Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Philip McCullough · RIP

Power Washing Docks

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Much too vague of a question to give a clear answer. Depends how bad they are,.they need evaluated. They must be over water and the re-surfacing company doesn't want the responsibility of the contamination of the water? In general,..if you have enough GPM you can use a SC at a reduced PSI,..limiting the circles and potential damage for up close PSI. I mean,..the age of the boards,.what's on the boards,..the previous care of the boards, the type of wood etc,...are part of a responsible evaluation on this type of sensitive work.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Wednesday 15th of February 2017 04:34:30 PM

Philip McCullough · RIP

Thanks Jeff, I understand what you're saying. I guess it was a fairly vague question.I went and evaluated the dock this afternoon. The dock isn't that old maybe 5-7 years old. It still has good, still green, treated 2x10's I believe and was well built. My initial concern was the high pressure spraying inbetween the planks using a surface cleaner may possibly be enough to damage the sides of the planks as the SC was moved across the surface. The lumber is in pretty good shape and the boards are really tight so there arent any large gaps between the boards. I'm pretty confident we won't be tearing anything up now.

The reasoning behind not using any detergents is the owner of the resurfacing company said he is giving a 10 year warranty on his product and don't want/need anything between the wood and his product to cause a pre-mature failure.

Thank you for your insight and advice!

Patrick G · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I am no expert but I would probably do it by wand

DirtyRoofcom · Approved Exterior Cleaner

10 year warranty on treated wood?

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hey Philip,..if the reasoning for no detergents is the warranty,..it's time to educate the customer,..and then you can go from there and do as you wish. In short,..properly cleaned and neutralized wood is the way to go,.makes the job easier and will leave the surface prepped.

*There are ALOT of deck restoration discussions over on PWI (Pressure Washing Institute),.. The Grime Scene and UAMCC

You'll see decks are done professionally with products like NAOH and Sodium Percarbonate as detergents,..and Oxalic acid as a neutralizer.

It's harder on the wood fibers to rely on PSI to clean,...detergents offer a much lower impact cleaning,..literally and figuratively.

*Being over water though,..you are limited on your choices.

When you're not familiar with the task at hand,..test spots are great to determine time and effort it takes to get them to the desired result.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Thursday 16th of February 2017 06:53:29 AM

Philip McCullough · RIP

He owns and operates a successful re-surfacing company, been in business for 8 years. He is 2 hrs from me and he is selling a type of acrylic over-coat that he, along with a chemist, invented. He usually has his guys clean.

This particular job is a community boat dock in an high end neighbor hood. We actually have done work for the HOA president before so we were "in" before sending a price. We are gonna make a little money on this one

Its just not cost effective for him to send his guys down to clean it the way he wants it and then go home and wait for it to dry out before applying his magic over coat....LOL

Philip McCullough · RIP

DirtyRoofcom wrote:
10 year warranty on treated wood?

Yeah....That's what I said...BUT it's not just treated wood. It's sun beaten unprotected dock walk boards... confuse

Michael Hickey · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Why not try a 3 nozzle broom set that attaches to the gun. It might be the answer. I think that a flat surface cleaner will leave marks on the wood.