# Forum Home Renovation Tools & Products  High Pressure Water Cleaner - Which One ?

## SteveAndBelle

Hi, 
I've got two small-ish jobs to do with a high pressure water cleaner and as I've never owned one before I'm not too sure what I should get.  I'm willing to spend the money to get something reasonable that will last until I need to use it again (car washing or maybe when I get a motorbike) but I'm guessing I wont need anything too crazy as I can't see these jobs being too difficult for a cleaner.  I wont really need to clean concrete, boat hulls or mouldy roof tiles or whatever. 
First job is to just do a simple clean of our back deck.  There's really nothing wrong with it apart from it being very dirty.  I don't need to blast the stain off the timber decking or anything, I only really need to give it a good solid clean to remove the last few years of built-up dirt, grime, BBQ grease, bits of spilled candle wax, bird poo.  I've cleaned it with wet rags and a mop & bucket before but screw doing that again as it's a relatively large area to cover (6m x 12m) and thought a water blast would be easier & much more effective.  There *is* the potential of re-staining the decking in the future but it's still in very good condition right now so I don't need to do it yet. 
Second job is a little tougher.  I've got to blast away the UV effected stain on rough-cut cedar weatherboards of our holiday house.  It's only a small house (approx. the same size as our deck above believe it or not) so I wont be needing to do this for days on end but I'm guessing I do need a fair amount of grunt to blow the flakey bits off ready for restaining.  I think the Intergrain 4-step process includes a cleaner/anti-mould/anti-mildew solution so I assume I'll need to somehow inject this into the water feeding the pressure cleaner.  Again I'm assuming it's a no-brainer to do this with any pressure cleaner but a quality one would be preferred. 
The only thing I can think is that because the small house is double storey the cleaner will have to either be portable enough to clamber up a ladder/trestle with OR be able to pump decent pressure through a nice long hose to the gun so it can stay on the ground while I'm up in the air. 
Any thoughts, recommendations or comments ??  Will a $50 POS from Bunnings do the trick or should I be looking at a decent $1000 Karcher/Gerni type thing ?!?  Any help is appreciated, thanks.

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## Archie J

> Hi, 
> I've got two small-ish jobs to do with a high pressure water cleaner and as I've never owned one before I'm not too sure what I should get.  I'm willing to spend the money to get something reasonable that will last until I need to use it again (car washing or maybe when I get a motorbike) but I'm guessing I wont need anything too crazy as I can't see these jobs being too difficult for a cleaner.  I wont really need to clean concrete, boat hulls or mouldy roof tiles or whatever. 
> First job is to just do a simple clean of our back deck.  There's really nothing wrong with it apart from it being very dirty.  I don't need to blast the stain off the timber decking or anything, I only really need to give it a good solid clean to remove the last few years of built-up dirt, grime, BBQ grease, bits of spilled candle wax, bird poo.  I've cleaned it with wet rags and a mop & bucket before but screw doing that again as it's a relatively large area to cover (6m x 12m) and thought a water blast would be easier & much more effective.  There *is* the potential of re-staining the decking in the future but it's still in very good condition right now so I don't need to do it yet. 
> Second job is a little tougher.  I've got to blast away the UV effected stain on rough-cut cedar weatherboards of our holiday house.  It's only a small house (approx. the same size as our deck above believe it or not) so I wont be needing to do this for days on end but I'm guessing I do need a fair amount of grunt to blow the flakey bits off ready for restaining.  I think the Intergrain 4-step process includes a cleaner/anti-mould/anti-mildew solution so I assume I'll need to somehow inject this into the water feeding the pressure cleaner.  Again I'm assuming it's a no-brainer to do this with any pressure cleaner but a quality one would be preferred. 
> The only thing I can think is that because the small house is double storey the cleaner will have to either be portable enough to clamber up a ladder/trestle with OR be able to pump decent pressure through a nice long hose to the gun so it can stay on the ground while I'm up in the air. 
> Any thoughts, recommendations or comments ??  Will a $50 POS from Bunnings do the trick or should I be looking at a decent $1000 Karcher/Gerni type thing ?!?  Any help is appreciated, thanks.

