisable by the stain’s directions because of the cold temperatures.
So yeah, we felt a little dumb for finding ourselves in that position, but ultimately it wasn’t too bad. There was just one area where some leaves and acorns had sat around longer than they should’ve, and it desperately needed some cleaning when spring rolled around.
The pressure washer was pretty fascinating to use. It almost felt like painting as you watched the dingy color give way to something lighter with each stroke of the water jet. This is a detail of that nasty area above. Pressure washing it board by board was making a big difference, although it wasn’t 100% flawless.
Here’s the whole deck once I gave it a once over. It was definitely looking a lot closer to it’s just-built days, although there were still some acorn cap stains in that one corner. I started to regret my decision not to use a cleaner (another option is that you can route your water feed through a cleaning solution so you’re essentially using pressure and soap to clean).
I did go back later with some cleaner (sans pressure washer) which seemed to do the trick, but I’ll cover that in our deck staining & sealing post. Right now there’s more power washing action to get to.
Since we had the thing for 24 hours, I kinda went crazy and aimed it at just about every piece of wood around our house. Fences, railings, steps. You name it, it got blasted.
And somewhere around the patio I discovered it also made a huge difference on brick (update: we rented a lower pressure version than some of the stronger varieties, which can apparently damage certain types of brick, so maybe do some quick research before spraying yours).
I never realized how green and dingy some of our brick was until now. (I didn’t think to take a before, so that’s a shot from our vine removal post before everything greened up).
When nothing was left to spray at our current house, I counted my lucky stars that I had more dingy brick to spray at our new place.
As satisfying as the process was (somebody stop me!) the moderate amount of energy it took to wrangle the spray gun for hours was starting to wear on me (no really, somebody please stop me). But in an effort to get our money’s worth, the spray must go on.
Since Sherry was wrangling Clara and taking pics of the process (her toe’s pulling a Where’s Waldo above) and I was already soaked and dirty, I pressed on. Or should I say I pressured on? Har-har.
The new house’s worst spot was on the back right above the deck. Between rain splashing there and it being fairly shaded, it was a color that I’m affectionately dubbing Ninja Turtle Green.
Sherry actually shot a video of this part, so you could see the satisfying de-greening for yourself. It’s almost like painting with a bleach pen or something, since you can watch things lighten up brick by brick.
By about 5pm it was time to call it a day and return my new toy. I was worn out and pretty nasty looking (thanks backspray) but I’ll spare you the shot of my grody dirt-coated leg. Instead you get my dirt-speckled face. Thanks for this flattering angle, $herdog.
So, in conclusion. I love you pressure washer. You’re a beast, but the kind of beast that has my heart.
That’s concrete by the way. I wouldn’t have even thought it was dirty to start with had I not accidentally sprayed it while doing some nearby brick. So it got a little facelift too. Amazing this thing, I tell you. It’s right up there with pegboards.
PS: Next Tuesday, May 7th at 7pm we’ll be chatting with Kate Hall (aka: Richmond Mom) about parenting, decorating with your family in mind, and Mother’s Day gift ideas at the Barnes & Noble in Glen Allen (near Virginia Center Commons). It’ll be followed by a Q&A and a book signing, so we’d love to hang with anyone who can make it.
Shane says
Sorry, but I’m going to jump on the “don’t pressure wash brick” band wagon here. Bricks are like loaves of bread, they have an outer “crust” and the inside is more porous, so when you pressure wash them, even with relatively low pressure, you wear away that crust and open them up to moisture getting inside the brick and causing freeze/thaw issues. Mortar is even worse; the joints wear away and when they are no longer the right slope/relationship to the brick, can cause all sorts of deterioration issues! I work with historic buildings and this is something we struggle with all the time.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Shane! What do you guys recommend for cleaning historic brick buildings? Do you scrub them by hand? Use watered down bleach? Would love those tips!
xo
s
Melissa says
I love pressure cleaning things! It’s very therapeutic. I used to live with someone who’s house was in a place that had a very strict HOA and we would get notices that we had to pressure wash this or that, or add shrubbery here and there all the time. All this to say that pressure washing the driveway was fun but I was worried the entire time he was up on the roof pressure washing the terra cotta tile! (Is that what it’s called? We live in South Florida so that type of roof is very common. I don’t particularly like it myself.)
But hooray for pressure cleaning!
Kara says
Oh yes, power washing is AWESOME! There’s nothing like instantaneous results!
I did learn the hard way that there are some stains that just won’t come off, no matter how often you go back over the same spot with the washer. I put a quarter sized hole right in the middle of my parents’ driveway (concrete) – this was about 15 years ago. It’s still there today. Whoops.
