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Warning: I saw a neighbor in Phoenix use a pressure washer on his wood deck and now I'm wondering if that's a huge mistake or a total game-changer.
He said it saved him a full day of sanding, but I always thought high-pressure water would wreck the wood grain and force moisture deep inside the boards.
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price.tara7mo ago
Saving a full day of sanding" sounds great until you're also saving up for a full deck replacement. That high pressure absolutely shreds the wood grain and drives water where it doesn't belong. It's a shortcut that usually costs you more time later.
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victorb747mo ago
Honestly, the part about high pressure shredding wood grain is only true if you do it wrong. Tbh, you can clean a deck with a pressure washer without wrecking it. You just need a wider tip, keep the wand moving, and don't get too close. Ngl, I've done mine a few times and it's fine as long as you're careful. It's more about the person holding the wand than the tool itself.
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caleb_stone6mo ago
Yeah, @victorb74 makes a good point about technique mattering a lot. Used to believe the same thing until I saw my neighbor's deck up close. He was careful, but after a few years of washing it that way, the wood looked fuzzy and soft, like a worn-out broom. Water definitely got forced deep into some cracks and those boards rotted way faster than the rest. Now it just seems like a gamble, even if you know what you're doing.
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