Skip to content Labor-intensive garages tend to leave the floor with debris, oil, dirt, and other stains, especially where locomotive repairs are involved. Whether using epoxy, polyurethane, or concrete floors, the debris and stains remaining after work are often hectic and time-consuming to clean. Besides, the days of scrubbing floors with soap and water in a bucket until your body ache are long gone, and garage owners are striving to establish the most efficient, convenient, and less-frenetic methods that will reduce the effort used in cleaning and achieve spotless garage floors. In that regard, most DIYers and garage owners are constantly asking, Can you Pressure Wash a Garage Floor?
Pressure washers are regarded as the most desirable tools to realize a superior result in cleaning the garage floors. They are perfect to re-establish the original look and aesthetic value of the garage floors. The units are high-powered and use less water to wash garage floors. Besides, the operation of the pressure washers is flawless. You only need to point the gun and the nozzle to the targeted floor and shoot, giving an infallible new-looking surface.
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How to pressure wash a Garage Floor
There have been various trials in using garden hose and nozzle to clean garage surfaces but with less satisfaction of the outcome. Other recommendations have been made on the use of pressure washers and power washers.
A pressure washer is the use of cold water unit spray to remove dust, mud, loose paint, and other debris from the surfaces, while a power washer requires the use of hot water. Power washers are often heavy and expensive to rent.
Pressure washing a garage floor involves removing anything that can be damaged by water, sweep the garage floor with a brush to remove loose dirt, and soaking the floor with degreasing solution for 15 to 20 minutes without it drying to eliminate streaking in the concrete. In case of an intense concentration of degreaser scrub with a brush. You then need to add some degreaser to the pressure washer and use a low-pressure spray nozzle to apply the solution to the surface.
The following steps are straightforward ways of pressure washing a garage floor.
Soak the floor with a degreasing solution
Soaking the floor with a degreasing solution is the first step to pressure washing a garage. You need to empty the garage or cover other heavy machinery in the garage with polythene bags so that nothing can be damaged by water. You then sweep the garage floor with a brush to eliminate loose dirt and debris before you soak it with a degreasing solution.
Let the stain soak with some of the applied solutions
The step involves wetting the floor with a garden hose and placing a degreaser in areas with oil and grease stains. You then scrub the floor to enable the degreaser to penetrate the stain. The floor should be soaked for 15 to 20 minutes without drying to eliminate streaking in the floor.
Place some degreaser in the pressure washer
Despite having the degreaser solution on the floor, you still need to have some in the pressure washer. The practice will enhance the efficiency of stain removal.
Use a low-pressure tip nozzle for cleaning
The nozzle should be 12 to 18 inches from the surface at a 15 to 25 degrees angle to generate enough pressure hence preventing damage to the concrete garage floor by pressure washing.
You can find these exemplary units at amazon.com. One such exclusive unit with a higher PSI is Karcher K2 Plus Electric Power Pressure Washer, 1600 PSI, 1.25 GPM shown below.
What (PSI) is needed to pressure wash garage floors?
The pressure washers are rated by the water pressure they produce and how much water they produce. This pressure is measured in pounds per square (PSI), and the water production is measured in gallons per minute (GPM).
Garage floors are made of various materials, and each material requires a different washer for effectiveness and maximum achievement of results. For the concrete garage floor, a pressure washer of a minimum rating of 3000 PSI and a water flow rate of 3 GPM or more is adequate.
It’s always tedious to clean oil-stained concrete floors with pressure less than 3000 PSI. Minimum 3 GPM also enables the task to be cleared faster as one won’t be pushing dirt due to lower water flow. Parameters less than (3000 PSI and 3GPM) will take longer to get the job done. Electric pressure is mostly rated 2000 PSI; hence not effective for garage floors.
How much does it cost you to pressure wash your garage?
The cost of pressure washing a garage floor depends on the size of the garage, the type of job being done, and the equipment needed to do the job. Garage owners may spend $ 0.40 per square foot on the cleaning cost.
Other garage cleaners may require between $25 to $100 payments per hour of the work done in the garage. Professional garage cleaners charge an average flat rate of $90 to $200.
Factor to consider when choosing a pressure washer
There are various factors to be considered when selecting a pressure washer for the garage floor.
Pressure
For a concrete floor, a pressure washer of minimum rating of 3000 PSI is very effective. The oily concretes and dirt encrusted doesn’t clean very well with any pressure less than 3000 PSI. Electric washers are rarely rated above 2000 PSI hence not effective in garage cleaning. Higher PSI increases the rate of knocking loose debris from the surface and thus the reason, a 3000PSI pressure washer is perfect for garage floors.
Heat
Hot water works better in breaking down oil stains. The hot water has more heat energy that aid in breaking down bonds in oil and other stubborn stains making it easier to clean. For most situations, pressure washer still works best in concrete floors hence power washer should only be considered in extremely oily garage floors.
Chemicals
Degreasing solutions are often used to remove stubborn stains from surfaces. These cleaning detergents pull away tough debris by breaking their bonds making cleaning easier. These detergents placed in a targeted oily place and also added to the pressure washer during cleaning.
Nozzle spray pattern
Each nozzle pattern is used to achieve a specific purpose. For heavy cleaning a nozzle of 15 degrees is highly recommended. A nozzle of 25 degrees covers a wider area but uses less force. The use of the wrong nozzle may cause damages to the floor.
Flow rate
A minimum of 3 GPM is highly recommended in a pressure washer. This lower water flow enables work to be done faster as one won’t be pushing around a pile of dirt and debris.
Frequently Asked questions
What is a good PSI for a pressure washer?
A good pressure washer should generate between 2000 to 3000 PSI and a minimum of 2.5 GPM to clean effectively.
Is a pressure washer bad for concrete?
The pressure washer is bad for concrete when a wrong nozzle is used in cleaning; holding the nozzle in one particular spot for too long and spraying by holding the nozzle close to the concrete surface can damage the concrete floor.
What is the difference between a power washer and a pressure washer?
The significant difference between a pressure washer and a power washer is the heat. The power washer uses heated water while the pressure washer uses cold water.
Conclusion
The most satisfying and probably time-consuming outdoor task an individual can engage in is a power washing garage to erase stains, debris, and specks of dust from the surface. When done properly, pressure washing can make a garage floor have a flawless look.
Power washing can degrade concrete garage floors. This degradation is attributed to the usage of the wrong nozzle, excessive pressure, and spraying too close to the concrete surface. That’s why it’s advisable to check on various factors like the pressure, heat, nozzle pattern, and the water flow rate of the washer before usage. To achieve satisfying results, using minimum resources pressure washers is highly recommended for cleaning the garage floors.
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