When it comes to cleaning the exterior of your house, few options are better than a pressure washer. Your home’s siding generally requires a thorough cleaning at least once a year due to an accumulation of grime, dust, and dirt. Besides making the house look dirty, this build-up can attract insects as well as mold and dust mites.
Pressure washers are usually available in either electric or gas-powered versions. Both are effective; however, the gas-powered option is best for a two-story house. This is because it is easier to transport and it can exert higher pressure to clean the upper floors.
There are countless pressure washers currently on the market that are available in a wide range of prices. While most of them are relatively effective at cleaning, not all of them will have sufficient capacity to clean the second story of your home. This requires more power and higher pressure, which implies that a better machine is needed for this purpose.
Why Use a Pressure Washer?
Over time, every house accumulates dirt and grime on its exterior surface. If this is not cleaned on a yearly basis, it can start to build up to highly undesirable levels. With a build-up of grime and dirt often comes an environment rife with vermin, mold, and insects.
While manual cleaning is certainly an option, this takes considerable effort to achieve, especially if you are hoping to achieve a high degree of cleanliness for the exterior surfaces of your home.
Besides being extremely time-consuming, manually cleaning your house’s siding can be an extremely physically demanding endeavor, requiring significant manual labor to achieve the desired results.
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By using a pressure washer, you are able to significantly reduce the amount of time taken to clean the siding as well as the amount of effort required. The process of dusting, scrubbing, and hosing down the siding of your house is reduced to a simple act of pressure-spraying.
A pressure sprayer uses high-pressure water to remove any dirt, grime, dust, mold, and even loose paint on the house’s surface in a fraction of the time that would ordinarily be required to achieve the same results manually.
Types of Pressure Washer
Pressure washers are primarily available in one of two options. The first option is gas, while the other is electric. Both have their advantages and disadvantages; however, electric pressure washers are not best suited for use with a double-story house.
Firstly, because electric pressure washers make use of a power cable in order to function, the cable itself can present difficulties when moving the pressure washer around to clean the outside of your house.
Electric pressure washers tend to produce a lower pressure level when compared to gas options, and so this also makes them a less suitable option for use in a double-story house.
Gas pressure washers, on the other hand, do not require a cable, and they are equipped with their own high-powered motor. This also gives them the ability to produce high levels of pressure, sufficient to clean the second story of your house.
How To Choose A Pressure Washer
In order to find a pressure washer that performs sufficiently in cleaning the siding of your house, your best point of reference – besides knowing that a gas washer will ultimately help you to achieve the desired result as opposed to the electric option – is the pressure output of the machine, measured in pounds per square inch (psi), as well as the gallons per minute (GPM).
PSI is a unit measurement of pressure that is established by one pound of force that is applied to an area measuring one square inch. The gallons per minute (GPM) is another indicator and describes how many gallons of water flow from the pressure washer per minute of operation time.
If a pressure washer features a higher psi level as well as a higher GPM, it will inevitably do a better and quicker job of cleaning what is required.
The type of pressure washer that is required for a two-story home is one that is heavy-duty and able to deliver high levels of pressure. The minimum pressure required for cleaning the siding of a two-story house is 2800 psi, with a minimum GPM rating of 3.
Here are some excellent options for pressure washers that work great for 2 story houses…
Generac 7019 OneWash Gas Powered Pressure Washer
This pressure washer is a great option for a two-story house due to its high-power motor and gas operation. The engine is 196cc, and the device comes standard with a 25ft hose that is sufficiently lengthy to clean the sides of a two-story building.
Other features include four pressure settings as well as a ½ gallon detergent tank that makes the process of getting rid of the dirt that much easier—an added benefit of this device is its easy assembly and ergonomically designed spray gun.
Check its current price on Amazon.
Simpson MSH3125 MegaShot Gas Pressure Washer
This reasonably-priced option features a Honda GC190 engine that provides more than enough power to wash the outside of a two-story house. Strength and durability are primary features in this cleaner, thanks to its welded steel frame, ensuring it will last you for years to come.
Despite its heavy-duty construction, this pressure washer is surprisingly easy to move around, and its powerful engine and ergonomically-designed spray gun ensure a highly effective purchase.
Check the current price on Amazon.
Craftsman CMXGWAS021022 Gas Pressure Washer
Another heavy-duty pressure washer, the Crafstman, also features a 25 ft hose that ensures you’ll be able to reach the upper levels of your double-story home with ease. An added benefit of this washer is its high-powered engine that is simultaneously noise-free.
There are four different spray tips that come standard with this pressure washer, thus ensuring you are able to customize the spray tips according to your needs. There is a soap system built into the washer that allows you to use a soap solution directly in the device.
Check the current price on Amazon.
Conclusion
Whichever option you decide to purchase for pressure-washing the sides of your home, you can be assured that a gas pressure washer will achieve the desired results, especially when compared to attempting a manual clean of your house’s exterior siding.