Okay, so I finally got around to tackling the grime on my driveway and patio this weekend. Had been putting it off forever, you know how it is. Decided to get my hands on a pressure washer machine. Didn't buy one straight off, borrowed one from my brother-in-law first to see how it went. It was one of those electric ones, not the super powerful gas types, but figured it'd be enough for a start.

Getting Started

First thing was getting it out of his garage and into my car. Heavier than it looked, actually. Got it home, pulled it out onto the driveway. Looked simple enough. Had the main unit, the spray gun thing, a long hose for the water, and a couple of different colored nozzles. No idea what the nozzles did, but figured I'd find out.

Hooking it up was pretty easy.

• Connected my garden hose to the inlet on the machine. Tightened it up good.
• Connected the pressure washer hose from the machine to the spray gun handle. Clicked right in.
• Plugged the power cord into my outdoor outlet. Made sure the connection was dry.

The Actual Washing Part

Alright, moment of truth. Picked the nozzle that looked like a general-purpose one (I think it was green?). Turned on the water tap first, let the hose fill up. Then I braced myself a little, pointed the gun at a dirty patch of concrete, and squeezed the trigger. Whoa! It definitely had some kick to it. Not like, knock-you-over kick, but you feel it.

Started moving the spray back and forth across the concrete. It was actually pretty amazing watching the dirt and green stuff just disappear. Like drawing clean lines on a dirty surface. It was super satisfying, not gonna lie. Made a bit of a mess, though. Water and dirty spray kinda went everywhere, definitely got my shoes wet pretty quick.

I tried another nozzle, a yellow one, which seemed to have a narrower, stronger stream. Big mistake on the wooden fence section I tried next. It was taking off the dirt, alright, but it looked like it was starting to chew up the wood a bit too. Switched back to the wider spray nozzle pretty fast after that. Lesson learned: test in a spot that doesn't matter first!

Spent maybe two hours doing the main patio area and the walkway. It's noisy, not terribly loud, but a constant hum and spray sound. You get into a rhythm, just slowly working your way across the surface. Had to move the machine and cords around a few times which was a bit annoying, but manageable.

Wrapping Up

Finished up, turned off the machine, then the water tap. Squeezed the trigger again just to get the leftover pressure out of the hose, like the instructions said. Disconnected everything, wiped the machine down a bit. The difference was huge, honestly. The patio looked almost new. Definitely worth the effort and the wet shoes.

So yeah, that was my first real go with a pressure washer. Pretty simple process overall. Thinking I might actually buy one now. It did a good job, and there's still the back deck and the siding that could use a clean.