When molds overwhelm your house’s facade and become unsightly, power washing can help restore the warmth. Of course, Nay Sayers will discourage using a pressure washer, but you can prove them wrong by being extra keen when handling the cleaning gadget.
Power washing is your great bet because it couples the prowess of hot water with a powerful engine to knock stains and caked grime easily. The intense washing gives your siding a radiant look. And it helps elevate the value of your structure. The reason why real estate entrepreneurs swear by it is to add a little twist to pricing.
Take a case whereby a home would cost $12000, for instance—power washing blasts out stains and paint to give it a brand look. The simple task overhauls your house and works to seal your bargain for $20,000. As you can see, pressure washing works like a charm to earn you more significant rewards.
However, you’ve got to master a few tricks to nail your cleaning like a pro and shield your property from damage.
Wear protective equipment when handling a pressure washer
A pressure washer expels water at a super high speed. And if it comes in contact with skin, it can tear it away in a fraction of a second. Boots, gloves, and a waterproof coat suffice to provide you with an extra layer of protection. You won’t get wet, and your clothes benefit as you will not soil them.
Now that you have protection, don’t ignore your neighbor. Hold the wand away from others. It might lift a speck of marble and propel it directly into your colleague’s eye. Better still, engage the wide-angle nozzle to tone down the speed and minimize damage.
Do not hold the pressure washer closer to objects
The cutting power of pressure gets intense when you bring the nozzle closer to the object. The thinking behind this theory is that closer contact exerts high pressure causing all the force to concentrate on a single point. It then becomes practical to hold the spray nozzle away from a surface when you feel it could rip it apart.
To get it right, weigh the possibility of damage by checking the thickness of the material. Thin materials break easily. On the contrary, thick surfaces are resilient hence don’t disintegrate when a high psi pounds on it. However, it would be best if you tread with caution. Your rule of thumb should be the turbo nozzle is the most dangerous one and can punch a hole on a surface regardless of thickness.
Do not operate your pressure washer in an enclosed area
Pressure washers whine a lot. The amount of noise they produce is deafening. And when the walls of the room catalysis the roaring, sooner or later, your eardrums shall suffer, and you may even lose your hearing capability.
You can’t underestimate the effects of fumes escaping when you engage the pressure washer. Carbon dioxide and traces of lethal gases leave the engine. And open space helps diffuse the concentration of these gases that an enclosed area harnesses. So, when you continue inhaling them, you run the risk of blocking your lungs by inhaling toxic gases.
The results can’t be encouraging because you might lose your life or sustain life-threatening complications. Worse still, long-term exposure to toxic gases puts you at the risk of developing cancer.
Bottomline
A pressure washer isn’t a toy to play dumb with. Even the tiny psi (100 psi) can tear your skin quickly. To prevent catastrophic risks, you can protect against accidents by a considerable margin when paying attention to the user manual.