New guy

[mfletch]

Hello everyone, 1st post here. First off a little background. I'm a GC that does my own interior and exterior painting and staining on new construction. All of the homes in my area are stained so there is alot of work in the restaining business which I've decided to pursue.

Now to my questions. I've got 9 hp, 3500 psi, 3.5 gpm pressure washer. So I'm covered on that part for now. What is not clear to me is the application of chemicals. I just finished a job using a pump sprayer to apply percarb and oxalic acid. That is alot of work. I've been reading up on the different ways to apply chemicals. Uploading, downstreaming (are they the same thing), 12 volt pressure pump, and a gas powered chemical applicator. My guestion is what is the best approach. I'm leaning toward the gas powered machine. I know this is alot of money but I'm in this for the long haul, and besides I'm a tool guy and a gearhead so I like anything with an engine on it. I just want to make sure I get the right tool for the job. I'll leave it at that for know. I'm I will have alot more questions. Thanks in advance to all of you that take the time to share your knowledge.

[Adrian]

you can downstream or xjet your cleaning chems through your pw.
I swear by the deckster for stripping and staining. But there are other sprayers out there that are just as good or maybe even better.

You will wear down quick with a pump sprayer, unless you just have all kinds of extra time to allow for it.

Welcome to the board. You might add your signature so we know who we are talking to.

[mfletch]

Thanks for the reply Adrian. I added a signature info and somemore info about me in my profile.

You are right about a pump sprayer. I sprayed an entire house and the decks using one and don't want to do the next one that way. So is the use of an xjet considered downstreaming? This would be when you draw the chemicals out of a bucket at the spray wand? I have a tube coming off the pump to draw chemicals. Is this considered uploading? It seems a little complicated on how you would meter the chemical ratio using the device at the pump. Alot of the houses in my area are 2 to 3 stories or more if on a steep hillside, so I'm looking for a way to apply chemical and wash from the ground as much as possible. Are extension wands practical for this situation. I use an airless sprayer for applying stain and tried an telescoping extentsion pole. They are too flimsy and hard to control so I use a 6' extension on my gun and work with ladders. The constant moving of ladders is hard work not mention potentially dangerous, so I'm trying to minimize the ladder use while washing. Thanks again

[Beth n Rod]

Welcome to TGS! Glad you found us.
Beth

[Adrian]

If you use an xjet, you are drawing chems from the end of the wand and not through high pressure hose.
Downstreaming draws chems after the pump at the hose connection and chems go through the high pressure hose.

It is possible to reach 3 stories from the ground with an xjet with your setup and at least a 6 ft wand.

Either of these methods work fine for shooting chems to high places. Or you can use what's called a
laddersaver.com
It's pretty cool and not too expensive.
There are other methods with DS and simple tips others 's will mention I'm sure.
But these work great for me and what I do.
These equipment add-ons cost a little up front, but pay for themselves in time saved.

example: 500 sq. ft. deck "strip" with pump sprayer 2 gal. = 15- 30 min to spray plus refill.

Deckster 5 minutes to spray.


For stripping with caustics and spraying stains and sealers, again, Deckster.

[Mathew Johnson]

Originally Posted by mfletch

Hello everyone, 1st post here. First off a little background. I'm a GC that does my own interior and exterior painting and staining on new construction. All of the homes in my area are stained so there is alot of work in the restaining business which I've decided to pursue.

Now to my questions. I've got 9 hp, 3500 psi, 3.5 gpm pressure washer. So I'm covered on that part for now. What is not clear to me is the application of chemicals. I just finished a job using a pump sprayer to apply percarb and oxalic acid. That is alot of work. I've been reading up on the different ways to apply chemicals. Uploading, downstreaming (are they the same thing), 12 volt pressure pump, and a gas powered chemical applicator. My guestion is what is the best approach. I'm leaning toward the gas powered machine. I know this is alot of money but I'm in this for the long haul, and besides I'm a tool guy and a gearhead so I like anything with an engine on it. I just want to make sure I get the right tool for the job. I'll leave it at that for know. I'm I will have alot more questions. Thanks in advance to all of you that take the time to share your knowledge.

