Thursday, January 31, 2008

Pressure Washing Buildings

Pressure washing buildings you may need to work out of a lift. There are a few different type of lifts. But the two main ones you may use are the scissor lift and a boom lift. Boom lifts go much higher than the scissor lifts. I have even seen boom lifts with pressure washers integrated into the lift themselves. With using a lift it gets you up and close to the surface you are pressure washing.
A lot of buildings may be built of brick. Pressure washing brick requires you to be close to the surface you are cleaning. Especially if you are restoring the surface, not just "cleaning" it. Restoring brick, stone, sandstone or cement surfaces you will be using a acid based restoration cleaner. With this type of cleaning, usually the chemical is applied thru a pump sprayer (Tip: use all plastic pump sprayers. metal parts erode quickly). When the chemical you are using has set and worked you will need pressure to remove the layer of dirt and grime that have accumulated over the life of the building, which could be 10 to 100 years, all depending the age of the building.
There are a lot of variables into pressure washing a building. It is not for the inexperienced. A lot of costly damage can occur if the right procedures are not followed. Also if you are afraid of heights, you may not look into building washing or restoration. As you can see in the picture being up 120 feet, 8 stories, is not for the faint hearted.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Unloaders


The purpose of an unloader, when you shut your gun off, the water needs a place to circulate or the pump will build up pressure until something blows. It also helps to regulate the output pressure.