Category: Home Maintenance

I did not originally plan on levelling the patio on the weekend, but that is exactly how I spent my Saturday after a week where I learned – again – that the yard that kept in adult dogs, doesn’t keep in Gabby.

We skirted the front of the deck as an afterthought but not the ends. The reasoning at the time, no way could the dogs get through underneath with all the joists in the way. Gabby is a world class digger though and she persevered until she could. I tried barricading it but she was still getting out.

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How it Started…

I could not work on the end of the deck and leave the patio as it was. Concrete pavers are affordable but definitely not trendy. They do the job – if they are level. Mine was looking pretty sad.

Levelling the Patio

So I went and bought 20 bags of limestone screenings – over two trips since they weighed 18 kg each. Roughly 40 lbs each for the non-metric crowd.

I pulled up all 40 pavers. All of the landscape fabric, because landscape fabric is terrible stuff. There were a bajillion ants living under it all.

 

Change of Plans

The first plan was to move the patio to the left and put a gravel path from the stairs between the garden and patio. I wanted to make the patio feel larger by separating the patio from the path to my side yard. But 20 bags of limestone screenings wasn’t enough so the plan changed.

I spread my limestone and levelled it as best as I could, trying to keep it slightly angled away from the stairs and house. No picture, I forgot.

Still too narrow for a table and chairs, but it’s no longer full of trip hazards and more importantly, it drains. The next time I pull out my pressure washer, I’ll be able to clean up the pavers without flooding the patio.

Closing off the end of the deck didn’t exactly follow plans either. The stairs are sound for now, but won’t be for much longer, so this is a temporary solution until I get to rebuilding the stairs. As you can see, the entire deck needs to be stained again too.

Now I just have to figure out how to stop Gabby from digging up the rest of the yard. Any ideas?

I see you out there with green crud growing all over your siding and it’s time to wash your vinyl siding. You can absolutely do this yourself! And even though they are nice to have you can absolutely wash vinyl siding without a pressure washer and without it costing a lot.

I’m going to talk about how I’ve washed my siding over the years starting with the cheapest method and then talk about why I switched to an electric pressure washer. No matter how you wash your siding it will take a good chunk of the day – even with a pressure washer. But washing siding is not something you need to do every weekend, once or twice a year usually does the trick.

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Wash Vinyl Siding the Cheap way

This method requires the least investment in equipment and is my second favourite method. I prefer it over using a gas pressure washer even. It requires the least amount of storage space and most of the items have more than one purpose. Extension poles are great to have around for painting ceilings even.

All you need to start is a hose with a good spray nozzle, a bucket, a telescopic extension pole – like these – long enough to reach your eaves, and scrub brush to screw on the end of your pole. You could, depending on your storage space and budget, add a pump sprayer like any of these to your equipment. They are a nice to have for spraying detergent directly on siding and skipping the bucket.

Put soapy water in your bucket. You can buy special detergents or you can use just dish soap or an all purpose cleaner. Any dish soap will do, blue dawn is just dish soap coloured blue, not a magical potion. Some people like to use a bit of bleach in the water too.

Work from top to bottom, one side at a time. Extend your pole to the correct length and attach the scrub brush.  Rinse your siding and dip your brush in the soapy water and start scrubbing from side to side. Work your way down the wall rinsing as you go.

That is it. That’s all you need to do to get rid of the green crud that’s been growing on your siding. Spider shit might take some extra elbow grease. This has been my preferred method of cleaning my vinyl siding for years – even when I had a gas pressure washer. I will explain why in the next section.

Pressure Washers – Gas or Electric?

So here’s the thing. I used to be adamant that the only pressure washer worth buying was a gas powered one. But 3 years ago I bought a Karcher Electric pressure washer and I have no regrets.

I have owned 2 different gas powered pressure washers and while I can’t speak for the high end gas pressure washers I can honestly say that if you’re looking to spend under $500, none of the gas ones you can afford are worth it.

Using a gas pressure washer to wash vinyl siding

Gas pressure washers are cranky beasts.

• They want new spark plugs every year.
• They are hard to start. They are impossible to restart if you have to stop to add gas. You have to let them sit and sulk for a while before they’ll start working again.
• They are a pain to store – you can’t bring them inside your house because of the gas. So if you don’t have a climate controlled storage space they have to be winterized.
• And lastly, each one I have owned worked fabulous the first year but performance declined year after year until a hose nozzle with a really good jet spray would work just as well.

Using an electric pressure washer to wash vinyl siding

Electric pressure washers these days have just as much power as the cheaper gas ones and are so much easier to use.

• They are quieter and easy to start – just turn them on.
• They automatically shut off the pump when the trigger is released so the pump lasts way longer.
• They easy to store – with no gasoline to worry about you can bring them indoors no problem. Just store away from sources of direct heat that might dry out o-rings and such
• Performance stays consistent – year after year.

The Karcher I have seems to be discontinued but it was very similar to this one. There are quite a few useful attachments you can get too. The ones I use most are the extension pole and the one that has an angled head to reach into eaves troughs and clean the undercarriage of cars.

On the model I have, the only cons I’ve seen are:

• The pressure hose is very stiff and cheap feeling
• The connector to attach your water hose is very flimsy. Replacements are available but I always remove it before moving the pressure washer and then move the hose separately.
• There is an integrated GFCI in the plug so it will not fit into boxed outdoor plug receptacles – I have to use an extension cord.

Whichever you use, just start at the top of the wall and work your way methodically to the bottom. Closed toe shoes are a really good idea – especially if you’re pressure washing a deck. Trust me – spraying your toes by mistake effing hurts. And if you are pressure washing anything wood – make sure you don’t get too close with the wand or it will make the wood rough and splintery.

So go wash your siding already. You will like your house so much more when it’s clean.