I have a large commercial 3 story that I need to pressure wash all hard scape and all the walls of the building, will need a lift as well.
Question is, can I kill 2 birds with one stone by pressure washing with DI so I dont have to go and clean the windows? Can I pressure wash the windows as well and get them with the same results as with the wfp?
Yep, i havent done it but give Doug from Starbrite a call. He does it all the time.
Yes you can, although if you are washing the walls above the windows then you should leave a little lag time before you wash the windows, Agitation with a brush is still necessary on the glass and you will need to be careful , even with clean walls, there may still be enough sediment around the windows to leave streaking
But it’s doable, we did it for years with good results
AWESOME!!! Okay, the windows are set about 25" from the wall…so I thought about the run-off, and I was planning to use a wand on a pole to agitate with_ this is gonna be HUGE for me!
I will give Doug a call this week. Thanks fellas! Time to make some KA-CHING!
according to Doug, after you are done pressure washing with D.I. you need to let your pressure washer run for 5 minutes with regular city water to rinse out all the D.I. in the pump and hose.
What about the runoff from the stucco or cement above the window that drips on to the window?
Make sure your PW has enough preasure going into it. I dont use DI. I use RODI and know that the preasure coming into my machine is not the preasure of the clean water comming out. Most of the preasure of the incoming I would believe is used up forcing everything through the menbraines. I was going to try this until I was told by a PW guy that if there is not enough preasure you will break your machine.
What I would do is preasure wash the place and the windows at the same time (be careful on the glass, if the windows have small cracks in them your PW will blow it out). Use the PW to get the nasty chunky stuff off the glass. Then i would WFP the job afterwards. I dont think the PW is going to give you the results you are hoping for because when it hits the structure next to the windows, it’s going to blast some of that junk back on to the glass.
The glass is about 2 feet in from the walls, so it wont be a problem. I dont think…
Good theroy but bad practice deal !! I would do the walls and then come back with a wp . By the time a person comes back all the drip s will be gone. The drips have a higher tds !! A person just has to control the water and have to touch and rince with 0 tds. Good luck !! Stan, pro window kleening, 26 years and proud sorbo user !!
I’m with Stan on this one. I always do a soft wash power wash then do the windows seperately with WFP. I also charge seperately for these two services. No reason to mix them into one. Let the customer see you give them two seperate services and then get paid for two seperate services.
I might add that I do go over the windows while doing the house wash in order to get the window frames looking great. The windows are a breeze with WFP after the house has been power washed.
I wouldn’t do all at the same time.
Pressure on the windows is not a good idea anyway.
You might have the idea that you’re saving time, but in the long run you won’t be, touch-ups, inspection and so will take time for sure.
Also you’ll go thru a LOT of DI water that way, and if you’re renting, even if you are getting it cheap, won’t be really cost effective.
You can still use the lift to WFP the windows.
Both methods could work, but I still think the walls are going to drip on the glass if you don’t allow time for dripping/evaporation.
Just for the record, when I metioned going over the windows while power washing there is no direct pressure used. I use a soft wash method where the stream is very diffused instead of a compact direct stream of pressure.
Direct pressure can/will blow the seals and can also find it’s way into the interior of the home or building. The soft wash is fine to clean the windows and frames while you do the house wash. But the WFP scrub and rinse (or traditional window cleaning method) is required in order to get the glass perfectly clean and spotless.
I suggest doing the window washing afterward as well for the reasons already mentioned. I think you’ll be able to do a better job doing them separately.
As for the pressure, this is the kind of pressure we use when soft washing. I’m sure Richard (Nuvudude) is using about the same.
I suggest doing the window washing afterward as well for the reasons already mentioned. I think you’ll be able to do a better job doing them separately.
As for the pressure, this is the kind of pressure we use when soft washing. I’m sure Richard (Nuvudude) is using about the same.
Yeah, I did charge serparately. 3 grand for the pressure wash and unfortunately only 1700 for the window cleaning…should have been 3 grand for the window cleaning.
I just wanted to see if I can do it all in one swoop. I still will, if it works with the pressure wash alone I will know in about 30 minutes into it, if it dont work I will do the windows by hand as I go since I am already in the lift. I REALLY need a better pole. My tucker at what…48’ (supposedly) just aint cutting the mustard man…I need a good one and fast. This is comming up in 3 more months…saving now for it.
Wow! Sounds like that is a huge gig! Congrats!!!
That’s REALLY GOOD advice right there. That’s how I do it. By the way Tory, is this for the HP building you were asking me about?
No. This is one of 12 properties I won on a bid for back in June. The HP I bid at almost 8 grand…by the way, I heard nothing about that bid since I gave it and I get this letter in the mail from a company called NG&G facility services asking me for a W9 and all kinds of stuff but never says anything about what it is for. I aint sending anything till I know why, so I give them a call and it is about the bid for HP…I dont know if I even got it yet. Who knows.
This is for the building I was hoping you would be able to send one of your guys to help me on…I am gonna be doing the pressure washing on it in 3 months. I had everything ready to go yesterday morning on the last half of this building and then some guy comes out and says that we shouldnt be there on fridays, that the property managers shouldve known and told me, it was their bussiest day…so I had to wrap it up and gonna go back and do it on Monday.:eek:
