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I’m having my house painted. I have organic gardens surrounding it.
How toxic is T.S.P.? If I don’t use T.S.P., what will clean off acid rain, etc.?
I wanted to use Borax, but painters say it won’t get it clean anough. It hasn’t been painted in years and there is a lot of porous, bare wood.
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Susan
What do you mean, you have an "organic" garden...exactly? There doesn't exist any other kind, except organic. Define the concept of "Toxic" and to what? Phosphates abound in the "Natural" world and so does sodium ( 2/3 of the planet is covered in salt water). If you ever drink Coke,Pepsie, or 7-up your getting your kicks from phosphoric acid and I doubt your the least bid concerned whether it's toxic. Borax will probably kill off all the natural bugs, including the earthworms, that help build rich soil all gardeners want.
Use the TSP and forget about borax wash. Wash the house and not the garden or you could end up changing the soil pH, and that will finish off your garden.
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I own a few rental properties and am considering purchasing a pressure washer. My paint store that I have been renting a washer from tells me that I need 2600-2800 PSI and if they sell one to me, the cost would be about $4,000.00.
I am wondering is the pressure washers sold at places like Home Depot for approximately $250.00 would be sufficient...What are the basic requirements that I need to look for?
Also do I need to inject TSP or Jomax just to remove dust and dirt..And how often should a house be washed. I live in New Orleans, LA near the Interstate, so we get a lot of dirt on our houses. Thanks.
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I have a 2500psi model that was 5 to 600 $ . I use it to wash probably 15 to 20 houses a year and it works fine. 4000$ seems like more than you would need. I dont use tsp unless the house is going to be repainted. Some times plain water works or a weak bleach solution or a cleaner made for washing houses. Running it through the washer is usually faster but you can apply it with a brush or garden sprayer and then blast it off.
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Charles,Thanks for the information.
Where do you think the best source for purchasing a pressure washer would be?..One of my painters suggested a pawn shop, but I think I would be concerned about warranty. Any suggestions.Thanks.
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Pat, try http://www.northern-online.com they have a pretty good selection and even if you dont buy from them they might give you some ideas. I'm sure there are others but thats the only one I have any personal experience with. A lawn equiptment dealer would have a good selection as well as the places you mentioned. You might want to try a tool rental store to rent one like the model you want to buy to try it out.Ive found enough of my own stolen tools in pawn shops to know that most of the stuff there is probably stolen, but I still buy things there occasionally. By the way I'm only a few hours away in Mobile and was over at the airport in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago. Even been to your bar a few times.
*susan,Just yesterday I used a new product with great success. Krud Kutter Deck and Siding Wash. Supposed to be bio-degradable.For those of you thinking about buying a powerwasher, try this stuff first. There is also a Zep product at Home Depot that looks similar, but I just bought some today and haven't tried it yet.My method is this. Mix according to directions in a garden sprayer. Mist surface with a hose(this stuff will mar the paint if it dries out or goes on spotty, but if you are going to repaint, so what). Hose it down with Krud Kutter. Scrub with a brush. Rinse. This stuff is formulated to use with a pressure washer, but the more I use one the less I like them, too hard on the wood. Leaves a riged surface.g
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I'm having my house painted. I have organic gardens surrounding it.
How toxic is T.S.P.? If I don't use T.S.P., what will clean off acid rain, etc.?
I wanted to use Borax, but painters say it won't get it clean anough. It hasn't been painted in years and there is a lot of porous, bare wood.