There are a number of projects around your home where a small or even large sized pressure washer can be a real help or for all practical reasons required. This buying guide will cover some of the different sizes of pressure washers and some of the attachments that can be used for your projects.
What size is right for you?
You should purchase a pressure washer that meets 70% of your job tasks with ease and can accomplish most of the rest with the use of adapters or multiple passes.
Small Pressure Washers
Small pressure washers are great to have around the home to help clean up problems that would take much longer with a hose.
In general you can pickup a compact pressure washer for $150 or less.
These smaller devices can put out a pretty good punch for the money and are good for the home owner that wants to wash their house, boat, RV or truck.
They can also be used in paint preparation to clean mold, moss or other surface contaminants but will not have the same power to strip paint from siding or concrete that a commercial grade washer will. If you have a special tip you may be able to prepare a small section like a doorway or steps but don’t expect to do a 5 bedroom house.
Smaller pressure washers can be used with standard hookups to household water services and require under 2 gallons per minute to run. They will deliver under 2000 psi of water pressure at the nozzle.
Wands are a fixed length and your device may come with a connection where you can add soap for cleaning cars.
Even though this is the smallest model it is not recommended to use a pressure washer directly on your car. You can use it but you should make sure you understand what distance you need to be from the vehicle or you will damage the paint especially if the car has been repainted.
These devices are GREAT for cleaning engines, wheels and mud off your dirt bike.
Medium Sized Pressure Washers
Medium sized pressure washers can perform most any task. They cost under $350 and will run on either 110v or 220v.
As you can guess the larger 220v models are much stronger and will require more water.
Three Phase models are also available and are often uses in booths for washing cars or other items on a regular basis.
Although it will depend on the model you choose most medium sized pressure washers will work just fine on a standard home hookup if you have decent water service pressure.
Although not as portable as a gasoline driven model you will see this type of device in home and commercial settings.
They are best when the item you are working on is relatively small and stationary. Although you can add extension cords and feed hoses to work your way around a home doing so can tend to be a drag.
In this case if your model supports it you can extend your reach by adding a pressure line hose that can be 25 to 50 feet long and provide no loss of cleaning power.
Medium sized pressure washers use under 3 gallons of water per minute and deliver it at 3,000 psi or less.
Commercial Gasoline Pressure Washers
Commercial Grade gasoline driven pressure washers are for people that know the most important thing is power and lots of it.
When you are deciding on a large gasoline model you will be using the device in a remote location or in a place where you can not always depend on electricity like a customers building.
Commercial pressure washers are great for prepping a large building for new paint or removing graffiti. Very quickly they can remove flaking paint from a wall or wash huge areas to get ready for paint.
Commercial grade devices will often require a huge amount of water and for that reason you will often see contractors that have 500 gallon or larger water tanks which act as a buffer. Although they will connect water to the tank the extra room acts like a tank on an air compressor meaning slower water services can still keep up with the high demands.
Pressure Washer Attachments
How well each attachment works will depend on the duty it sees. For the most part pressure washers are just that they spray water or water with a chemical mix but a few attachments can be used to aid in your work.
Spray Nozzles
Your smaller pressure washer may come with an adjustable tip to adjust the spray pattern but larger pressure washers will require that you manually change the tip. Over a long period of time these tips will wear out and get damaged.
Many tips are standard sizes within a manufacturer meaning if your pressure washer can use a tip it will probably be one shared by many different models.
Tips range from the strongest 0° degree straight shooter to a wide fan pattern.
When changing to a tighter pattern tip be careful because you will be increasing the force per square inch and may endup eating through paint or causing physical damage to the item you are cleaning.
Wand Extensions
This is probably the most useful attachment. They extend your reach on a solid shaft this way you can get to places that are above you or out of reach.
Some extensions are made to work under vehicles and will have a bent end to get around axels and other items.
When using an extension to reach places you can not see be very careful not to cause damage.
Scrubbers
There are a variety of different scrubber attachments. Some include a long pole adapter and a fixed brush and others are activated by the pressure of the water that passes through it.
They may be an option if you need to scrub areas that are difficult to reach without a scaffold or ladder.
The YouRepair Store carries a full line of Pressure Washers from Small to Commercial Grade with attachments and parts.
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