Paint Prep - Cedar Shake and Clapboard

Newbie Questions
1

Hi all. This is my first post to PWR. I spent a lot of time lurking before actually creating my account to post. After some vigorous searching, and learning a lot in the process, it got me thinking…

I have a cedar sided house to paint (shake upper, clapboard lower). The shakes are currently painted, not stained, so I’m going to re-paint with a high-quality flat exterior paint. I understand the general consensus is to use low pressure (around 500 PSI) to soft-wash, as higher pressures will damage the substrate. I plan on doing so with downstreamed SH. My goal is to remove the chalking and hopefully knock any loose/easy paint off. I will test for lead prior. Now onto the question…

Is it possible to use a 4012 to apply the solution, and then a turbo nozzle to finish the soft-wash? My machine is 3200 PSI 4.0 GPM. Looking at the charts, a #12 will get me around 4 GPM. Do you foresee any damage from using a #12 turbo nozzle with my machine on cedar siding? I’ll be working from a lift, so distance to the wall can be easily controlled. Also, is SH a good chemical to use for this, or is something else better?

Thanks for any responses.

2

Soap and rinse with the same nozzle. Turbo has no business on anything but concrete

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3

Or nasty trailers and 5th wheels with 2" of heavy mud and grease build up. :smiley:

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4

Aw man. I just can’t get enough of that Warthog A-10 buzzsaw “brrrrrrrrrrr” sound. Turbo nozzles are “a blast”!

Thanks for your tip. Just to clarify, when you say soap, do you recommend a detergent only, or one mixed with SH?

5

By soap I mean whatever cleaner you are downstreaming. For siding I use SH and elemanator

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6

I think a turbo nozzle kind of defeats the purpose of a “soft wash.” Those two words don’t even belong in the same sentence.

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7

I hear ya. I was thinking maybe it would help cover more area faster, while concentrating flow at the same time. Plus, turbo nozzles are just plain fun!

8

Nope.

9

Turbos are great for leaf removal. They also excel at jamming your scalp full of dirt.

10

Also great at removing dirt from your scalp… and dandruff.