Hello everyone, I’m a newbie at house cleaning and I have a 2-story house that needs a good scrub. I bought a Walmart pressure washer a few years ago (1500 PSI) and it works great on the sidewalk, but it’s falling short when it comes to reaching the second floor. Any tips on how to tackle this with my current equipment? I’ve seen nozzle kits that might help, but I’m also considering upgrading to a more powerful model. I’ve found a VEVOR Gas Powered Pressure Washer (3400 PSI, 2.6 GPM) for $270. Would this be a good option for a 2-story house? I’ve also heard about using chemicals for house cleaning. My house has painted wood siding, and the paint is peeling in some areas. What’s the best way to clean without damaging the paint or harming nearby plants?
Most members here are professionals operating legitimate businesses with trucks and trailer setups. The homeowner-grade equipment you currently own and the one you are considering purchasing could probably get the job done, but investing in the right tools for efficiency could end up being more costly than anticipated. Many of your questions have been addressed repeatedly on this site, so I suggest using the search bar to find those discussions. With that in mind, are you looking to start a business, or do you just need to do some occasional cleaning around your property? If it’s the latter, it may be more practical to hire a professional, especially considering the condition of your wood siding.
Thank you for your response. I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to clean my house to start a small house cleaning business in my neighborhood. All the houses are very similar, with a paint wood exterior. Many are single-story, while others, like mine, are two-story. Since this won’t be my main business, I’d like to start as I mentioned in my previous message with a VEVOR Gas Powered Pressure Washer (3400 PSI, 2.6 GPM) for $270. I’m wondering if using chemical products might be a better solution for this type of cleaning and less risky in terms of removing the paint.
You bought an el cheapo unit which isn’t very good. Adding to it would be like putting lipstick on a pig. Trash it and go buy a real unit for washing with. Then buy the appropriate nozzles. Don’t forget to get a chemical injector. You will need hoses and reels. Oh yeah, you might want a water holding device while washing and maybe a soap and chem tank too. You may want a gun or lance, not sure how your riding, so maybe buy both. You may want to acquire a trailer for moving this stuff around. Oh, and if you work on someone else’s house and charge money, then you will need insurance and maybe register as a contractor.
Wood siding is tricky, but hey, you do what you want.
If thats the case, then read, read, read. Have a question, use the search bar first to see whats out there already. The people on here are more then willing to help out, especially if you can show that you already did some background work… but they also aren’t going to spoon feed you the answers.
Give those threads a read. I would hold off on buying another machine until you can actually get a decent starter. Those 2.3GPM ones will make you hate your life since they are so slow to clean with. You will want at least a 4,000PSI 4GPM machine thats direct drive, unless you plan on having a way to haul water.
Thanks for your advice, I am thinking of using my house to do some tests and then I will start cleaning the houses of some people in the neighborhood who have 1 story house, if all goes well then I will buy a more professional equipment.
I want to ask you these questions, I hope you can help me:
I contacted the manufacturer of the VEVOR Gas Powered Pressure Washer (3400 PSI, 2.6 GPM) where he says that by adding a downstream injector
to bring a mix of 5 gallons of water to 2.5 gallons of pool chlorine I can reach the second floor and that mix of water and pool chlorine can remove mold, mildew and algae stains. And then he told me to use the 2 sets “second story nozzles to clean and rinse”
Do you think this can work for my case? or will I never reach the second floor? or will the mix he recommended also remove the paint from the walls?
I know that I will definitely need more time for cleaning with a Pressure Washer that has 3400 PSI, 2.6 GPM, but for now the time of use is not a problem, when I have acquired more experience I will take a more professional equipment that will make me do the job in less time.
Do a search for the words in bold for a better understanding:
That image is a basic adjustable Down Stream Injector. Probably their brand, most around here use GP (general pump) with an orifice sized for their machine. You will have to do the leg work with a draw test to figure out what you machine/injector combo pulls. Based on that test you can make your House Wash Mix. That will be a combination of Sodium Hypochlorite, water, and a Surfactant. You will want around the 1% SH to take care of organics on vinyl siding and will have to experiment with the ratio/dwell time for other surfaces. You don’t want to wash a house using pressure… look into Jrods, M5DS, and Shooter tips. Before you accept any money for work, make sure your business is above board and you have insurance. Again I’m not familiar with the machine you’re using so I can’t guide you on what exactly to get, you will have to research those things, but again the words that are bold are the ones you need to start looking into.
I think the main thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is GET INSURANCE. You screw up someone’s house trying to use homeowner machines with zero knowledge or inclination to do a thorough search on this site and it’s a recipe for a lawsuit.
Thanks for the advice but I don’t need insurance at this stage as I’am use my 2 story house for testing but I haven’t figured out yet if this VEVOR Gas Powered 3400 PSI, 2.6 GPM would be enough to do a downstream and reach the second story and then if the 2 sets “second story nozzles to clean and rinse” would be enough to reach the 2-story house.
Reading the forum, I understood that 2.6 GPM will bring little water and therefore I will need more time to clean a house, but I have not yet understood if this pressure washer will be able to reach the second floor, what do you think?
