Pressure Washing

[Mario Santiago]

Any idea on what kind of specs to look for in a pressrue washer? I wonder if one from Home Depot or Lowe's is sufficient or should I consider a commercial grade instead?

Thanks in advance.

[Woody]

I don't own one myself, but if I were buying one to make money with......

Biggest flow (like 4 or 5 gallons a minute).
Serious pressure (3,000 PSI or more).
Personally, I would opt for a version with a burner to heat the water up to 200 degrees fahrenheit. Also look for one that doesn;t need electric, otherwise you are dragging around a generator too.

Something like THIS one.

For a few hundred more, they offer the same unit with a Kohler engine.

Woody

[Blake]

3,000 psi or more

[cjm2783]

everything depends on how much you're going to use it. everyone talks about the big wahers, but if not going to use it that much, a 2600 would get you by.
i bought mine from home depot, a 2600psi. i've only used it about 5 times since march. i've made decent money with it.
today i stopped at a gas station and gave the owner a price to clean around the pumps. i'm hitting up all the nice resturants in the next few weeks, trying trying to get the contract on the dumper areas.

i say if you use it once a week, get a 3500, but watch yourself on siding, that will rip paint and other materials off.

cjm

[Scott]

Any idea on what kind of specs to look for in a pressrue washer? I wonder if one from Home Depot or Lowe's is sufficient or should I consider a commercial grade instead?

Thanks in advance.

it really depends on your application.

GPM is always an important factor. For guys/gals that are running a power washing company, 4gpm's is the min. If you're going to offer concrete cleaning; driveways, walkways, etc... you'll need hot water and a surface cleaner.
HD has a 4gpm 3000psi unit which will cover most of your cold water applications.
If you find your niche' in wood resto; decking, fences, gazebos, etc... use cold water, up to 500/600 psi and a very board tip plus the proper chems.

[TRANSMAN]

Pressure washer Terms

To get an idea of the cleaning ability of a pressure washer ,you should multiply the (psi) X (gpm) rateing of the pressure washer.This tells the ultimate cleaning ability. I found the higher (GPM) flow rates make the washer more versatile and is more important then the max (PSI). A 4000 psi unit pumping at 4 GPM would have a rateing of 16000 cleaning units. A 2000 (PSI) unit flowing 2 (GPM) (GALLONS PER MINUITE) would only have a cleaning power of 4000 cleaning units.Four of the smaller units wouldnt clean a driveway as well as the one larger unit. The larger (GPM) flow units with high (PSI) rated washers can always be adjusted down by turning the adjustment knob! If you plan on useing it commercially it`s worth buying the largest unit available, and adjusting it down for sensitive cleaning jobs. For blasting concrete clean the high (PSI) X (GPM) machines will make the job much easier and quicker. Home depot does carry many machines that may or may not be acceptable for commercial use. Most of the ones they carry have honda engines but they are not equal just because they have the Honda sticker on them. The lower end units have "honda GC" engines that are for "general consumer" use.They are the overhead cam engine and Honda specifically (DOES NOT) recommend them for commercial use. Look for the overhead valve "GX" engine which is their commercial grade engine. The GC powered units that run up to about 2500 PSI at 2.5 GPM, have pumps that i`ve been told are designed to last around 200 hrs. The GX powered units usually have a much better pump that is designed to last 1000 hrs or so and are easily rebuildable.. The main thing to do is to get the highest cleaning unit powered washer possible by compareing the PSI X GPM = number. You will pay more ,but it will make you a lot more money in a lot less time if you plan to do this for a liveing. Good luck with whatever decision you make. SINCERELY,TRANS.

[coastallawncare]

make sure it has a cat pump