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Beginner.

Ron Winnie

New member
I guess that's the extent of what i am. I just purchased a eagle series 5GPM 2500 PSI cold water pressure washer which I have used only once; And this is my story. So i got a customer whom i do many different odd jobs for including lawn care services who wanted me to power wash his 15 year old red stained deck. I did not downstream with any chemicals and just used a medium tip (maybe 15 degree?) to try to peel it off with. The stain was not the only issue it was the mold and gunk that it had on it as well but it ended up taking me 4-5 hours. This deck is extremely moderate size (i cant rememeber SF) and had i done it correctly i think it would have taken a lot less time. I was about 5-8" away from the surface trying to get this stuff and not splinter it. It came out spotted everywhere. I did not apply anything to it before hand. I am hearing the i should have applied stain stripper with paintbrushes/rollers before hand? Should i have been using downstreaming chemicals to get this up? How much time should a 2000 SF deck take to power wash on average? I am completely new and am trying to get an education in this type of work as many of my lawn/snowplowing customers are asking me to power wash their house/walkways/decks. How much is insurance btw? Thanks, Ron.
 

Clark Hussey

UAMCC*Member
Welcome. Are you trying to clean or strip the deck? If you are trying to learn the pressure washing business. Spend as much time as you can reading the posts on this and other forums. Ask questions and use the search function. Every forum has a search key and you can pretty much find anything you are looking for.
 

Charlie Soden

Contributing Member
I personally never pressure wash a deck without using chemicals. Most of the time the amount of pressure needed to mechanically strip stain will also be enough to mess up the wood.

The process and chemicals to use will depend on the type of stain on there. If it was painted I walk away and don't mess with it. If its an oil stain, you can apply a deck stripper with pump sprayer or downstream and let it soak before washing with low pressure.

Other water based stains or acrylic stains can be harder to strip so you need stronger chemicals and longer dwell time.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
 

Ron Musgraves

Past President
Staff member
Hello Ron, there are guys here more qualified than myself for wood restoration for sure.

I'm glad you made it over

Charlie has good advice
 

Jason Reider

New member
What Charlie said about the washing and stripping a deck.

As far as insurance goes, well that varies. You need to talk to an insurance agent to discuss what all you are going to do, and what you will need. I am currently a solo business, and have $2,000,000 general liability coverage. My premium is under a grand, but that will drastically change when I add an employee. I don't think you will need the $2 million coverage if you are only doing residential, but I'm not an insurance agent.

The time it takes to wash or strip a deck varies also. It depends on what type of stain is on the deck, the chems you're using, how much railing, steps, etc. Make sure you search this forum and others to educate yourself on the proper way to do residential work. There is a lot of valuable information, and it is how I learned myself. Good luck!
 
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