What Is Pressure Washing?
Pressure washing is the act of using pressurized water to clean dirt, algae, and other contaminants from outdoor surfaces. A power washer, otherwise known as a pressure washer, is the powered machine that makes cleaning the surface possible. Methods can vary depending on the machine being used, the surface that’s being cleaned, and the person performing the work.
In this post, we will further define power washing and the common methods used to clean surfaces. Read on to learn about the differences between power washing and pressure washing services, and why high-pressure and soft washing are used in different circumstances.
Defining Power Washing vs. Pressure Washing
Power washing is the use of high pressure water with heat, and pressure washing is the use with no heat.
Sweeper Guys prefers to perform pressure washing over power washing for surface cleaning. Power washing is the use of high pressure water with heat, and pressure washing is without heat.
We utilize special surface cleaners with with vacuum attachments for water recovery. These tools clean any kind of surface with amazing quality and speed. The results are far superior over the traditional cleaning method of a wand.
Surface Cleaning
Our surface cleaners are designed with vacuum attachments. This extracts the majority of the dirty water which normally would run into the storm drain system and contaminate it with toxins. Applying our method not only helps the environment, it provides a much better cleaning process and the water that we vacuum, goes through a 7-stage filtration system before entering the capture tank. This enables us to reuse the water that we capture saving us a great deal of water in the cleaning process. Surface cleaners are a much more efficient way of cleaning surfaces over the traditional method of using a wand.
Permeable Pavers
Interlocking Concrete Pavers and Porous Concrete requires a little more care. These surfaces need to be kept clean and free of debris, so it is necessary to carry out vacuuming and pressure washing of the surface so as to keep the voids clear and allow them to function as they should. You can use street sweepers and vacuums to maintain these types of pavers, and carry out the procedure about 4 times a year. It is a good idea to check the level of the fill material in the voids of Interlocking Pavers, and re-fill them when necessary, particularly after pressure washer cleaning.
The primary purpose of cleaning and maintaining your Permeable Paver System is to make sure that the drainage voids in the surface are clean and clear from all kinds of debris. If such debris is left, it will clog up the drainage voids of your pavement and in turn reduce the flow capacity of the system. If you carry out the following Maintenance procedures on a regular basis you will be able to prevent the natural clogging of the voids to occur, which can possibly render your Permeable Pavers useless.
Permeable Paver Maintenance
You should inspect your site on a regular basis, after installation you should inspect it once a month for about 4-6 months. After this time period you can inspect the site annually, particularly after there has been heavy rain, for this is the time when the drainage voids can become clogged with organic debris.
Every 3 months you should get into the habit of sweeping and vacuuming your permeable surface.
You can use street sweepers that have a vacuum and brushes, which help clean out the voids in your paver system, and therefore, restore permeability.
It is also a good idea to pressure wash the pavers after you have swept and vacuumed it thoroughly. Check that the voids are still well filled with aggregate, and if not you may have to regularly re-fill them. Using clean gravel is the chosen fill material.
Service Areas for Pressure Washing Service
We provide service in Orange County, Riverside, San Diego, and Los Angeles.
Stain Removal Pressure Washing Service
Besides the dirt and grime that we remove, we can remove the following from most pressure washing services…
- Efflorescence (will require sealer afterward)
- Rust
- Oil
- Graffiti
- Paint
- Gum
- Mold & Mildew
- Calcium & Lime Deposits
- more
Water Reclaim and Recovery
Sweeper Guys also has a water recovery and reclaim system when proving pressure washing service. This allows us to extract the water to prevent it from entering the storm drain system.
This system is equipped with a custom made 7-stage filtration system. With these filters, it enables us to reuse the water that we capture.
Because of this, we make many environmental benefits. Water capture or reclaim equipment is a must when pressure washing in Southern California. Sweeper Guys can also respond to emergencies where large amounts of water need to be removed.
This is the water entering our reclaim tank after it passes through our 7 stage filtration. This allows us to save thousands of gallons of water.
When pressure washing, we us a surface scrubber on all flat surfaces with vacuum attachment. We never use a wand. This gives a much more efficient cleaning, and vacuums around 85% of the water.