Amy says
Quick tip for you, now that Clara is likely old enough for a swing/play set: we bought a used, 10 year-old set on Craigslist last fall. It was a Rainbow set (all Redwood) & huge–retails for around $5500. We got it for $300 because the wood looked greenish & yucky (but no rot)! Basically, it hadn’t had any love–no staining or anything & had been outside for a decade. But since those sets have a lifetime warranty & are so nice, the wood was in excellent shape. We took that puppy home & spent about 2 weeks working on it in the evenings–I had about 15 hours in power washing, but I LOVED seeing the immediate change! After power washing & staining, it seriously looks brand new! You can get a LOT of stuff CHEAP (especially swing sets) because people are scared of the “yucky” wood–a little power washing will save you a ton of money in the end! (By the way, we used to rent, but found a good deal on one at Sears–they’re so worth buying!)
Teri says
Oooh, I love pressure washing too. You can also use it on siding!
Sobeida says
We rented one at the beginning of Spring, Mr. fiance loves power washing so instead of renting one again to wash the pool deck and since our house is white and have a big concrete patio and (he) decided to invest on a good one instead, it was around $250 on sale! He has already used it 4 times so all paid off and we still have it to use next year! I love power washing. Funny about your power washed heart, he was power washing on my birthday and he insisted that I come to the patio, there is was next to big heart “Happy B-day My Love” all with the washer.
Powerpuff says
My Home Depot has two pressure ratings on the washers for rental (3500psi and 2000psi). I was wondering if you used the higher or lower pressure one.
YoungHouseLove says
We did the lower psi one :)
xo
s
Chris says
Powerwashing is WONDERFUL! We actually bought ourselves an inexpensive one several years ago, and I always look forward to getting my hands on it for spring cleaning!
Erika says
I *so* totally get what you mean about becoming addicted to using a great tool like that and pressing (pressuring?) on to keep using it and squeezing every bit of value out of your time, even though your body thinks it’s time to go hang out in a deck chair for awhile.
So, now that you’ve had the experience, is this a tool you’ll be investing in? Or is the typical homeowner version not as effective as the rental type (and the rental type too expensive to make sense purchasing)?
YoungHouseLove says
I don’t think I’ll buy quite yet, but if it seems like something that I’ll need to frequently I might look into a more consumer-grade version. People in the comments have mentioned some smaller, less heavy-duty option (even some that are electric).
-John
Kim says
You MUST purchase one!!! It doesn’t have to be one of those big, industrial ones and actually the smaller ones are so much easier to move around. I have been a long time addict, the only thing to be careful with on wood siding is that it can etch if the pressure is really narrow. I wait anxiously for any signs of mold and will pressure wash almost anything.
Jamie D says
SO SATISFYING! What an awesome thing to do to your current house right before selling!
Rachel says
“When nothing was left to spray at our current house, I counted my lucky stars that I had more dingy brick to spray at our new place.” LOL!!! Of all the humor in this post I found this line the funniest!
Regarding the pressure washer, my handyman dad has always been against them and says that if the pressure is too high you can actually take finish right off of your surface (i.e. wood, concrete – thereby exposing aggregate, etc.) Are you able to adjust the pressure washer settings to avoid this? We haven’t used one because of his warnings, but our cedar picket fence and concrete drive could use some sprucing up!
YoungHouseLove says
You could adjust the pressure slightly (and it had three different nozzles with slightly different pressures too). We also used a lower pressure machine, but Home Depot offers a higher pressure one too.
-John
agustina says
Are you and my husband related???? He is dreaming about getting one for himself; but we´re close now, it´s the next tool in the list ha ha!
Kate says
Yay for clean decking and brick! Power Washing is highly addictive! Once you do one area you have to continue or everything else will look dingy and dirty. It’s so addictive, I ended up buying my hubby one for Father’s Day a few years ago! We now power wash every spring. It really gets the kiddos plastic play structures clean too!
Francine W says
Ahh! Looks great! Now I’ve got the itch to do my house!
Elizabeth says
Wow, I really need to do this. And I need to stain my deck too!!!
Hmmm, there are also years of oil stains on the concrete in our garage. I wonder if power washing would help with those?
YoungHouseLove says
Anyone tried it on oil stains?!
xo
s
Amber says
I LOVE pressure washers! My brother let me borrow his and I was like you washing everything in sight! Kinda gets addicting! ;)
Beth says
Ahh, powerwashing is the most satisfying thing ever!! The closest I’ll probably ever get to wielding a magic wand.
And a belated congrats on the new house! Can’t wait to watch your progress!
heyruthie says
I got a hand-me-down pressure washer of my VERY OWN last year, and from the first moment, it was love at first spray.
On another subject–John, it sure is some gorgeous spring running weather out there! Any running posts comin’ up?!?
