My pressure washer turned my deck into a warzone

Borrowed a buddy's 4000 PSI unit last summer to clean my back deck in Phoenix. Didn't think to check the tip or test a small spot first, just went full blast on the redwood. Took off a quarter inch of wood in some spots and left deep gouges that looked like someone took a chainsaw to the boards. Ended up spending a weekend sanding everything down and staining it just to make it presentable. Anyone else learn the hard way that more power isn't always better with a pressure washer?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane1706d ago

Man I did the same thing with my 2500 PSI unit on a cedar fence here in Tucson. Thought I was being smart by renting a commercial grade one from Home Depot and that thing ate the wood like it was nothing. I didn't even notice until I went inside and came back out an hour later and saw these deep grooves running all the way across the slats. My wife was not happy about the new "distressed" look I gave the fence. Ended up having to replace six boards and then restain the whole thing. Now I just use a 1200 PSI electric one with a wide tip and it works way better for cleaning stuff without destroying it.

ivan4626d ago

Dunno man, sounds like user error more than the pressure washers fault @shane170.

joseph_green136d ago

User error" is a stretch though, since the rental guy at Home Depot literally told shane170 to use that nozzle distance. I get what you're saying, but when a tool destroys a fence that fast, that's on the machine's pressure, not the guy holding it.