Did I make the right choice?

[fronty 14]

I purchased a 2550psi 2.3 gallon Troybuilt pressure washer from Lowes. It has a Briggs and Stratton engine. I want to clean my drive way, fence, siding, etc... with it. I know my concrete will not look perfect when done, but I can't justify spending the money to buy an industrial grade pressure washer. Well, there was another Troybuilt 2500psi with a Honda engine that was only $20 more. I guess I'm having buyers remorse right now. Also, for about $100 more I could have bought a 3000 PSI w/ Briggs in Stratton engine. Which one of these would you recommend or should I find a better deal somewhere?

All of these are at Lowes and are Troybuilt.

2550psi Briggs and Stratton engine $279

2500psi Honda Engine $299

3000psi Briggs and Stratton engine $389

3000psi Honda Engine $449

The reason I am buying from Lowes is because I have a 10 percent off coupon. I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Also, are Honda engines a lot better? Is the difference between a 2500 and 3000psi washer significantly noticeable? Worth the extra money??? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just need to know what to look for.

[seymore 90]

Those prices are pretty good but just try to get the highest GPM pump you can.when you are cleaning wood you want to use the right chems so you use less pressure.LET THE CHEMS DO THE WORK!!

The higher GPM will let you rinse faster especially on concrete.You might want to look at buying an x-jet to wash your house.You can wash most of if not all of it from the ground....The X-JET long range nozzle is now available as the M-JET nozzle. The M-Jet has all the features of the X-JET except it comes with a variable nozzle on the outlet of the nozzle. The M-Jet is to be used on jobs where the zero degree impact of the orig

Bob has great chems too..Get your jobs cleaner and done fast with our quality line of pressure washing chemicals! -

[fronty 14]

Here is the one I bought.

Troy-Bilt 2550 PSI 2.3 GPM

I was thinking about getting this one for only $20 more.

Troy-bilt 2500 PSI 2.3 GPM with Honda Engine

2500 PSI 2.3 GPM Gas Pressure Washer

Here is a 3000 PSI 2.7 GPM with Briggs and Stratton for $389

3000 PSI 2.7 GPM Gas Pressure Washer

Here is a 3000 PSI 2.7 GPM with Honda engine for $449

Troy-Bilt Generators and Pressure Washers - Pressure Washers

Can someone give me any recommendations?

Thanks...

[seymore 90]

Here is the one I bought.

Troy-Bilt 2550 PSI 2.3 GPM

I"m not sure you can get a surface cleaner to run on a machine that small but you would be better off renting a surface cleaner if possible.It will make your life a lot easier than using the wand to clean your concrete.Check with Lowes they probally rent them??

Here is the surface cleaner below..

[Jarrod 22]

Is this just for you doing work around the house instead of hiring a contractor?

[seymore 90]

Is this just for you doing work around the house instead of hiring a contractor?

He sounded like a H.O to me Jarrod...Are surface cleaners easy to handle for a H.O.?? I figured with a weak P/washer it might not be so bad? I'm only wood so i've never touched a surface cleaner.

[PLD 14]

Assuming this is a HO:

No matter what the guy at HD told you, you're not set up to do a house unless it's a one story. Your chem injector will not draw at a useful rate unless you use 12.5% bleach, which you cannot buy at HD. If your house is one story, you would do better with a garden sprayer and some good chems. And if the word "ladder" entered into your thought process at any time, you do not understand how to clean a house and you are begging to get hurt and/or cause damage to your home.

You can do your driveway, buy it'll take you a full 10 hour day for a normal drive. For that same driveway, I'll charge about $200. If $200 is worth 10 hours of hard labor, press on.

I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth. My best customers are people who just dropped $3-500 on a bigbox pressure washer. They called a pro and realized that they could buy a HD unit for what I wanted. The bought one, took it home, and realized that their machine and skills were inadequate to clean such a large project. Then they called me and almost NEVER complain the price. I LOVE to see a new HD pressure washer in the garage when I run a quote. Quick and easy sale.

Sadly, I think you just wasted $300...

[MMI Enterprises 289]

H.O. 'ers should get what engine they like and the highest gpm they can afford without thinking psi..Then again.. if they just think psi we keep more work via the machine never getting used or wood damage... where's my balance beam?

p.s. think cuzco had much better deal today when I walked through testing their food samples...

[PLD 14]

He sounded like a H.O to me Jarrod...Are surface cleaners easy to handle for a H.O.?? I figured with a weak P/washer it might not be so bad? I'm only wood so i've never touched a surface cleaner.

A 2500/2.3 machine won't spin a surface cleaner... Well, it might spin an 8"er with 1.0 nozzles...

[seymore 90]

A 2500/2.3 machine won't spin a surface cleaner... Well, it might spin an 8"er with 1.0 nozzles...

