Caving in to pressure
Cobwebs under the eaves? Paint flaking or oxidizing? Grit packed into the walkway’s textured brick? Maybe the answer is a pressure washer.
This outdoor vacuum cleaner can make a patio sparkle in minutes, and its power, augmented when needed by a detergent solution, blasts away layers of dirt and grime. If used efficiently, it can be a great labor saver, but it’s nowhere as convenient as a Hoover.
It took me a long time to understand just how badly I needed one. A weekly constitutional with a broom and dustpan kept my concrete respectable. Occasionally, I’d deep clean with a spray nozzle.
I had little interest in or knowledge of power washers until I started shopping in the Northern Tool & Equipment Co. catalog -- the L.L. Bean of mechanical devices. It sells sandblasters, sprayers, air compressors, forklifts and log splitters, just to cover some of the more easily identifiable items. I used it to pick out some hydraulic gear for my tractor, the sort of thing not readily available in L.A. But I soon learned that the catalog has an insidious way of making me need things I didn’t even know existed.
One part of the catalog called me back after my first cover-to-cover reading. It was the 16-page section on pressure washers and their accessories. The possibilities ranged from a 5-horsepower Honda, discounted to $399.99, to a 25-horsepower Kohler V-Twin with a 600,000 Btu heater for a mere $9,999.99. These babies can pump water through a pinhole at the end of a wand at 2,400 to 3,000 pounds per square inch, or psi, as tool people say.
Most of them were clearly destined for farms, factories or fairs. But one page was devoted to plastic-body canister types that were small enough to be toted by hand and stowed in a closet. They were rated from 1,100 to 1,600 psi and priced from about $100 to $250.
Though enticing, the come-on was not yet persuasive. I could think of lots of things the pressure washer would do: wash the grime from my hub caps, blast the oxidization off my boat, prep the house for a paint job, clean the pores of my brick walkway. It’s just that most of these jobs I’m willing to neglect for months or years on end. I want a tool that will save me time every week, not make me more likely to add another item to my weekly to-do list.
My change of heart came irrationally when I spotted a pressure washer display at the home improvement store -- how long had it been there before I noticed? Its appearance added to a growing phenomenon, the adaptation of a large, loud and expensive machine from the realm of the professional to the service of householders like me. Out of appreciation, if nothing else, I had to buy one.
My Campbell Hausfeld, purchased for $199, has a variable nozzle that adjusts from a 1/16-inch needle spray to a fan that works best at 6 to 9 inches wide. A turbo nozzle makes an oscillating pin spray, and a brush nozzle can be used for scrubbing surfaces. Its vital statistics are 1,750 psi at 1.8 gpm -- that’s gallons per minute.
Stores also sell gas machines with Briggs & Stratton or Honda engines that deliver more power at a cost. They range from $300 to $1,000 and are louder, heavier and larger.
Power is a function of pressure and volume, said Keith Price, vice president of sales and marketing for Hotsy, a manufacturer of industrial pressure washers. A pin-size strike doesn’t have a lot of impact, Price said. I suppose every homeowner who has washed down a driveway with a hose knows that intuitively.
As always, the magic is applying the correct amount of power to each job. That 1,750 psi might be inadequate for a mean problem such as a candle sun-melted deep into the decking (go for the 600,000-Btu model for that one). It might be much too strong for some materials such as flaky slate pavers. The fan spray dissipates the power for that purpose. To push stones across the driveway, a gas model probably is best.
In a space- and water-deprived world, the better-bred electric models that sell for less than $200 are hot today.
A couple of reviews of the German-made Karcher brand have appeared on Epinions.com. One reviewer said it made washing the deck “almost fun.” The other said the unit died after several uses. I had the same experience, but mine restarted after resting for a few days. I suspect I got water in the electrical relays. Now, the pump turns on and off when it should be still.
Service is a problem with residential models, Price said. Their electric motors are rated for about 200 to 400 hours, compared with thousands of hours for an industrial machine. That should be plenty for average household use, but repairs are not economical. So a broken machine is trash.
I’ve had a few more problems with my washer. The 20-foot hose doesn’t like to uncoil without kinking and now has a couple of permanent dents. A kink-free replacement hose is about $40, which is not a good addition to a $199 machine.
Next is the double umbilical connection to electricity and water. If the electrical outlet and water faucet are far apart, the roaming distance can be next to nothing. All in all, there’s a lot of uncoiling, coiling and untangling to do. This isn’t a tool for a 10-minute workout every week.
That means I’m still pushing that broom.
Final judgment: The pressure washer earns a place at the back of the shop, behind things I regularly use and where its hose is not likely to tangle because of a light bump. There it waits for the annual or biannual all-day deep cleaning.
It’s a good reminder that desire unchecked trumps judgment.
