Alright, so I finally decided to get one of those high-pressure washers. Been meaning to for ages, seeing how grimy the patio and driveway were getting.

Getting Started

Pulled the thing out of the box. Wasn't too complicated, thankfully. Mostly assembled. Just had to connect the high-pressure hose to the machine and the spray gun. Then clicked one of the nozzle tips onto the end of the wand. Picked the general-purpose one first.

Next, I hooked up my garden hose to the inlet on the washer. Made sure that connection was tight. Didn't want water spraying everywhere before I even started. Plugged the power cord into an outdoor outlet. Double-checked everything.

The First Blast

Turned on the water faucet all the way. Heard the water fill the machine. Took a deep breath, aimed the wand at a dirty patch of concrete, and squeezed the trigger.

Whoa. Okay, it definitely has some power. Made a bit of noise, like a loud vacuum cleaner. The kickback wasn't bad, but you know it's there. Water came blasting out.

Cleaning the Patio

I started working on the concrete patio slabs. They had that green slippery stuff and just general dirt built up. I held the nozzle maybe a foot away and moved it back and forth, nice and steady.

• Started in one corner.
• Worked my way across in stripes, like mowing a lawn.
• You could see the dirt just lifting off, leaving clean concrete behind. It was pretty satisfying, actually.
• Had to overlap the stripes a bit to avoid leaving lines.
• Tried a narrower, more focused nozzle for some stubborn spots, which worked well but took longer because it covered less area.

It took a while, maybe an hour or so for the whole patio area. Got splashed a bit, definitely wear old clothes and boots. My arm got a little tired from holding the trigger down, but it wasn't too bad.

End Result

Stood back and looked when I was done. Big difference. The concrete looked almost new again. Rinsed it all down one last time. Turned off the machine, turned off the water, and disconnected everything.

Overall, pretty impressed. It did exactly what I hoped it would. Made a nasty job much, much easier than scrubbing with a brush. Definitely worth it for cleaning up outside areas. Thinking the car might be next, but I'll use a gentler nozzle for that.