[nanci2539]

Does anyone know the difference between regular power washing and low pressure power washing? Friends/neighbors tell me not to waste my money on low pressure washing for my lanai/birdcage/house. The method is low pressure (of course) which doesn't do as good a job as standard power washing.

[Sparky-30]

My own power washer has 3 different color coded tips you can use.
Red-extremely high pressure, you can write your name in the concrete with it.

Orange- 2nd level medium pressure

Yellow tip- low pressure which I would use first.

[JohnN]

Low pressure works fine to remove the algae and not tear up vinyl (which I have). If you read other threads, most recommend it. It's the bit of detergent and bleach (outdoor) that does the cleaning up, not the pressure.

But to each their own.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

As sparky and john have already mentioned, you CAN wreak havoc with a pressure washer and really tear some stuff up if you're not careful. I've blown paint off a garage door (by intent) and splintered/fuzzed up some wood on a deck (my bad!) in the past. Best to go with a tip and pressure setting that is less aggressive first. You can always step them up a bit if you find they're not doing the job.

If you're going to pay someone else for the pressure washing service, I'd suggest checking out some of their references to see how satisfied they were with the work performed. As long as the results are appropriate (good job of cleaning, no siding/stucco/screen/vegetation damage, etc.), it really wouldn't matter to me what method was used to get the job done!

Bill