Keep Your House Clean and Your Yard Green!

Over the past several years many people, myself included, went out and purchased a gas powered pressure washer. If you were one of those people that bought an electric version, like I originally did, I'm sorry you wasted the money. Electric pressure washers are missing only one thing from being a good machine, pressure! They don't have the 'umff' factor the gas models can achieve. Heck, the gas ones can rip the paint right off of your house or do some very serious damage to fiberglass screening. The screens I can attest to personally! They had to be hard to reach ones as well. I digress, moving onward. The main reason anyone would use a pressure washer on their Florida home, aside from dirt, is mildew. Mildew is that black substance that appears from nowhere during the humid months and stays as long as it wants. Even when it's not active it's still black on your house. You usually see it on facia boards and soffits. The only way to remove the discoloration is with a bleaching agent and direct contact either by hand or pressure spray. Here's where it gets funky. If you use a good bleach product like pool bleach you'll probably kill every plant and bit of grass that it contacts. Too strong a solution and you'll damage your roof shingles by bleaching them and hurting their elasticity. I recommend that you go to your local major building supply store and ask what types of pressure washer mildew cleaner solutions they carry that won't damage your plantings. Usually the person in that area has working knowledge of the products that can be used and which are Green Friendly to your house and yard.When using a pressure washer always where safety goggles, gloves, clothing that covers your skin and closed shoes. Pressure washers are just that - pressured water, which can quickly blind you or rip up your skin with direct exposure. Wear old clothes when house washing in case of any bleach content hitting your clothes and blotching them permanently! Just that one additional step will save you a lot of money in replacement plant and sod costs.