Jen says
OOOH – please be careful power washing brick. That can cause major damage to your bricks and mortar. I’m sure you did your research – you usually do. But that’s something that we were warned of in historic preservation classes.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we added an update to the post for just that reason! Thanks for the tip! :)
xo
s
Henna | HENNA BLOSSOM BLOG says
bahaha, by the time I got to the end of this post I was laughing out loud. Unwashed/Washed, Unwashed/Washed, Unwashed/Washed, Unwashed/Washed, Unwashed/Washed…
Someone was having fun! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Henna, I’m not kidding, the man is obsessed! He told me when he saw something on the floor that evening (like a crumb or a toy) the first thought that popped into his head was “I should power wash that away!” and then his brain would be like “nope, not in the house.” How hilarious is it that it was his first instinct?!
xo
s
nick says
Somewhere, in your dark basement, your nail-gun is brooding over your public pronouncement of love for this power-washer. Hell hath no furry like a scorned nailgun, John…
YoungHouseLove says
You’re the second person to think of his poor nail gun. Hilarious!
xo
s
nick says
It’s a sensitive tool…hahah I swear the jams aren’t random.
RLR says
We looooove pressure washing! Makes such a huge difference!
Janel says
My husband is obsessed with ours. He gets excited when we get a letter from our HOA saying we have to clean XYZ. Much like $herdog and her ceramic animals, he’d totally marry it…well, if it was legal. ;-)
#myhusband’sstrangeobsession
#cantotallybeonthatTLCshow
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha! People all over the country need to bond over their love of this machine. Perhaps a special episode about how it’s 1,000 people’s strange obsession?! Ha!
xo
s
Ali says
You might be the only people to get excited about an HOA letter. lol
Janel says
No, no…I dread getting the letter, as I know it will trigger his obsession and he’ll pressure wash EVERYTHING! It becomes an all-day event. It’s been raining down here in South Florida for about 3 days straight. Mixed with the insane heat, the driveway will be covered in green junk. BOOM, friggin’ 8 hours of pressure washing madness. Sigh…sadly, I know the drill.
Donn says
I love power washing. I have a small electric one that only goes to 500 PSI but that’s probably a good thing since it prevents me from being overzealous. Its really easy to damage things with a powerwasher. Yourself included. Don’t try to chase a bee off your leg with a powerwasher stream, like I learned. But there’s nothing better than see that mold disappear in wide strokes!
YoungHouseLove says
Ouch!
xo
s
Elise S. says
John,
I think you will like this thread:
http://www.reddit.com/r/powerwashingporn/
Elise
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, I’m in love.
-John
Sayward says
WHY didn’t the writers on Full House ever give Danny Tanner a pressure washer? Talk about a wasted opportunity for sitcom gold!
I lived in my last rental for 8 years and my 2nd story deck and vinyl siding would constantly turn Ninja Turtle Green. I used Method all purpose spray on the siding and it worked like a charm, but I used to fantasize about somehow lugging a pressure washer up there and going to town… I’m gone now, but hopefully one day my landlords will see the light.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we need to start a petition for Danny Tanner to use a pressure washer. Well, I guess after our petition to bring back Full House…
xo
s
Marie says
OMG that is so funny, I am the same way. Once I start, I can’t stop until every possible surface have been pressure washed. My husband usually has to bodily remove my hands from it. But then your arms are numb after all that:):):)
Christi says
John, you crack me up! It reminded me of my father in law when we were in Strasboug, France sitting in a beautiful square by a church, I asked him what he thought….
“if I had my power washer right now I could clean that dirty church!”. Seriously, he loves his power washer and when he moved to London, he was so sad to leave it in storage!
I recommend at least getting a hose attachment power washer, we use ours all the time!
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds awesome!
xo
s
Nichole K says
Might be time to invest in more gutters at the new house? That strip of “cleaner” wood on the back deck looks like it is from roof runoff. We went crazy with gutters at our new house because we saw how much damage runoff can do to foundations, siding and landscaping of the houses that didn’t have gutters, even after just one fall/winter.
I’d spring for seamless gutters. The ones we installed ourselves at our old house constantly leaked from the seams, even with new caulk every year. :(
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Nichole!
xo
s
monika says
Our next-door neighbors had one and, when they moved away, they bequeathed it to us. Holla! I love that thing and my husband makes fun of me for using it on everything house. It also is great for cleaning up the wheels of my muddy car. You need to buy one, I tell ya! You’ll be the go-to place in the neighborhood after a hurricane… that’s what happened to us last year. Well, the generator wasn’t a bad asset either, but that’s another story.
Ali says
We just borrowed our neighbor’s power washer last weekend and did the front steps (brick) and front walk (concrete). I sat there with my mouth hanging open while my husband did the power washing because I just.couldn’t.believe the difference! Holy cow. And then I kept looking out our living room window so I could see the results over and over. Haha. I guess this means we’re all old now if this is the exciting stuff? :)
Do you know if they had bigger nozzles so that you could do something like a driveway (ours is concrete and naaaaasty) without it taking a decade?
