The $99 Power Washer

      YouTube has lots of videos about $99 power washers, all presented by a bunch of handy, husbandly types.  It seems like these reasonably priced, lower PSI, lightweight little gizmos are just the thing for effortlessly melting the winter's accumulation of green and black slime off of sidewalks and siding.  I picked up a Craftsman and started in on my green fence and black sidewalk.

In previous years, I mixed up a bucket of detergent and bleach and scrubbed with a stiff brush.

 

The power washer blasted the dirt off with plain water.  So far, so good.

So white!  I even power washed the rock.

      The next day, I decided to obliterate the mold on the patio.  I aimed my power washer nozzle at the wall and blew a hole in one of the blocks!

Yikes!  Yellow sand and water dripped down the wall.  My neighbor's theory is that this block had a flaw of some sort.

     I waited a couple of days for everything to dry out, then I pulled out the J-B Weld.  It took three applications to fill the hole completely since gravity caused the J-B Weld to leak out.  I filled the hole as much as possible then slapped some blue painter's tape over the opening to seal in the epoxy.  The next day, I removed the tape and repeated the process.  On the third day, I overfilled a little and blended the epoxy at the edges.

The repair looked like this.

   

Some sanding lightened the color.  A season of sunshine should fade things out so that the patch is barely noticeable.

No more mildew.  The wall is now pinky-peach and gray.  I also power washed the patio furniture, the wooden bench, the flower pot, and the red pavers under the bench.  

   

     I was on a power washing roll and decided to tackle the siding next.  I set myself up on the shady side of the house and began.  The power washer pressure cut in and out.  Water started leaking out of the intake connection.  None of the trouble shooting tips in the manual fixed the problems.  I toted the short lived power washer back to the store for a refund, and went back to cleaning the siding with a hose, bucket of soapy water, and a soft brush on a long, telescoping pole.  We're spic 'n' span around here now, but I plan on getting another $99 power washer next spring since it makes the clean up easier and faster.  Maybe a different brand will operate for more than 10 or 12 hours.  As long as I can finish all the annual sprucing up before the appliance gives out, I'll feel like I got my money's worth.