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Will this pressure washer do....

if your just testing the water get a karcher electric see how it goes

I stacked out with mine - there about £150 and you can always just use at home if it doesn't take off

 
It depends really, I wouldn't like to offer a stand alone service with an electric washer or one of the smaller units, not a bad option if its a sideline alongside another business (tied in with garden maintainance as a rarely used/only on specific request service or something) as the amount of time it takes to get a decent result with low powered machines would leave you in the the dust from your competitors. personally I think its worth getting something that pumps a decent amount of water out as the job gets done quickly, the results are there after a single pass with the lance/FSC and you get a more consistent clean.

 
I've done quite a few pressure washing jobs over the years as a side line to Wheelie bin cleaning. I use a Honda with interpump and it's running at 12 litres per minute and around 2500psi. The real game changer for cleaning block paving etc is a Turbo Nozzle if you can't splash out on a Flat Surface Cleaner. Looking at that SIP unit I would rather buy a second hand Honda with a gearbox etc. Honda = Reliability. Something like this will do you spot on. Honda GX160 Pressure Washer

 
I really don't think you can advertise pressure washing and then turn up with a karcher. Having said that I turn up to jobs that I charge 300-400 a day for in a car.

For an entry level machine that doesn't have the worst specs. A turbo nozzle is a must for sure and at least 30m of hose is very useful so you are not moving the machine more than once a day on a job.

The advantage of buying it new is you can thrash it and then take it back if it breaks.

 
I really don't think you can advertise pressure washing and then turn up with a karcher. Having said that I turn up to jobs that I charge 300-400 a day for in a car.
For an entry level machine that doesn't have the worst specs. A turbo nozzle is a must for sure and at least 30m of hose is very useful so you are not moving the machine more than once a day on a job.

The advantage of buying it new is you can thrash it and then take it back if it breaks.
I'm not sure if the machine above has a turbo nozzle or not? It comes with five different attachments of various sprays - is one of them likely to be a turbo nozzle? Apologies for the silly questions but new to this area.

 
I'm not sure if the machine above has a turbo nozzle or not? It comes with five different attachments of various sprays - is one of them likely to be a turbo nozzle? Apologies for the silly questions but new to this area.
It won't come with one, they are always to purchase seperately. Cost is £50-£60 depending where you get it. Turbo nozzles are rated on flow rate so make sure you buy the right one.

 
Thanks guys.

Funnily enough I did my own patio with my karcher k2 premium and it come up a treat - that came with a turbo lancer (they call it a dirt blaster) and was actually surprisingly powerful.

 
Thanks guys.
Funnily enough I did my own patio with my karcher k2 premium and it come up a treat - that came with a turbo lancer (they call it a dirt blaster) and was actually surprisingly powerful.
Yes that is the same thing BUT the ones I'm talking about are bigger, I imagine it would take a very long time (days) to do a large driveway with a K2 and dirt blaster.

 
I just did a quote for a patio and some paths. I told the customer it should take me about 4-5 hours and he wouldn't believe me. Said it takes him 3 days to do it with his karcher:turd:

 
Not sure if the one I have is the same or not but I have been using the one I have for about a year and it has been fine. If using this machine to test the waters it will be fine. If it all goes well and you end up with a man size machine then you will need a new turbo nozzle anyway.

 
Thanks very much for the info - very useful and appreciated.
Think I'll take a punt and get the SIP and turbo nozzle and see how I go.
Good luck mate, not sure what your experience in washing driveways is so if you need any advice just ask. It's not just a straight forward wash sometimes. /emoticons/wink.png

 
Cheers I appreciate that - I know there will be more to it than simply turning up and blasting the **** out of stuff - although I am looking forward to that as opposed to monotonous licking of windows all day;-)

Could anyone give me a list of chems I will need on a standard setup (I guess lichen, oil stains being the pig stains to get rid of). I have done a bit of research on here and hypo looks to be the go to pre treatment. Just wondered if anything else will be needed.

I'm quite comfortable with cracking on with pathways and patios (albeit still not sure what I'm going to do about blown mortar joints i.e. repair, remove and replace, or simply advise customer upfront that there maybe some damage of some mortar is already missing)?

I'm still a bit wary of block paved driveways -don't know why but it's probably because they cost a few quid to install and don't want to balls it up! Am aware I need to return and re-sand when bone dry. Undecided as to weather to offer resealing to?

There's nowt like learning on the job so I guess I should just get out there and give it a shot!

 
Get a product called "Geofix" for blown mortar joints and offer it as an add on following wash, its great as you just sweep it into blown joints and smooth it down with a pointing tool, it comes in different colours so you can match the rest of the mortaring with the repair. looks great and you can charge well for it /emoticons/smile.png Hypo is a good chem but its not always necessary,

 
Thanks Ben - I've been looking at Geofix - you've just answered one of the sticking points I had. And that was whether to remove the existing mortar totally (including the stuff that hadn't blown), or whether you can simply fill in the blown spots and leave the decent mortar in tact. So you simply patch it up with Geofix and it does the job?

 

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