Soft Power » Psi

How to Pressure Wash Your Home’s Siding

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:55:36 +0000

Pressure washing the exterior of your home is an excellent way to give it a thorough cleaning or prepare it for repainting or refinishing. Spraying water at a high velocity on the sidings and trims of your dwelling, with or without detergent mixed in, will remove grime, dirt, and powdery residue from corroded paint effectively. This helps ensure a new coat of paint you may want applied to your exterior surfaces will last.

When Not to Power Wash

Pressure washing, also referred to as power washing, is not intended for the removal of paint from sidings even though it is capable of doing this if sprayed long enough in one spot. Training the forceful jet of water this way will erode soft wood sidings and dislodge mortar from brickwork.

Power washes can be used as a cleaning method on most siding materials, including vinyl, wood, metal and certain types of masonry. But they should never be used on hardboard, which needs to be protected from moisture, and stucco which can get easily defaced by the water and its impact.

If you suspect that your house is coated with paint dating back to 1987, when lead was still a common ingredient of applied finishes, don’t apply a pressure wash. And, you would also be better off not doing the washing yourself if your dwelling is two stories high or rather grand in scale. Leave the job to the safer and more experienced hands of professionals.

Pressure Washing Equipment

Pressure washers can be leased from equipment rentals. They vary in size and pressure or spray power specification, ranging between 1200 and 3000 pounds per square inch (PSI). 1200-1500 psi models are mild enough for such vulnerable siding materials as aluminum, wood, and certain types of steel. Stronger makes, or those in the 2500-3000 psi range may be used for unpainted surfaces like vinyl. Renting these pieces of equipment from Marietta pressure washing will cost you around $50 to $75 each day.

Pressure wash apparatus with stronger jets allow shorter cleaning times. Chose one that has provision for adding detergent to the spray, but mix in the non-phosphate detergent substitute trisodium phosphate (TSP) instead. One pound of TSP is good for four gallons of water. Rinse using plain water.

Operating the Pressure Washing Apparatus Safely

Before you power wash, scrub off any mildew clinging to the surfaces to be cleaned. Operate the equipment using both hands, and never while you are on a ladder. You may rent an adjustable extension shaft that elevates from six to 12 feet for your high areas, but bear in mind that this contraption can be tricky to handle.

Point the nozzle three feet away from the wall at first, gradually moving closer until you gauge that spray impact is forceful enough to remove dirt from the siding without damaging it. Never be closer than a foot away from the surface. Do not point the sprayer at windows. Avoid directing it upwards so as not to push water under a siding.

Remember: the pressure making the water squirt is extremely strong, so never point the nozzle at anyone and always protect your eyes with safety goggles. Keeping the wand, water and yourself away from electrical devices or wiring is another important precaution to take.

Steps for Pressure Washing Your House

Outlined below is a general procedure for a do-it-yourself pressure wash of your home’s exterior:

1) Protect plants, lamps and other lighting fixtures, and anything breakable around the house with drop cloths, plastic bags and duct tape. Remove obstacles, and temporarily place outdoor furniture away from the edifice.

2) Connect the garden hose to the pressure washer. If the apparatus has a detergent dispenser, pour in cleaning solution, preferably a mixture of TSP and water.

3) Proceed with the cleaning from the top down. Wield the wand at a 45 degree angle, and direct the water jet at overhangs, soffits, downspouts and gutters. Then “spray brush” sidings with a steady, side-to-side sweeping motion. The nozzle should be around two feet away from the wall surface, but you can fine-tune this distance by moving slightly backward or forward to obtain optimal cleaning action.

As much as possible, aim the spout slightly downward to avoid blasting water up beneath horizontal lap joints of sidings. When cleaning areas around windows, hold the wand in such a way that the water streams at an angle away from windows so water doesn’t get through unsealed in-between spaces surrounding the frame.

4) With a garden hose, rinse the cleaning solution off the sidings with clear water, again working from the top down. If you intend to apply a fresh coat of paint, give the sidings no less than two days to dry up completely.

By: David P. Lee

Air Hammer – The Power of Air Tapping Hammer Effect and Doing Wonders!