  I have the Stihl RE-108.       
 I bought it about  4 years ago and paid about $400.
I've only had it serviced twice , it has probably done about 40-50 hours cleaning
It has been used to clean my decking , paving , roof , car , friends boat.
I think it was the entry model and it has been perfect , not a single problem.  http://www.stihl.com.au/Products/pro...m?iModelID=615

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## Matto-FNQ

SteveandBelle, 
I've got a baby Karcher - a Winner 10 - from Supercheap. They're branded Winner, but they're made by Karcher, and use all Karcher parts. From memory, it was $90. I might have even got it cheaper than that on special. It has the suction hose to allow you to mix in detergent, but this only works when in low-pressure mode (i think most venturi-feed systems are the same). It can feed from a bucket though, so you could always pre-mix your water+detergent in that and feed from there. 
First thing I did was get a 4m or 5m extension hose for the gun. It's just a standard Karcher part, and works perfectly. If you go much longer than this you can start to get too much pressure drop for the poor little motor to overcome, but a 5m extension + 3m OEM hose, it gives me heaps of working room and no noticable pressure drop. 
With any pressure cleaner, avoid turning them on/off with the handle trigger too much. It will kill any pressure cleaner, but cheap baby ones will suffer the hardest due to their cheaper construction. With careful use though, you should be able to get quite a long life out of even a good brand cheap unit. 
The downsides to the Winner that I've found are:
* Being the baby unit, it's got the lowest pressure. When cleaning things, this equates to needing to hold the nozzle closer to the floor, which means a smaller contact patch of high-pressure water, which means more time needed to cover the same area. It still does just as good a job, it just takes you longer. 
* Because it's not a proper Karcher, whilst it's got the Karcher quick-release connection on the nozzle of the gun (and can take all std Karcher options), the gun itself doesn't unscrew from the hose. So this means that I can't borrow the Father-in-Law's Karcher floor cleaner thingy, as it connects to the screw fitting on the gun end of the hose. (NB - I'm about 90% sure about this - the more I think about it though, the more I think it would work with mine - will have to get a hold of it and check) 
Short Story - I love the Winner 10 that I've got, and think it's worth it's weight in gold. 
Good luck!
Matto  :Smilie:

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## Ashore

Kracher 
I got mine over 10 years ago and have never had to have a service in that time , mine has brass pistons and barrells don't know if thats still standard but go for brass or ceramic if you onle have limited use what way they work every time even if you don't use them for a year or so  ( no rust )

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## WillyInBris

Karcher 8 years and still going strong was one of the larger units about $500 on sale at bunnys when I got mine, just be carful they can take paint off the car well thats my wife found out when washing some Bat crap off  :Redface:  and the floor cleaner rocks  :2thumbsup:

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## SteveAndBelle

Great advice !  Thanks guys. 
So, I'm obviously looking at a Karcher or a 'Winner' (by Karcher) if I want to get a cheapie ... but what's the floor cleaner all about and which is the cheapest unit available that can handle that attachment ?? 
Also, does anyone know which model Karcher is the cheapest with brass internal parts & fittings ??  The Karcher boxes really don't give much away as they just have a few pics and nothing explaining what the pics are !  Germans eh  :Wink:

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## SteveAndBelle

Actually, I've just done a bit more research myself. 
Bunnies have the 'Winner 11' (same as the 'Winner 10' but with a brush attachment thrown in) for $99.  I doubt it's actually a genuine 'sale' price at Bunnies but SuperCheap currently have the 'Winner 10' for the same price so the '11 from Bunnies is obviously better value. 
I can't see any reason to get anything gruntier for my domestic purposes, would I be correct ?!  The only differences in all the models in the '1 & 2' series (Series 1 being the two 'Winners') is _slight_ pressure increases and hose lengths & lance/attachment inclusions.  I can't for the life of me see any difference between a $99 'Winner' and a $200-$300 model in the 2nd Series Karcher range apart from the above basic things. 
Sure, the more expensive Karchers have aluminium pumps & parts compared to the 'corrosion-free' parts of the cheaper ones (ie. plastic parts) but none of them seem to be brass or even use brass fittings for the in & out connections of the main unit.  So where's all the money go ?!  Better motor perhaps ?  I just can't see it. 
The Winner 10 & 11 are obviously made somewhere in deepest darkest Asia but I noticed even the $159 model from Series 2 is German made.  I suppose that counts for something but I dunno what really when they're all made from what seems to be the same stuff inside & out (plastic). 
One question I do have now is will all the Karcher attachements (extendable lances, rotary scrubbing brush, sand blaster option, extension hoses etc.) fit the Winner series or do I have to get a slightly better unit to take advantage of all the cool stuff ?!

