Power washing is used to clean your house exterior (house washing), deck, outdoor furniture as well as for commercial uses such as concrete cleaning and removing contaminants like mold or mildew that have adhered to the surface of a building.
Power washing is a term that can be interpreted in different ways, such as pressure washing, low pressure washing, high pressure washing, and hot water pressure washing.
You can trust Stewart Painting to use the appropriate pressure wash for all of your house washing and powering washing needs.
Pressure Washing
Pressure washing has a negative connotation with most owners as it is considered to be an action that can damage your home and cause water damage to the inside. Pressure washers are relatively inexpensive to purchase and homeowners that are “do it yourselfers” experiment with their new tool and often damage wood surfaces by holding the gun to close to the surface or inject water inside the home by getting too close to door and window edges. Professional painters will also use a pressure washer to clean or even prepare the surface for painting.
Low Pressure Washing
The term Low pressure washing, or soft wash is used to distance the negative reaction from pressure washing. Low pressure washing has also come under scrutiny with additives such as bleach which if used alone can damage plants.
High Pressure Washing
High pressure washing is water pressure of 2400 PSI or greater and is most commonly used for concrete surfaces, decking, boats, or furniture. High Pressure Washing is usually required when removing paint, graffiti or Lichen from a surface.
High pressure wash machines can be used to apply chemicals onto a house or surface, however a suction hose must be used which draws chemicals from a 5-gallon container that will mix with water as the trigger is pulled. This system produces a non-measured amount of chemical and can give an uneven appearance.
Hot Water Pressure Wash
Hot water pressure washing is used to degrease equipment or machinery, remove graffiti, clean pools or remove Lichen from surfaces. Any application that a High-pressure wash is used for can also be used with a hot pressure wash. Hot water pressure washing is not commonly done due to the cost of the equipment and the limited use.
Which power wash is best to wash your house or deck?
Having a low-pressure wash performed by a company that is spraying a measured solution from a designated tank is best. This process will assure the same chemical mix at the same pressure.
Stewart Painting’s House Washing Solution
Stewart Painting uses the term Low Pressure Wash with environmentally safe products to assure that the consumer is aware that both pressure and the environment are taken care of.
Our wash trucks are fitted with (2) large tanks, and are directly piped to a low-pressure pump with more than 200’ of hose. The 2 tanks allow a measured amount of chemical in 1 tank and a separate tank of clean water, this allowing for any unknown interruption of straight water required for pre-and after rinsing.
The wash is a garden hose application with a water, Jomax and bleach solution. Jomax has 3 properties, 1st it is an Enhancer to make the bleach stronger to enable to kill the mold on contact, 2nd it has a mildewcide which slows the reoccurring mold return and 3rd it is a neutralizer when rinsed which prevents plant damage.
Our low pressure wash can be performed on wet or dry days allowing little to no weather interruptions. The process is relatively fast for a two-person crew.
All windows and shrubs are rinsed, some bushes are covered before chemical is applied, this is a precaution step as environmentally safe the product is, some plants react differently, and covering is the safest step.
After the cleaning solution has been applied, all windows and plants are rinsed. The process of rinsing activates the Jomax neutralizing ingredient and allows the surface to be clean and the grounds and plants to be safe.
High Pressure washing is still completed, but only in isolated situations.
Stewart Painting does not use High Pressure Washing on wood siding or roof shingles to avoid any damage or water penetration which could take a long period of time to fully dry before painting.
In addition to power washing your house, our professional, experienced wash crew can clean:
- Roof, both asphalt & cedar
- Deck
- Dock
- Swimming pool
- Concrete pool & patio area
- Boat
- Patio furniture
Power Washing Photo Gallery
Visit the House Washing Gallery for additional project photos.