Cool thanks Phillip that's what i was looking for :cool:

I've had Adian "AC NEWGUY" working with me on some staining jobs.I'm converting him from RS to the BGA he did say the BGA doesn't stink like the RS.I'll have to try using his surface cleaner to see how they work.

Did you sell all of your equipment?

[John Orr 206]

All of the machines you mentioned will clean all that you mentioned - it will just take a while. Hopefully, your learning curve will be short and not entail too much damage to your home.

Even though these machines are not "contractor grade", they have sufficient power to both clean and cause damage. For example it can: chip painted trim; score vinyl siding (leaves wiggly marks all over); scar wood by stopping mid-board and while probably not powerful enough to damage you driveway, it is almost impossible to clean concrete evenly without leaving streaks - and an average driveway will take you hours to clean.

My customers pay .10 per square foot (total living space). I actually have a coupon in the phone book(s) that allows for a free driveway (takes me about 20 minutes) cleaning for first-time customers. I would imagine that you can find a qualified (read licensed and insured) contractor in your are that would charge similar prices. Many of my customers own pressure washers and have tried to wash their own homes in the past.

As I said, its not that you CAN'T do it yourself, but if you do a cost/benefit analysis, you will most likely come to the conclusion that it makes more sense to hire a professional. If you conclude that doing it yourself is the way to go, and assuming you have a one-story home (I would NEVER recommend a homeowner pressure wash while on a ladder. There is a "kick" when you pull the trigger that will try to knock you off!) buy some Jomax at Lowes, mix according to instructions, and use the downstreamer (the plastic tube hanging off your machine) to apply the chemicals to your home and rinse. Stay as far away from the siding (It is vinyl, right?) as possible. Rinse, rinse, rinse - especially the windows.

[fronty 14]

Yes, I am a homeowner. I looked over some pictures on this site, and I didn't really expect results anywhere near that. I tried cleaning things today with it. I think I did damage my fence a little bit, but it still looks clean. I just tried it on a couple of boards where no one could really see it. I was using a short up and down motion and I believe it left some scarring on it. I then switched to a sweeping motion and it worked better. I did by some chemicals, but it uses quite a bit relatively quickly. I was wondering if I was supposed to dilute it before sticking the intake tube into it. I know you guys probably do exceptional work that I couldn't accomplish on this system. However, I am happy with what it achieves. The only thing is that it takes a while to clean things. I am just using the 25 degree tip, but I have to be really close to the concrete to get the dirt out (no chemicals. I may end up hiring a professional, but I would still like to have one of these for maintenance. It makes cleaning the algae out of my pond a snap.

Well, what do you guys suggest for a homeowner? Which one of these is the best fit? I mean these things can't be worthless or they would have stopped selling them due to the amount of returns. People probably don't know what actual results they could get from a pro, but I'm sure these things do something.

[fronty 14]

Oh yeah, I have a one story house with wood siding. I'm going to do more research on how to clean it before I attempt it. Any suggestions on a good how to site?

[seymore 90]

There is nothing wrong with you trying to clean your own wood or concrete.It's not that hard if you know to use the right chems so you use less pressure on wood.

You never pull the trigger while pointing at the wood.You also keep the trigger pulled as you move from the top down staying 6 to 12" away.

What chems are you using to clean the fence?

[seymore 90]

Oh yeah, I have a one story house with wood siding. I'm going to do more research on how to clean it before I attempt it. Any suggestions on a good how to site?

I take it it's all painted wood siding?

You should really look at the X-Jet for cleaning your house it can shoot up 25-30' in the air with a adjustable tip for low pressure... you can find it here....The X-JET long range nozzle is now available as the M-JET nozzle. The M-Jet has all the features of the X-JET except it comes with a variable nozzle on the outlet of the nozzle. The M-Jet is to be used on jobs where the zero degree impact of the orig

[seymore 90]

Yes, I am a homeowner. I looked over some pictures on this site, and I didn't really expect results anywhere near that. I tried cleaning things today with it. I think I did damage my fence a little bit, but it still looks clean. I just tried it on a couple of boards where no one could really see it. I was using a short up and down motion and I believe it left some scarring on it.

Does your fence look like this?

You can make it look like this real easy

[fronty 14]

There is nothing wrong with you trying to clean your own wood or concrete.It's not that hard if you know to use the right chems so you use less pressure on wood.

You never pull the trigger while pointing at the wood.You also keep the trigger pulled as you move from the top down staying 6 to 12" away.

What chems are you using to clean the fence?

I was just using some all purpose cleaner from Lowes. The lady was trying to sell me simple green cleaner. I was holding it about 3 inches away. I guess that is why I caused the damage. Will I be fine with this Briggs and Stratton engine. I have heard people say good things about Honda engines and it is only $20 more.