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## SteveAndBelle

Too late, just bought one  :Smilie:   SWMBO told me to clean the back deck for Saturday nights dinner party so I had to get one sooner than expected. 
Anyhoo, I fell for the _slightly_ better build quality (the outside case anyway), the longer hose (yes, one whole metre extra!) and the two supplied lances of the *K2.36 M Plus* (the next step up from the Winner 11).  Got it at the non-sale price of $159.00 at Bunnies. 
While I was deciding I realised the very simple coding system Karcher used to show what accessories went with what series of unit.  What a fool I was to have missed it ! I was surprised that quite a lot of the accessories could attach to the K1 series (the Winner 10 and Winner 11) however there were a few extra lances and I think a particular long extension that could fit the K2 and up but not the K1 and this was the big decider for me.  I think I found the floor cleaner (called the patio cleaner) that Matto & Willy mentioned earlier.  Not cheap tho at $99 and it's only really designed for the K2's & up, not the K1's. 
One thing I was impressed with was the sand blaster attachment.  It is supposed to work with all series and might be the perfect thing to blast the loose varnishy stain flakes off the rough weatherboards on the holiday house !  I'll have to do some more research but it looks as though it'll do the trick nicely.  I can then go back over the house with a water blast (& possibly a special anti fungal treatment) to rinse of any leftover gritty bits. 
So thanks to all who helped.  I will be giving the K2 its first big workout this Saturday on the back deck and might report on its performance afterwards. 
Happy cleaning !

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## SteveAndBelle

Well, I don't know how we lived before the pressure cleaner !  This little K2 is amazing. 
I spent several hours yesterday cleaning the back deck and all it's timber furniture plus the BBQ and I gotta tell you this is _the_ only way to do it !  It was effortless too, didn't miss a beat all day and I'd say out of the 7-8 hours I was cleaning I had the trigger pulled for over half that time.  Amazing. 
I've used it again this morning to clean a few insect screens and they came up a treat.  I also cleaned the BBQ cover and the outdoor table setting cover and they too have come up like new. 
The Karcher 'General Cleaning' detergent stuff seems to do the trick.  I actually just applied it to everything without either of the lances and without the pressure cleaner even switched on ... I just used the water pressure out of the tap and it made a reasonable foam so that's all I needed.  I then took the detergent hose out of the bottle, ran it for a few seconds to flush it through, stuck the lance of choice on the end of the trigger stick and switched the Karcher on to blast everything clean.  Perfect !  I nearly went through the whole 5 litres and only have about 50ml left. 
One warning though, the combination of the detergent and the pressure was enough to strip my Jarrah timber furniture of its conditioning oil (or so-called oil, it was more like a dissolvable laquer).  No great problem there though as I haven't 'oiled' it since I bought it 3+ years ago so it needed to be re-done anyway :)  I also lost a bit of black paint off the cast alloy sections of the BBQ.  The thick enamelled parts were perfectly fine but the paint couldn't hold onto the alloy well enough to withstand the blast from the K2 :)  A shame but it's only a small amount and as it's alloy it's not as though it's going to rust or anything so that's OK too. 
So there you are.  Couldn't be happier with such a cheap yet super-effective device.  Not sure why anyone doing general home type cleaning jobs would need anything more than this ! 
Thanks again for your suggestions.  It was a great help and saved me hundreds !! 
Seeya, 
Steve.

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## SteveAndBelle

Just thought I'd update this thread for anyone else looking for a pressure cleaner. 
I was so impressed with the Karcher *K2.36 M Plus* that I have since bought a 2nd unit for our holiday house and one for both my Dad and brother.  They are great little units with more than enough grunt for standard domestic cleaning jobs but can easily tackle larger jobs too allbeit a little slower than with a professional outfit. 
For the money the whole range from the cheapie $99 'Winner' at either Bunnings or SuperCheap through to the K2.36 at about $159 represents amazing value for money. 
Highly recommended for so many cleaning jobs around the house, yard & car.

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## MelbMan

Hey Steve well done on working through the Karcher purchase! In my case I had a few small projects about 18 months ago (a couple of balconies that gather black mould), an upcoming WB house renovation where the walls were going to need washing down (the house is being painted at the moment... the Karcher never made this trip upcountry) 
In my case I bought a Karcher KB3.99 secondhand off Ebay. Like you I spent a bit of time looking at the base model Bunnings models but decided to go for something more powerful and secondhand... about $140 from memory. 
Mine doesn't get a lot of use but it's very handy to own (gets a lot more use that other comparably priced tools like an arc welder sitting in my workshop). And as you've found these are a fun thing to operate.

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