surface cleaner on wood

Surface Cleaner on wood?

  • Works great

    Votes: 16 28.6%
  • Works but leaves swirl marks

    Votes: 2 3.6%
  • Makes it faster to strip

    Votes: 2 3.6%
  • Wand is better and faster

    Votes: 12 21.4%
  • Never thought of it

    Votes: 14 25.0%
  • Oops I forgot to put bigger nozzels on and it ripped up the deck

    Votes: 1 1.8%
  • Dont have a surface cleaner !

    Votes: 9 16.1%

  • Total voters
    56

oneness

New Member
I have never done this, but have posed the question elsewhere a few weeks ago. Most of the feedback I got was negative. I'm curious if anyone here has tried it and what happened?
 

Aplus

New Member
It just seems to me that a surface cleaner would leave undesirable marks on a wood deck. Even if the pressure is throttled down via different tips, there are still going to have to be marks from going across the grain. Using my wand, I always go with the grain only, when washing.

A surface cleaner is not able to get to all of the decking surface, especially in corners. Trying to manuever under railings and such cause you to slow down a little, and maybe have to stop and start the cleaner. It just seems that there would be issues blending in the areas that are wand washed, with the surface cleaner washed.

I will have to someday wash a wood deck with a surface cleaner to prove to myself it is effective. I need to some how find a wood deck to test on.

And nobody has yet stepped onto the soapbox to tell us they themselves washed a wood deck with a surface cleaner, and were truly satisfied with the results.

Until I see otherwise, my thoughts right now are that it could be difficult to blend in the different cleaning techniques so that everything is prepared uniformly.
 

ron

New Member
my 2 cents.
I would use the surface cleaner on PT but not on anything else.
Number one most decks that are big enuff to want to use a surface cleaner on are made of pressure treated here or TREX.
That brings up another question that you could add to your pole.
Who uses a surface cleaner on TREX?
iF YOU USE THE RIGHT CHEM AND A GIZMO LIKE A pitchwitch You would'nt need a spinner to save time.
When i fist started doing wood i duct taped a wood dowel to the end of the lance. It stuck out the right distance so i could'nt get any closer to the deck. Then i just walked it down each board untill i got the feel.
One thing a lot of contractors overlook is making custom langth wands. The other is failure to remember distance from tip to surface is a real way to reg pressure.
If useing a spinner was not good for wood, why would they make adj. height surface cleaners?
im sure it's not just for clay.
 

oneness

New Member
A-Plus:

Good point about blending in the wand areas with the surface-cleaned areas. I hadn't thought about that. I haven't tried it either, just thought about why I had never heard anyone mention doing it while I was doing my own deck a couple months ago.
 

doug mckenzie

New Member
I HAVE USED A SURFACE CLEANER ON WOOD(ANY KIND) EVEN WHITE CEDAR, FOR YEARS! YOU DO HAVE TO CUT IN WITH THE LANCE. SOMETIMES I JUST USE THE LANCE. MOST TIMES (WE CALL IT THE SPINNER) WE USE THE SPINNER, DOES GREAT JOB AND IS FAST NO QUESTION. ONE THING THOUGH OUR'S HAS NO WHEELS! I DON'T SEE HOW ONE WITH WHEELS WOULD WORK ON A DECK. YOU MUST KEEP THE SPINNER MOVING AT ALL TIMES. SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO KNOW AND LEARN. IT'S SOMETHING LIKE A FLOOR POLISHER. YOU GUY'S THAT WERE IN THE SERVICE KNOW ABOUT THAT. I WOULD RECOMEND IT, I WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT IT. SUDS MCKENZIE
 

Dan S

New Member
SO you are saying to take off whells?

didnt think of that ...

what about 500 psi ?
tops 1200 ............................
 

doug mckenzie

New Member
the spinner i have is made with a fiberglass skirt that slides on the surface. i don't know about the one's with wheels. on mine the nozzles are(i'm going to guess)1.5-2.00in from the surface.
the nozzles are verry small (gpm/2) I THINK you have to have good water flow for the thing to work. the psi and water flow has to spin and clean.I ALSO know if it dosen't spin you WILL mark up the wood.500-1500 psi?i don't think this will work
we use full pressure, hot water.3000,5.5 gal/min . o.k. at the end of 200 ft. of hose it's less psi. that's what we do.YOU MUST KEEP THE SPINNER MOVING AT ALL TIMES! suds mckenzie
 

mhpoole

New Member
my god i would hate to see what a deck would look like using one of those things. I always use a wand. Can someone post a pic of a deck in the process of being cleaned with a surface cleaner?
 

Dan S

New Member
no-pic/s but ......... I used one for the first time on a deck today .......... worked great !! the deck wash 16x40 with a tree in the middle .. and a bench seat .... they just wanted it cleaned and no sealer ... They are going to seal it themselfs ...... If I ever get up that way again I will take the camera ...
 

Harold Brantley

New Member
For years I too feared using a floor machine on wood but boy is it wonderful and a big time saver on a large deck. I use cold water, 3 k psi with a Landa which has wheels and adjustable height rotor (raised to about 2.5"). I only use it on PT that is in good physical shape (not rotten). I go with the grain and do 3 boards at a pass and you wouldn't know it was cleaned with a rotating floor machine. The cut in with a wand blends perfectly. This doesn't mean every one is ready to do it with sucess. It is possible to damage wood so take it easy at first and gain experience.
 

onecallpowerw

New Member
We love it. We were worried at first but gave it a try and it worked wonderfully. We have been using surface cleaners for a about a year now on wood. (Big Jobs) It cuts the job time in half if not more. The important thing is to have the right wash bar attached and to keep moving. We generally cut in then use the washer then switch back to the wand. The equipment we carry are all made by whisper wash. The big guy and the original. The original seems to work best but they both do a great job.
 

onecallpowerw

New Member
It ranges between 400-800. Depends on the deck being cleaned. Also the chems have allot to do with it, tempetures etc.... But no more than 800.
 

chrisecs

New Member
Surface cleaner on decks

I have tried it twice, with mixed results. If you have experience with surface cleaners on concrete, you know about overlap, the correct speed, chem. use, etc.

Wood is not much different. Maybe it requires a little more TLC to prevent damage. It will make the job faster and easier with good results. The corners, edges, and other hard to reach areas will need to be cut it; just like on concrete. No big deal.

The only problme I had was on one dock that was just a little wider than by cleaner, so I had to make two passes, and the overlap was quite obvious. That is the only drawback. If you can avoid overlap, it is a great way to clean decks.
 

Tom Stetina

New Member
I have a small 15" SC on the end of a 5' wand. I just make sure I lift it off the wood surface before starting it and then set it down so it doesn't leave a start up ring. Kind of a pain blending the edges in with a wand, but is a huge time saver for a large floor surface.
 

New Look

Registerd User
I have a small 15" SC on the end of a 5' wand. I just make sure I lift it off the wood surface before starting it and then set it down so it doesn't leave a start up ring. Kind of a pain blending the edges in with a wand, but is a huge time saver for a large floor surface.

You mean like this? Yea...I did it...got distracted when I was turning on my machine. Good thing this was the area that needed to be washed.
 

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