There are a lot of different methods to throw the chems on a house.

1. Pump up bug sprayer (works but results in sore arms and a lot of time)
2. Xjet or Mjet (works well, the stripper I use (for some reason) foams when I run it through an MJet and clings to a house well for added dwell time) You do have poor control over the overspray and fallout
3. Downstreaming - works but need a heavily concentrated chem mixture to get an effective concentration on the surface
4. HVLP - A battery operated system on a cart that will apply chems and some stains (we have made adapters to spray the stain and chems through our 32 foot wand when needed) - Works great!
5. Shurflo or Delavan on demand pump. Works well, but the chems will chew up the pump diaphrams
6. We primarily use an air compressor with a yamada air driven pump. The harsh chemicals do not seem to harm the pump and it works the best for this purpose. We also use this setup for appication of roof cleaning chems - a zero degree - 20 or 30 orifice tip throws the chems 20 to 40 feet with good control. We use a 10 / 65 degree tip dor deck application with a large and even pattern of applicatiion. We have 200 feet of chem line on a hose reel, nothing leaves the wood restoration trailer

I hope this helps

Matt

[mfletch]

Thanks for the replies. I just read thru the xjet vs. ds thread and still trying to figure out what is best for applying chemicals ( oxalic acid and percarb). One of the things that I was wondering, is there different way of looking at this depending on what you are trying to do ( house wash vs. stain prep) the stain prep is what I'm trying to do. I like the idea of the ds in that you just have one hose out. But it seems like it is not that easy to figure out the chemical ratios. The xjet seems like a good idea but I don't like the idea of lugging around buckets of chemical. And then there is the pressure thing. Its seems to me that it is best to apply chemicals at a very low pressure, like that of a pump up. So I guess I'm leaning towards the 12 volt pump or a gas powered chemical pump. I would like to keep my equipment in the trailer and just roll out the hose so I'm not sure if the 12 volt pump provides enough pressure for 200' of hose.

The other thing I'm still wondering about is the use of an extension wand. I have gathered that most high rinse from the ground by using a higher pressure and or a small degree tip. All the houses that I will work on are stained redwood of red cedar. I've been doing alot of research on preping and staining of cedar and redwood and there are some that express alot of caution when it comes to using a pw to prep siding or wood decks. The spraying at an upward angle against lap siding concerns me. Siding is designed to shed water that comes at it at a downward angle. This concern led me to adapt my 6' airless ext. pole onto my pressure washer wand. At the end of the 6' ext to head can be swiveled to anle the spray at a downward angle. It works great for getting the spray at a downward angel but is a bit cumbersome. Does anyone out there use an ext. wand?

I again apprieciate any input.

[Mathew Johnson]

Originally Posted by mfletch

Thanks for the replies. I just read thru the xjet vs. ds thread and still trying to figure out what is best for applying chemicals ( oxalic acid and percarb). One of the things that I was wondering, is there different way of looking at this depending on what you are trying to do ( house wash vs. stain prep) the stain prep is what I'm trying to do. I like the idea of the ds in that you just have one hose out. But it seems like it is not that easy to figure out the chemical ratios. The xjet seems like a good idea but I don't like the idea of lugging around buckets of chemical. And then there is the pressure thing. Its seems to me that it is best to apply chemicals at a very low pressure, like that of a pump up. So I guess I'm leaning towards the 12 volt pump or a gas powered chemical pump. I would like to keep my equipment in the trailer and just roll out the hose so I'm not sure if the 12 volt pump provides enough pressure for 200' of hose.

The other thing I'm still wondering about is the use of an extension wand. I have gathered that most high rinse from the ground by using a higher pressure and or a small degree tip. All the houses that I will work on are stained redwood of red cedar. I've been doing alot of research on preping and staining of cedar and redwood and there are some that express alot of caution when it comes to using a pw to prep siding or wood decks. The spraying at an upward angle against lap siding concerns me. Siding is designed to shed water that comes at it at a downward angle. This concern led me to adapt my 6' airless ext. pole onto my pressure washer wand. At the end of the 6' ext to head can be swiveled to anle the spray at a downward angle. It works great for getting the spray at a downward angel but is a bit cumbersome. Does anyone out there use an ext. wand?

