I did a pressure washing job the other day for a customer just before a decently heavy rain. I rinsed the edges beforehand and then surface cleaned his driveway and then soft washed his pavers at the same times applying a 3% (water at 100% and bleach at just under 3 on a metering system) post treatment. I didn’t post rinse because it actually rained pretty heavy as I was finishing up and rather heavily through the evening.
I did a follow up today and I am concerned I may have somehow damaged or potentially killed the grass as it is more than the usual burn on the sides than I usually see, although maybe the rain pushed it out further. First time I had seen something like this.
I know the grass is a type of Bermuda grass. The concern is seeing the white grass on the left side of the curbside where it turned white isb rather than to a brownish color.
Yeah that is you. Having said that, it should grow back. Why 3%? I would say that 90 percent of my walks or drives only get hit with HW mix, then my SC. I always push the water towards the street. Post treat shouldn’t hit the grass.
I appreciate that, the information I had seen typically told me to do a 2-3% on concrete for post treatment and I hadn’t had any issues with it until now.. is there something I have to watch out for additionally with pavers? I noticed the worst side is the side that had a visible small barrier along the pavers which is weird.I did a large length of sidewalk also with this property and didn’t get any burn along the edges. I am not sure how the chemical got that far into the lawn on the sides really because I was careful not to over spray from the pavers. And I just tried to do a small treatment on it, not flood the area. Glad to know it should recover in time though!
I’m just a part timer, but when I learned this stuff I listened to people like @Racer
Unless the thing was filthy a pre soak with HW mix then surface clean it is normally enough (unless you are leaving stripes). I do almost every drive and sidewalk this way, backpack blow it all down, hit it with HW mix as I am cleaning the house. If it starts to dry I hit it again (or if there is a bad area I hit it again). I then surface clean it perpendicular to the line of sight. If I run into some stubborn lichen or heavy algae, I normally go slower over that area, maybe hit it twice from different directions. Then I rinse (or rinse in sections if it is really dirty). Then as I am wrapping things up I take a look. If there is any hint of lines or dark areas then I will post treat. Most don’t need post treating that I do. I keep the racer approved application device (trademarked and registered ) on my trailer for a quick post treat if needed.
My guess is, based on your statements, the 3% got hit by that rain and immediately washed off into the grass. laid in there, and killed that grass. I’m pretty sure it will grow back, but that isn’t a guarantee. For future reference, they make products to save plants, but you could have just come back another day and hit it with a post treatment too (I know, who wants to go back to a house).
You would have normally been fine, but the rain gotcha.
I hear yah, I’ve learned a lot from him as well so far, I am guessing you are talk about the electric Ryobi sprayer but don’t know for sure. I have been using his suggested 2503 tips at about 2600-2700 psi for surface cleaning and haven’t run into any lines yet. The surface was reasonably clean already except for a few spots and I usually use about a 2% for post treatment but I wanted to make sure it would whiten up a bit. Lesson learned.. That’s likely what happened.. I am surprised with the amount of rain that anything got burned at all, I was worried the post treatment might not have any affect in those circumstances in general. Live and learn I guess. Thankfully I know the owner will be cool with it when I talk to him.
Be careful/mindful when applying the cleaner. When applying near the edges, consider applying while you are standing in the grass, spraying towards the driveway, rather than standing on the driveway spraying towards the grass.
) on my trailer for a quick post treat if needed.
