Brush vs Electric or Gas Pressure Washer for Cleaning Deck, Siding

Posted by Gary Brown on September 12, 2005, 1:14 pm

Hi,

We are preparing our deck for staining. It is extremely dirty - about
15 years accumulation - and the previous stain long ago wore off.

In terms of final result, how does a stiff bristle brush compare with an
electric or gas pressure washer?

Thanks,
Gary

Posted by Dan Espen on September 12, 2005, 1:20 pm

> Hi,
> We are preparing our deck for staining. It is extremely dirty - about
> 15 years accumulation - and the previous stain long ago wore off.
> In terms of final result, how does a stiff bristle brush compare with an
> electric or gas pressure washer?

Brush: hard work, doesn't clean in cracks too well, need to use detergent.

Pressure washer: easy and fast, cleans everywhere, just water needed.

Posted by Gary Brown on October 14, 2005, 4:51 pm

>> We are preparing our deck for staining.
>> In terms of final result, how does a stiff bristle brush compare with an
>> electric or gas pressure washer?

> Pressure washer: easy and fast, cleans everywhere, just water needed.To
> follow up:

I purchased a cheap electric power washer form Home Depot
($99.95 on sale). Chose this one because it is small and comes
with a storage shelf. It did a good enough job that we could use
semitransparent stain rather than solid as originally planned. We
are very happy with the results.

Thanks,
Gary

Posted by Randy and Ann on September 12, 2005, 10:07 pm

Hi, I asked the group about this a few months ago and got some good
advice.
First I want you to know that I had a similar issue and my deck turned out
great
(thanks to everyone for the advice). A few pointers are:
- I tried to use just a scrub brush and the deck cleaner from Home Depot, it
turned
out half decent with allot of work however, not really good enough to stain
and seal.
I ended up power washing it & then it turned out very well.
- Note that power washing can and will cause damage to your deck if your not
REAL
careful. You can do a basic search on deck cleaning or deck refurbishing on
one of the
search engines and find some useful info. Suggest you research this and use
Consumer
Reports statistics for the type of stain and/or sealer you use. Also
wouldn't try to save
any money on the stain/sealer; get the good stuff.
- Last thing be careful with the siding, it's a PITA to get off. I used gas
& it worked
pretty well (didn't get much on it thankfully) and make sure you wear old
clothes that
you can throw away afterwards. Good luck.

Randy

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