I again apprieciate any input.

We use our extension wands to come in and/or down on the siding when washing, whether it is cedar, vinyl or clapboard. The set up you are interested in using is exactly what you are looking to use ( see pics)


One the back there are three house reels on the shelf. The first hose reel on the left is for detergents - there are four ball valves in the line to the air driven pump. the first ball valve I turn on for stripper, the second valve turns on the neutralizer, the third is a line I can put in any liquid (most commonly percarb or roof wash mixture, the fourth valve is to the float tank to flush out the line when done using. The pump is a yamada air pump powered by the gas air compressor on the floor - left side.

The middle hose reel is an air line off of the compressor for air tools and such. The right hose reel is to one of my decker HVLP stain sprayers. Underneath that is a Hydrotek belt driven 4.8 gallon cold water water unit with a 65 gallon float tank.

The other pic is the side door with the stackable hose reels ( 200 foot high pressure line and 150 of 3/4 in garden hose. Under the hose reels there is a 5500 watt generator. (not shown, I revised the trailer setup since the PICS)

I built shelves for the cardboard and several tarps. There are 3 - 15 gallon tanks that I mix chems up in, for roofs I have a 35 gallon tank that I take along.

Hope this helps

The trailer is a 12 foot haulmark with electric brakes. It is an awsum setup

[mfletch]

Matt, thanks for that reply. I've been away from the computer for the last week, got a new baby girl that just arrived. Its been a little hectic around here. It has been 16 yrs since I last did this.

Anyway back to your setup, that is an awesome setup. Could you tell me where I might be able to purchase equipment like that, possibly online. Also I had another question. I was thinking about your air compressor set up and was wondering how it would work using a compressor to pressurize a tank and move fluids this way. I thought this is similiar to using a pump up sprayer. I guessing that this isn't practical since I've not heard of anyone using such a setup, but was wondering.

Thanks

[Mathew Johnson]

Originally Posted by mfletch

Matt, thanks for that reply. I've been away from the computer for the last week, got a new baby girl that just arrived. Its been a little hectic around here. It has been 16 yrs since I last did this.

Anyway back to your setup, that is an awesome setup. Could you tell me where I might be able to purchase equipment like that, possibly online. Also I had another question. I was thinking about your air compressor set up and was wondering how it would work using a compressor to pressurize a tank and move fluids this way. I thought this is similiar to using a pump up sprayer. I guessing that this isn't practical since I've not heard of anyone using such a setup, but was wondering.

Thanks

Compressor: Lowes

Yamada Pump: Dultmeier

Machine: Hydrotek - ACR Products

Summitt Stackable Hose Reels: ACR Products

Tabk: Tractor Supply

Chem Hose: Lowes

Ball Valves: Lowes

Rapid Reel Hose Reels: ACR Products

Generator: Home Depot

Air Hose: Harbor Freight

Decker Sprayer: ACR Products

Misc Wands: everywhere

Corress Wand: Pitchwitch.Com

[Mathew Johnson]

Originally Posted by mfletch

Matt, thanks for that reply. I've been away from the computer for the last week, got a new baby girl that just arrived. Its been a little hectic around here. It has been 16 yrs since I last did this.

Anyway back to your setup, that is an awesome setup. Could you tell me where I might be able to purchase equipment like that, possibly online. Also I had another question. I was thinking about your air compressor set up and was wondering how it would work using a compressor to pressurize a tank and move fluids this way. I thought this is similiar to using a pump up sprayer. I guessing that this isn't practical since I've not heard of anyone using such a setup, but was wondering.

Thanks

, I would be happy to tell you about it

Call my cell....607-435-5539

[Tracy Handl]

Stain won't get downstreamed. You'll need to put stains on vai another method like Adrain mentioned. Chems can be applied via machine, but a lot of guys just want to mix the chems at the desired strength and then apply. They feel there is no room for error then. Many methods exist. Pick what works best for you. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Sincerely,