[fronty 14]

Yeah, my fence looks like that, but it is just pressure treated fence boards. My house is painted wood siding. I believe it is cedar. It was originally stained, but the previous owner painted it.

[fronty 14]

Can you tell me more about this x jet? I'm all about making the job easier.

[seymore 90]

I was just using some all purpose cleaner from Lowes. The lady was trying to sell me simple green cleaner. I was holding it about 3 inches away. I guess that is why I caused the damage. Will I be fine with this Briggs and Stratton engine. I have heard people say good things about Honda engines and it is only $20 more.

Chems from Lowes are not any better than bleach and some soap and will save you $$!

You can mix 2 gallons of bleach and 3 gallons of water and a few good squirts of dish soap in a pump up sprayer instead of injecting it.The p/washer dillutes your chems and it would help you better to use a pump up.

Spray the fence and let it dwell for 10 min or so keep it wet with water.Then p/wash off evenly it does help if you move torwards the dirty sections so you are rinsing the wood fibers at the same time. "make sense"?

[PLD 14]

Cool thanks Phillip that's what i was looking for :cool:

I've had Adian "AC NEWGUY" working with me on some staining jobs.I'm converting him from RS to the BGA he did say the BGA doesn't stink like the RS.I'll have to try using his surface cleaner to see how they work.

Did you sell all of your equipment?

Adrian's a great guy. He will be sorely missed here in Atl.

Yep, sold it all.

As for surface cleaner sizing, I find that about 5" per gpm is the upper limit of usefulness.

[seymore 90]

Adrian's a great guy. He will be sorely missed here in Atl.

Yep, sold it all.

As for surface cleaner sizing, I find that about 5" per gpm is the upper limit of usefulness.

YEah he is great guy and his biz has been picking up which is good.He's pretty happy i can sell him stain for 18.50 gal too!

His first job with me was an 2Ksqft arbor that made for a long day.He then realized why so many guys here hate to work on them! :D We only used 400 ft of plastic!

I'm glad you were able to sell all your equipment :cool:

[PLD 14]

BTW, if Fronty is still reading this; I'm not trying to do a sales job on you, but make the point that you cannot dig a swimming pool with a teaspoon. And the home centers like lowes make a living marketing teaspoons to would be pool owners. I was deadly serious about people like you being my best customers. Obviously, you are smart or you wouldn't be here. And obviously you're not cheap, because you just dropped $300 on a cleaning tool. Once you have done this a few times, damaged a few things, and seen first hand the labor and expense involved, you will have a new appreciation for why people who own PWers still hire pros.

You mentioned that your unit used alot of chemicals? That's another reason it pays to hire it out. To do the job right does take alot of chemicals. Once you back out the chems, the price of a professional cleaning isn't nearly as expensive as it seems.

FWIW, because of a career change I got out of the business this spring and sold all my equipment. In the future, I will be calling on a local pro to do my own house. Why? The right tools are too expensive to keep laying around for an annual cleaning and the HD stuff is a waste of money.

You asked how home depot can keep selling PW'ers? Because every year there are new home owners who haven't bought one.

[Jarrod 22]

Yes, I am a homeowner. I looked over some pictures on this site, and I didn't really expect results anywhere near that. I tried cleaning things today with it. I think I did damage my fence a little bit, but it still looks clean. I just tried it on a couple of boards where no one could really see it. I was using a short up and down motion and I believe it left some scarring on it. I then switched to a sweeping motion and it worked better. I did by some chemicals, but it uses quite a bit relatively quickly. I was wondering if I was supposed to dilute it before sticking the intake tube into it. I know you guys probably do exceptional work that I couldn't accomplish on this system. However, I am happy with what it achieves. The only thing is that it takes a while to clean things. I am just using the 25 degree tip, but I have to be really close to the concrete to get the dirt out (no chemicals. I may end up hiring a professional, but I would still like to have one of these for maintenance. It makes cleaning the algae out of my pond a snap.

Well, what do you guys suggest for a homeowner? Which one of these is the best fit? I mean these things can't be worthless or they would have stopped selling them due to the amount of returns. People probably don't know what actual results they could get from a pro, but I'm sure these things do something.

Take it back to the store and hire a good contractor. That's the best advice I can give you.

[Jarrod 22]

He sounded like a H.O to me Jarrod...Are surface cleaners easy to handle for a H.O.?? I figured with a weak P/washer it might not be so bad? I'm only wood so i've never touched a surface cleaner.

Surface cleaners are really easy to use, but like Phillip said, that unit won't run one.

[seymore 90]

Surface cleaners are really easy to use, but like Phillip said, that unit won't run one.

Cool Thanks Jarrod :cool:

That machine did sound kinda weak but hey he got it cheap ;)