Prompted by the window cleaning thread,
I think I need a pressure washer. Do I? I have a yard that's kinda... green. It's mostly concrete and it was slippery as greased squirrel shit in winter / spring until everything dried out.
I have half a memory that this is a long-debated topic and whilst the obvious answer is a Karcher I think the STW consensus was that this is <cough>Dyson</uncough> overpriced shit and the correct solution is... uh. Something blue?
Help me, Singletrack-1 Kenobi, you're my only hope.
.
yes.
don't drop it off the roof though.
Kranzle !
Aldi pressure washer is ok. Best thing ive found for green horribleness is Patio Magic. Saves a lot of time as it does the work for you. Of course, it does stop you from drawing 'humorous' images with the pressure washer... 🤣
Patio Magic + 10
Pressure washer is still good for cleaning the BBQ
Don't buy a Karcher. Can't reccomend anything else but certainly don't buy a Karcher. Expensive for something that is likely to fail after a few uses. No idea if they still use a plastic outlet from the pump but they have a history of craking in a short space of time, pissing water all over the electrics. Why they though a light plastic part for something coming out at high pressure was good idea I don't know. Definite safety issue.
Dont buy a Karcher
Low rent plastic tat made in china trading off a name built up over devades of quality, now rinsing customers
Titan from screw fix
Not just because i sell them, i also see what comes back
Kranzle 3 x the money, built for everyday use
Bosch and Nilfisk middle of the road
But for around £150 the Titans spec well, patio head, rotary nozzle, decent length string, good water vols, high pressure. If its an hour a week should last years.
I have a Lidl one for doing our deck, patio and drive and its fine. I would advise getting one with a patio attachment if you can. Makes the job so much quicker and easier. Also leaves you less to clean up surrounding the area afterwards.
This sort of thing -
Kranzle
Brilliant bits of kit
I bought a Karcher recently from Screwfix after borrowing a mate's to try on our dirty patio area.
I only used it on a small area, but it cleared it up amazingly. This was with a patio cleaning attachment using just water.
I was looking at Nilfisk ones, but most places had very little stock of anything so ended up paying about £125 for a little Karcher one.
It does feel a little flimsy, but for basic domestic use it should be OK.
I spent a while looking around at some of the 'smaller' brands & it seemed like there was a real lack of spares for them. Plenty of people moaning that you can't get replacement bits for the Titan ones etc. which swayed me towards the more well known names.
Nilfisk is the blue one you had in your mind. I believe that they have metal pump bodies, as opposed to plastic ones in karchers which can crack
I've a Nilfisk for 5 years or so and it's decent
Karcher K4 here. Bought several years ago when Homebase were knocking them out for £75 (thanks whoever put the PSA on here!).
I've had to repair the insulation on the power cable but otherwise no issues. I always put it away so it doesn't freeze, try to drain the water out after use and don't run the pump without water flowing.
I recently bought the patio cleaning attachment and am amazed at how good it is, I really didn't think it would actually be so powerful.
Got a Kärcher which broke. Any ideas who can fix it?
Don’t buy a Karcher. Can’t reccomend anything else but certainly don’t buy a Karcher. Expensive for something that is likely to fail after a few uses.
Dont buy a Karcher
Conversely I have a Karcher K2.311 that I bought in 2012 from their refurb store (for a bargain £75 with a load of attachments) that is still going strong with no failures on any parts at all. Used for cleaning our drive, patio, decking, cars and garden furniture so it gets quite a bit of use.
Nilfisk and one of the spinning patio cleaners that they sell. Works way better than I ever expected it to.
Nilfisk and one of the spinning patio cleaners that they sell. Works way better than I ever expected it to.
Interesting, the patio cleaner that came with mine was rubbish, or perhaps the patio was too grimy when I tried it. I usually just blast it with the jet.
They're handy things.
I have a Karcher k6 or something from many years ago and, other than the auto-stop thing not working after a short period, it's been fine.
Patio cleaning attachment is good but best used in conjunction with Algon or similar afterwards.
Don't Buy a Karcher
I've got a Karcher k4, great bit of kit, until it broke.
There is a plastic elbow that connects the water outlet to the hose. I think this breaks on every Karcher that is used in anger.
The replacement bit is metal and is readily available. Why the **** they don't just build it with the metal part in the first place is beyond me.
The hose keeps detaching it self from the replacement metal part, but this might be user error from me installing it. But if it has been built properly in the first place it wouldn't be an issue.
Don't buy a Karcher
I'm happy with my Nilfisk. Only used once or twice a year for 6 years but no issues. No idea what model but was about £75 with the patio cleaning head. Previously borrowed the mother in laws Karcher and that was crap in comparison.
For 'green' I'd recommend starting with a coating of "Wet and Forget" beofre buying a pressure washer though. You'll put it on, think it's crap and doing nothing, then a few weeks later suddenly realise the algae has gone.
I have a muc off one, it looks like a pink madolorian jet pack, that's all I care about!!
I need to borrow my brother-in-laws pressure washer again; what do we recommend to spray on it after to keep it looking nice?
Having also been a victim of the slippy green concrete yard I got a Karcher. Cheapest one they do, I think it was about £50 from John Lewis (2yr warranty). That was the best part of 8 years ago and it still works fine.
