Is House Washing in San Antonio a ‘Do-It-Yourself’ Job?

David Rhodes
December 25, 2016

As a cleaning method, power washing has been growing increasingly popular in the past few decades and is sure to become even more popular in the years to come.

Typically, people will put too much effort into cleaning their boats, patios, grills, cars and the exteriors of their houses; however, by practicing a few simple pressure washing tips you will be able to overcome the burden and have the ability to finish any of these jobs much more efficiently than any of your neighbors.

What’s more, if you just follow these easy pressure washing basics, your home exterior cleaning process will be quick and painless by utilizing the right tools for the job. Here are some significantly valuable power washing tips:

Choosing the Power Washer Nozzle and Tips

In order to properly use a pressure washer efficiently, you’ll first need to choose the correct nozzle or tip. The majority of our pressure washing machines come equipped with interchangeable spray tips that serve two purposes; one is to lower the pressure as well as to draw the detergent, and the other is for a high-pressure rinse using a variety of spray angles.

Our pressure washers also come equipped with multiple color-coded tips/nozzles, which vary from 0 degrees to 40 degrees. However, keep in mind, the smallest angle delivers the most powerful punch. For instance, it you’re wanting to remove a stubborn smudge from the driveway you would want to use a 0-degree angle.

With that being said, if you wanted to move debris (such as sand or leaves) away from your home, you would want to opt for using a wider angle such as a 25 or 45-degree nozzle. You should always use caution by ensuring the nozzle or tip is completely attached before you use the trigger gun. Failure to do so could result in the tip becoming a projectile and may become lost or even cause damage to the property or harm to you or someone close by.

Testing the Power washing pressure

In order to test your pressure washer for its power, you should start spraying a few feet away from any object nearby while slowly bringing your wand to a distance of 3-4 feet from the surface you’re wanting to clean.

You should then move your wand in a side-to-side motion a few times while checking if the surface is clean. If additional cleaning should be warranted, you can then move your wand gradually closer to the surface (approximately 1-2 feet).

The reason for performing a gradual cleaning is due to the fact that pressure washers are extremely powerful; thus, if you start too close to an object (such as your home’s siding) you could easily cause damage to it instead of actually cleaning it.

House Washing

Similar to painting, when it comes to pressure washing, you want to avoid getting into ‘happy mode’ as you could start spraying everything and everywhere. These types of random pressure wash sprayings are not thorough or detailed, and they will force you to miss spots as well as waste your time by having to clean areas two times over.

To thwart this, you should always spray horizontally, utilizing smooth left to right movements. In one strike you can cover a 3-4 foot wide area. In order to effectively prevent any streaking, start power washing from the top, gradually working your way down to the bottom.
If you’re unsure of your abilities, or simply don’t have the time or equipment necessary to get the job done successfully, contact Glass-Geeks today. Our technicians are expertly trained and equipped with the latest in house washing technology, which means we can fully restore your home’s exterior to its original beauty.