Cleaning around gardens?

[Brett mac 14]

Hi everybody,

First thing - what a great website! The amount of info and knowledgeable people on here is amazing.

I have just purchased my first decent pressure washer, 3000 psi at 4.5 gallons per minute (cold water) and an 18 inch whirlaway on castors.

I lay pavers for a living and thought I would expand my business by offering a cleaning service. For practise, I cleaned my own pavers at home. The whirlaway was pretty sensational but since my paving is surrounded by gardens with bark and pebble mulch, I couldn't clean right up to edge with the whirlaway and was left with a 2 inch strip around the outside perimeter. So I thought I would clean the rest with my wand, which cleaned the paving but unfortunately also ended up blasting all the dirt and mulch all over the house much to the annoyance of my wife.

The question I have is, what's the best way to clean the edges around garden beds without blasting dirt or mulch all over the clients house?

Thanks,

Brett

[Jarrod 22]

Clean from the outside in. It takes time & practice to get the finess to not make a mess.

[Jeff 232]

Like Jarrod says and you can use a white tip or roto nozzle and for debris that does get blasted around or on the house rinse with a black soap nozzle which is low pressure. Mulch can be a pian

[Brett mac 14]

Thanks for the replies.

Brilliant.

It's funny when you think about it - working from the outside makes perfect sense yet here I was trying to design some sort of special shield to attach to my wand! LOL

One other quick question if you don't mind, how do you guys get on when rinsing off a job and there is nowhere to rinse to? In other words, the water is puddling and there is no appropriate place for the dirty water to run to.

Thanks again,

Brett

[Roger Oakley 14]

Brett

Another way to stop garden dirt/mulch small stones/pebbles is to cover the area closest to paving with a strip of polythene, if you are covering plants water first if it's a hot day as they will wilt in the sun. Have a piece of timber say 4x2 about 1 metre long to hold the polythene down in place.

With regards to puddling, I have a small pump if it's that bad, run the water off on to flower beds etc.

Hope this helps.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Welcome to TGS!

Beth :groovy3:

[Mike Williamson 198]

Thanks for the replies.

Brilliant.

It's funny when you think about it - working from the outside makes perfect sense yet here I was trying to design some sort of special shield to attach to my wand! LOL

One other quick question if you don't mind, how do you guys get on when rinsing off a job and there is nowhere to rinse to? In other words, the water is puddling and there is no appropriate place for the dirty water to run to.

Thanks again,

Brett

Get some lower pressure tips. I never use the full pressure tips. 1000psi should do just fine for cutting in on concrete or brick, and will make less mess!

[Ron Musgraves 240]

just use a splash, once you get the hang of it you wont have any trouble. you wont need the splash either.

[David O'Connell Jr. 14]

Being in the "manicured" capital of the US, Palm Beach, we just do it all with the disc and then use the nozzle to push mulch back. If that doesn't work (it usually does) then a broom. We are talking about 1-2 minutes max here.

[Mike Williamson 198]

Being in the "manicured" capital of the US, Palm Beach, we just do it all with the disc and then use the nozzle to push mulch back. If that doesn't work (it usually does) then a broom. We are talking about 1-2 minutes max here.

Me too. The only places I have to use the wand to cut in are areas where there is a border to the concrete, or around the garage door, etc. If it's just a flower bed, I just overlap the surfacer 1/4" or so into the flower bad. Never had a problem yet!

[Brett mac 14]

Hi guys,

Thank you all for the great advice. As someone just starting out in pressure washing I really appreciate you all sharing your tips of the trade.

Cheers,

Brett

[john@AEC 37]

G'day Brett

As Mike says- just push the s/c wheels over the edge, it will happily ride on the brush/skirt.

or should I say

G'duy Brutt

Us Muke suys- just push the s/c whuuls uvur thu udge, ut wull huppily rude un thu brush/skurt.:lgwave:

How's the weather over that side of the puddle? good weathwer for fush & chups LOL!!!:sinister:

Cheers

John