If you do jetwash the yard though make sure you put some sealer or something down otherwise you'll end up doing again next summer. Don't ask me how I know this.
I didn't know patio sealer was a thing....!
Nilfisk Core 140 here. No round patio cleaner attachment with mine, but then I didn’t want one. The “rough” nozzle does an amazing jog on concrete.
Nilfisk is the blue one you had in your mind.
It absolutely is, yes.
Thanks all, sorry for radio silence in replying thus far but I've had a long day.
Oh, and I got some gloop, probably after the same STW conversation, I've just not used it yet. Lemme check.
"HG Algae and Mould Remover". I'm 99% sure this is your doing, STW denizens.
Kranzle
GREAT SCOTT, how much?!
They might well be market leaders but I think my next question is, "which Nilfisk?"
I have a Nilfisk 120 that's done well for me, car cleaning and occasional garden stuff, path blasting, errr removing oil from the driveway after oil changes... It's been really good, it lives outside all year round and doesn't seem to mind thta either. I'm going to have to replace the gun now as it's leaking but can't complain.
I don't have the patio cleaner thing, I think probably I should have got one (they're expensive to buy but if you get it with the washer they're not), I've done enough of that sort of thing to justify it... But I quite like doing it manually with the normal gun.
Pressure washer, don't use it on concrete or brick on a regular basis as it will rip the top surface off exposing the aggregate underneath. My advice after years of using one and now regretting it (Bosch for what it's worth) is borrow one, clean the concrete once and then stay on top of the algal treatment. I've recently discovered Wet and Forget which seems to work.
PS I really enjoy pressure washing stuff, it's just the long term consequences end up with wrecked patios, my rather expensive terracotta effect concrete tiles looks a former shadow of their selves and now need replacing.
Titan from screwfix, new last weekend has been very useful. Seems well made. about £150.
it will rip the top surface off
Aye, likely sage advice. Back at the old house I used a cheap one gifted to me and it was lifting the tarmac before it was lifting the moss.
That looks a brilliant deal tbh. It's only marginally down on power compared to the model I have, I doubt it'd make much difference in the real world.
Once you’ve finished messing round cleaning the patio, your next purchase is a foam cannon, makes a mediocre task of cleaning the car that marginally bit more interesting 😀
So now I'm here.
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Nilfisk-128471286-Pressure-Washer-Control/dp/B08KYJWQPV
Any compelling reason to go up or down a model, or stick with Last Year's Colours refurbs?
The only advise I can give is defo get one with the winding in/out onboard hose storage.
My old washer has a loose hose and its a PITA ... was think about a new one, how about this ?
It’s only marginally down on power compared to the model I have, I doubt it’d make much difference in the real world.
I have a 120bar one but after seeing how much cleaner a slightly more powerful one got my car when at the garage for a service, I'll be buying a more powerful one like the Nilfisk one that is 145bar.
If more pressure is king ... I'm struggling to see past this.
Doesn't look as neat and tidy as the blue ones, but gets good reviews and comes with patio cleaner.
If I was in the market for another my money would be on this with the introductory offer longer hose and patio scrubber foe extra £15
One thing to bear in mind with these is the storage space you have.
In my original post I mentioned borrowing one from a mate. I think his is a fairly old Karcher K3.
When I bought mine, I thought they had give me the wrong box, as it was so small. And once it was assembled, it is indeed much smaller than my mates K3.
It takes up so much less space in the garage than his one did & if I want to move it, it is so light to shove from one place to another. His one is no doubt more robust, but it weighs a bloody ton & takes up a lot of space.
Finally - just choose one & get it bought - I did exactly the same thing going round in circles looking at every option, examining the stats & being frozen with indecision
In the end, the lack of availability meant that my hand was forced to an extent & to be honest it was quite a relief to have the choice taken away from me!
I've not killed my £50 B&Q job yet (2 years), the one before that was a similarly cheap own brand job that only died after about a 6 years because I'd left it over winter without draining, it iced up and cracked the internal tank (still sort of worked TBF, just leaked a lot).
Karcher are toss, I borrowed a mates (6 month old) Karcher inbetween and the motor just ate itself (the comms went to shit, started sparking and ate the brushes (I had to open it up and look), and that basically finished it off. I ended up just buying him a brand new one, so it was a rather expensive 'borrow'...
I'd rather stick to cheap own brand jobs (and never borrow any power tools ever again)...
One thing to bear in mind with these is the storage space you have.
It's likely to live in the cellar but that's a point,
I assume these things are all fairly weatherproof? Ie, there's no reason (other than the wrath of my OH) why it can't just live in the back yard year-round?
Frost is the big enemy of pressure washers. Any water in the internals will expand and crack pumps and pipes. It is not always easy to tell if you have got all of the water out. Best kept in a shed as a minimum
Cool, ta. So it's not gonna rust, rot or otherwise die if it's left out overnight. 👍
I've gone with this like the winding in/out hose
Added a car kit and medium patio cleaner for £212 all in.
They do one with the power control on the handle, but it's a bluetooth system and needs batteries in the handle, that seems a complication too far for me.
edit ... Sorry C was typing as you posted above, didn't mean to be one upmanship
👍
As you say, exactly what I just bought only with the gimmicky handle thing. Figured I'll add toys later if I feel a need.