Jersey Bill

I don't have a lot of experience cleaning decks. Most of my customers want the mold and mildew gone. I apply my standard house wash, sodium hypochlorite mix with liquid detergent, applied with a pump sprayer to the deck. I make my mix a lot stronger for decks than siding. My customers are always happy to have the mildew and mold gone but are pleasantly surprised to see the gray gone too. I have been reading about brightners, NOAH, sodium hydroxide, and oxalic acid for decks. My question is for a pressure treated gray dirty deck should i be applying anything else to the deck? After all my reading I am still unsure why I would use a deck brightner or Oxalic Acid. I do get furries when I am done but not all the time. I would appreciate any advise. I work in New Jersey by the shore.

I just got a job with a small bue/gray composite deck. The owner believes its Trek. The have several small to medium size rust stains from their outdoor furniture. I would like to know what people are using to get rust off composite decks. The Trek website lists the following for rust stains: Use a cleaning product containing oxalic or phosphoric acid, also know as Deck Brightener, to lighten or remove rust or dirt. Product may need to sit on the stain for 10 – 15 minutes before rinsing.** If I were to use Oxalic acid should I treat the whole deck or just the rust stain?. Is there a mix ratio I should use? I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

Big difference from hog barns and cow barns? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I have to clean a three story pink stucco house less than a block from the beach. I haven't done a lot of stucco houses and none of them were this dirty or large. The house has dirt and algae on it. I bought Elemonator to add to my mix instead of my usual laundry detergent. For vinyl houses I use 2 gallons of SH (12.5%), splash of laundry detergent and splash of Mr. Clean rest water in 5 gallon bucket. I will be using my 4gpm belt driven machine with chem injector. I have no problem spraying three stories. I read some people using roof pumps to apply their mix because their machines dilute too much. How much SH should I use for dirty Stucco? Can I get away with downstreaming? Does anyone add F13 for Stucco and if so how much? What precautions should I take if I use it? Are there any other chemicals or tips you guys recommend? Has anyone had problems with discoloring or lightening the color with too much SH? I know to try a test spot but I want to know what to look for in advance. Some spots behind bushes I will have to use brush and pump sprayer because it is black and thick.

My buddies dad has a mahogany deck that is gray. He wants it cleaned. There is no algea, mold or mildew. I was going to use precarb then oxalic. Do I apply oxalic while deck it still wet from rinsing off precarb?

Thanks Brad.

I have a 4 GPM, 3.5 PSI belt driven cold water machine. I currently use 100ft of hose (two 50 foot hoses) for my jobs. I see guys with trailer rigs that have well over 100 foot of hose on reels. How long of a hose can you use before it stops drawing soap? Or is there formula to know for the size of the machine and length of hose?

I'm looking for a good replacement trigger gun and lance. I have a 3500 PSI, 4 GPM machine. Can anyone recommend a gun, wand or combo? Also a site to buy it. Thanks.

I used Naval Jelly on the rust stains and it did lighten the stain a lot. I only left it on for 3 minutes while I brushed it in. After I cleaned the entire deck with my 12% mix. I rinsed it down and did a pass with pressure. When I got done I could barely see them. I didn't even bother applying a second application to the stain.

Rod, Should I apply Phosphoric Acid to just the area of the stain or the whole deck?

I have a car wash to clean. The exterior is a lot of glass windows and gray plastic walls. The exterior walls look like painted aluminum but after a closer look and some tapping I found out they are plastic. The car wash has been there for over 8 years. So I know they can hold up to some abuse but I am concerned about my mix, SH and liquid laundry detergent. The manager said the place was power washed last year by another company. I have no idea what they used or why they didn't hire them again. I was going to use a light mix of SH and dawn. I have read some posts recommending apple blossom Dawn for windows. So I was going to use that for my mix. If anyone has some suggestions for the plastic walls I would greatly appreciate it. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures.

I don't have a ball valve. I'm just looking for a reliable gun and lance. It can be a combo or separate. I can't seem to find any reviews or recommendations online. Maybe I'm over thinking it.

Rod, Thanks for the info. I am going to give it a try on my next deck it I can.