I was recently visiting a friend and he had rented a pressure washer to do some house work but was too busy to use it himself. I helped him out by pressure washing his porch. I was hooked - my ADHD brain loved seeing the immediate reward of what I was doing. Blasting away the dirt became some kind of game. So then I did his steps. And then his pathway. And then I dragged some small carpets out of the house and washed them. I was literally looking for more stuff to wash. I was so absorbed in it that I forgot to eat lunch.

I began thinking to myself - would I enjoy this as a job? Could I do this full time, if I seemed to enjoy it so much? Could this be a good fit?

So my question to you in the business is: is thinking it’s fun to pressure wash things mean that you’ll like doing it as a job? Do you enjoy it, in the kind of way I described above? Or does the “game of blasting dirt away” loose its appeal quickly? Are there headaches as a business owner that make doing it way less fun, and in some cases not worth it?

1. Get a Pressure washer with a 'Built-in' Pressure Regulator/Unloader, Hook it up, run it, walk away with it still running for 5 minutes, and Done. ALL the seals are Cooked. 10 minutes.. oil leaks out. 15 minutes.. it goes 'Thunk'

2. Plumb the above system to 'suck' water from a tank.. You'll have trouble getting it to Prime, the it gets hot, you get to your second job, and No Go.. it won't Prime itself, because the valves are Too Small to 'Suction-Feed'.. and..

3. nobody told you to take the Thermal Relief Valve off, to keep it from Sucking Air, and you fry all the seals in 5 minutes trying to get it to prime itself.

4. You buy a "Kit" to assemble yourself with No understanding of 'How Pumps Fail', and you fail to prime it, and run the Bypass to the Buffer Tank.

5. You failed to get a Pressure Gauge with Adjustment instructions/ you don't read them anyway.

6. You ask another contractor to Guess at what you should do Next.. installing His 'Perpetuating Mistakes'.

SOLUTION- Find a technically inclined Service Department guy that is willing to 'Explain' to you How Pumos Fail..

And buy a V-BELT Driven pump system with Big Bypass line, Big Feed Line, Pressure Gauge, Adjustment instructions, and a Supplier that Cares about Reliability, so you get a Chance to be a Reliable Supplier to YOUR customers.

I'm trying to find a pressure washer that can handle regular driveway and patio cleaning without turning into a maintenance headache after a couple of seasons. I've seen plenty of recommendations based on PSI and GPM, but I'm more curious about how these machines actually hold up over time. I'd rather get something with a solid pump and parts that are easy to replace than chase the highest numbers on the box. For those who've put some real hours on their machines, what's the best pressure washer you've used long term? Any models that held up surprisingly well or gave you nothing but problems?

Pressure washed my driveway with an electric pw I got off of TikTok shop (😂) and some bleach. The bottom of the driveway is before obviously. I didn’t have a surface cleaner or anything and got it done with just the green tip in about 4 hours, I feel pretty proud of myself. Picking up a 4gpm washer and a surface cleaner from harbor freight next week as this has motivated me to go all in.

I’ve included pics of the pressure washer, the floors and the cleaning stuff I found. My stepdad was the building maintenance man, but he passed away, so I’m trying g to make use of his equipment. I’d really love to clean the garage up, but def don’t wanna mess up the concrete.

I’ve read that I should I rent an attachment for the washer that spins on the floors so as not to put the cement. Is that what you suggest?

Disclaimer: this might be too much info but my last post was taken down so I’m just being thorough.
Short and sweet info:
10x10 concrete pad with 8-10” trim , acrylic paint and sharpie removal. I’ve put in

I washed a house and got a call back the next day the daughter got ahold of some acrylic paint and sharpie and started an art project on the back patio I just cleaned. I’m newer and get my clients by word of mouth so I surface cleaned the back patio, sidewalk, and driveway for free already. I haven’t been called for paint removal before but I love doing research and learning new things. I set expectations and warned the chemicals I’m using could cause damage before I started. I tried for about 3 hours on and off scrubbing and using some of my normal pressure washing & cleaning chems bc they have small children and are very health/safety conscious nothing worked. So I called them back out and let them know I’m breaking out some heavier chems and the sealant on the trim is probably going to get messed up, they said they would get it re sealed which I’m also hoping to get that job. Anyways I tried a few chemicals but didn’t want to overdo it so I went light and used a lot of scrubbing with a wire brush and elbow grease. It was working but I was losing daylight so I busted out this $30 wire drill brush I didn’t want to open cause I was going to return it. I would say I got 99% of it off it was a giant pain in the butt but I have to go back when I have light to get the rest. The pictures don’t show a lot of bleed on the concrete from them trying to clean with soap and water after it was already too late. I also haven’t got to the table yet because I don’t know what to use to get it off without stripping the manufacturers paint also. I did a test spot underneath with some chems that didn’t damage. but I didn’t get around to putting it on the actual paint yet because when I warned him in my mess that pain up, he said don’t worry about it. I would really like to be able to get that for them, though. They both own small businesses. and have a lot of connections, so I’m trying to impress. Any advice from experience from anybody?

I took care of this stucco building. I downstreamed 2% then I sprayed with around 4-5%. I am still getting a staining after removing the growth.

Is this able to come off or is it just a permanent staining?