YoungHouseLove says
That’s a good question, but unfortunately I didn’t check into it. But you could try calling Home Depot or another home improvement store to ask.
-John
Amy L. says
We need to rent one to wash our siding! They scare me a little though. I remember my dad tearing a hole in their screen when the washer accidentally hit it.
Also, totally unrelated but did you see the styling on these Anthro beluga bookends? I spy a certain book! http://us.anthropologie.com/anthro/search/search.jsp?searchPhrase=Beluga
YoungHouseLove says
We did see that! We were so excited and surprised by it!
-John
Claire (The Half-Hearted Housewife) says
If it makes you feel better about not using the cleaner WITH the power washer, we rented one from home depot and it would not suck up the cleaner to save our lives. So instead of just being excited about how clean stuff was getting just with the power washer, we were frustrated and angry about the wasted money on the cleaner and the fact that the few times it would suck up the cleaner, it would make the whole thing stop working. It was an entirely unpleasant experience (though home depot was awesome and didn’t charge us for the rental because it didn’t work properly).
Consider it a blessing in disguise!
Lisa says
Pressure washers rock! The first time I got my hands on one, I used it to clean everything in sight. I actually ran it until it ran out of gas! I only wish I could somehow use it to clean inside the house.
Tara says
Pressure washing looks totally addictive!
Sara says
We have borrowed my father-in-law’s pressure washer to wash our stoop and deck. We need to do it again (those areas + our wooden picket fence is looking bad!) It is amazing what some pressurized water can do!
SJ says
I completely understand your love for the power washer! Let’s just say I might have asked for one for Mother’s Day last year! :) Yep, this girl was jumping up and down with excitement. My girlfriends think I’m nuts, but I get a huge rush out of using that thing!
Christy Niebaum says
Omg. I’m obsessed with power washing! My parents bought one a few years ago, so I borrow theirs when we have areas that need to be spruced up. When we moved into our house 3 years ago, I power washed our front porch, steps, walkway, driveway and deck in the backyard. It was crazy amazeballs. I used it again a couple of weeks ago to clean the concrete and siding inside our window well. Worked wonders. Sometimes when we go on walks around the neighborhood I gaze dreamily at dirty house exteriors and think to myself “Man, it’d be fun to power wash that.”
Amy says
I love renting the power washer! So worth the $80. You sure get your money’s worth. We just power washed our patio and house, love it! Your house looks so fresh and so clean, clean.
emily says
these photos bring me an absurd amount of joy! my neighbor just said he would let me borrow his power washer next week…and I’m giddy!
Jill Steven says
Lucky for you, the person that owned the home before you didn’t think of this. What a dramatic difference. This should be on every home owners spring cleaning list. Not to mention What to do before putting your house on the market.
Renee says
I’m SUPER jealous of all your power washing fun! I have a serious obsession with power washing things. One summer I accidentally power washed my bare foot and have a nice scar left behind. It may be my favorite scar because it was caused by power washing :)
YoungHouseLove says
Ouch! I cant believe how many power washing injuries there are! Maybe the power washer needs a tagline? Like: “Hey! Be careful where you aim that thing!” Haha!
xo
s
Lizzy says
No gonna lie… pressure washing has to be one of the MOST satisfying jobs. Of course… it’s also time consuming because once you see how something is SUPPOSED to look…..
Sheryl says
I used to work at an aquarium, and one of my favourite jobs was power washing the drained habitats. Seriously, if you liked power washing brick and wood, imagine the transformation on a 1/4″ thick layer of algae (that stuff grows crazy good in such a, um, nitrate-rich environment). Plus there were sea otters running around at my feet, so that was pretty cool too.
YoungHouseLove says
Dream. Job.
-John
Krystle @ Color Transformed Family says
We used one a couple of years ago on our deck. It was like face cream for wood. It took years off! I can totally see where pressure washing could become addicting.
Anne says
What a satisfying post to read! Loved all the before and afters. I can totally relate to going and trying out the power washer on everything. :) I reckon it’s okay for siding?? I need to wash the north side of the house: mossy.
YoungHouseLove says
I definitely know some people who use it on siding but we’ve heard others say it can tear off the paint, so I would do a little research to get the right strength (some are much stronger than others) and just test a little spot first. Good luck Anne!
xo
s
Karen O says
Couldnt tell if you were wearing hearing protection, but it’s a must when we run ours. It’s SO LOUD! Take it from people your parent’s age: take care of your precious ears (and Clara’s too.)
We power wash our Trex deck every year and all the deck furniture too,(even the umbrella.) Love the way it gets crazy clean!
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip Karen!
xo
s
Mary | lemongroveblog says
That looks extremely satisfying! Adding that to the spring to-do list :)
carli says
buying a pressure washer. like stat.