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:22:06 +0000

Air hammers are a great piece of invention. They have made the work of craftsmen very easy and simple. The craftsmen can now easily shape a piece of metal in minutes, with the help of the air hammer, which otherwise would have taken hours or days and also lot of physical strain and labour. The air hammers puts pressure to the tune of several dozens PSI (pounds per square inch) on a metal piece and thus the work that should take days, if done by hand, takes only a few minutes when done by the hammer.

The air hammers can be either hand held or stationary. The hand held hammers are connected to an air tank with the help of a tube, from where pressurised air reaches the head of the hammer. These hand held hammers are generally used in households or in small factories or motor repairing shops.

The stationary air hammers are of much bigger size and are more powerful than the hand held ones. They are used for bulk and heavy duty work. These stationary air hammers are generally used in factories where vehicles or other machineries are manufactured in bulk.

The air hammers have different heads for different activities. For shaping or smoothing work, a hammer head is used. For scoring or cutting work, a chisel head is used. These hammers are both useful as well as dangerous tools. So, extreme precaution must always be maintained, while using these hammers, by the operator.

The pressure in the air hammer also varies depending up on the work it being used for and the type of target metal it is working on. For simple smoothing jobs, generally low pressure is used. When work is being done on soft metals like aluminium and copper, then also low pressure is used. When work is done on more hard metals, like stainless steel or iron, much more pressure is needed and high-pressure is exerted through suitable air hammer. For shaping jobs also, high pressure is needed.

By: Smit Mathur

Power Washing Roofs Like A Professional

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:06:05 +0000

There has been significant interest in washing roofs lately, including a lot of questions about what products to use when washing roofs and how to remove those black streaks and stains (mold algae also known as ‘gloeocapsa magma’). Washing roofs to remove these stains will significantly affect the look of any home. In the past, the only way to get rid of them was to replace the roof. It has been estimated that as much as 50% of all roof replacements have been done because of the appearance of the roof stains and not actually because of its functionality.

These roofing stains are impossible to remove without the right roof cleaners. Caustics are inexpensive and very effective for killing mold. Bleach is used most often when washing roofs, but sometimes with disastrous results. GAF roofing says that the use of bleach when washing roofs immediately voids any warranty on an asphalt roof because it breaks down the composition of the shingle. We have heard of contractors resorting to 12% bleach concentrations, but many experts believe that this kind of roof washing can result in roof failure within a short time frame.

When we are power washing roofs for customers, we use the following method: First, using an X-Jet, we wet the roof slightly to cool it down. Second, we apply QwicClean’s Roof cleaner to the shingles, from the ground, using an X-Jet. We allow the roof cleaner to work for about 15 minutes before we begin power washing. (Note: Roof Brite costs as little as 70 cents per gallon, which is less expensive than bleach!)

Walking gently on the roof while washing, we clean the roof using very light pressure – about 300 PSI. We are very careful to avoid knocking off gravel from the surface of the shingles when washing roofs. When we meet up with a tough stain area, we use a very soft scrub brush with a 5’ handle and gently scrub this area. Finally, we rinse the roof surface well. Rinsing can be done from the ground using your X-Jet again.

Steep roof cleaning jobs require special gear to prevent falls. After all, a good roof cleaner can make any surface pretty slippery. A chicken ladder along with a roped harness is one way to make it safe to move around when cleaning roofs.

Be very fussy on the street side of the roof, homeowners are looking for “curb appeal”, so spend the most time where it counts the most.

Once the roof washing is done, there are two other services we can offer our customers. For an additional fee, we will treat their roof with Bio Barrier, a special formulation from QwicClean that prevents new algae spores from sticking to that clean roof. Instead, the spores move on to the neighbor’s roof where they grow, turn black, and create future roof cleaning jobs.

For another charge we will clean the gutters (inside and out). Being careful not to get any roof cleaners on the house paint (to avoid streaky clean spots) we scoop and rinse out the gutters and clean the outside surface with Gutter Zap. This can be done from the ground with an X-Jet or it can be done by wiping the gutter surface with a rag (and Gutter Zap).

By: Pete Marentay