Here’s a detailed accounting of how often I deploy a pressure washer: Not often.
I’m a remodeling contractor who has found a market strata building wood decks. I’ve heard from a lot of deck builders “I only use composite; get your customers to raise their budgets.”
And I suppose there’s a conversation to be had here, but my first two cents will be that if I only used composite because wood was beneath me, I’d be saying goodbye to somewhere around 50% of my annual revenue. Maybe I’m just bad at business. The point is, we also coat some of those decks and, as a result, I’ve used and destroyed numerous pressure washers: gasoline-powered units, cordless, and corded. They all share the same cluster of annoying attributes: They’re too big and they take up way more space than they deserve in the shop or on the truck.
The Test
With wood decks a focus of the business model, I use a wood/metal hybrid rail system, not 2×2; this takes out 75% of the future maintenance. Being able to say “Yes, we’ll clean and stain your deck” puts thousands of dollars in the till that otherwise wouldn’t be there. And, as generalists, our willingness to do this type of work keeps us in front of the customer who might be thinking about a new kitchen or basement next year. That’s a long way of saying: I don’t need my pressure washer until I do. Then I need it to not annoy me to death. DeWalt’s innovatively designed pressure washer does just that. The DWPW2100 PSI 1.2 GPM electric washer is easily the most elegantly designed, effective pressure washer I have ever used.
We used the tool to prep several wood decks we built for stain. This washing opens the wood grain, much like sanding, to better accept the treatment. I also used it to blast cobwebs and 25 years of dog hair from a deck we re-planked. I cleaned a mung-encrusted sidewalk at my home (always good for the mood) and I used it for cleaning impacted clay from around the workings of my tractor. Pretty sure I washed a few trucks with it, too.
Hero Function
This unit’s hero function—and this is a first—is how it behaves when I’m not using it. Unlike every other pressure washer I have ever owned, I can put it away.
The unit has wheels and a telescoping handle like a roll-aboard suitcase and is roughly the same size. I don’t see any reason for the wheels and handles on this light, easy-to-carry unit, but I love that everything but the hose is contained inside the unit’s roll cage.
The wand breaks down like a Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise version) sniper rifle and is stored in the body of the tool. Nozzles are secured in this compartment, too. Make sure you know which nozzle does what.
In Action
This unit is gloriously corded. In an enterprise like pressure washing, I need full-tilt-boogie all day. Batteries and chargers that will both deplete and get wet? No, thank you.
The cord is amply long and wraps up easily. Unlike gasoline-powered units that are loud, heavy, and require all the gasoline maintenance interactions, the DeWalt is also “draggable.” I can yank the hose to finish that last little bit (can’t do that with a heavier beast that would also be prone to tipping), rather than stop, move the unit and hose, and re-set.
2100 PSI. Pressure washing most stuff a remodeling contractor has to pressure wash doesn’t really require a whole lot of pressure. In most cases the chemicals/detergent do the heavy lifting of grime separation from the substrate and pressure washing is really enhanced rinsing.
I’ve had plenty of luck at the very bottom end of the PSI range in the past, around 1,500. It’s a light truck versus a one-ton, but I’m just hauling mulch, not plowing a Target parking lot so to speak.
For the 600-PSI jump on the DeWalt, I have a welcome and a warning. The increased output is awesome and delivered measurable results in everything I did with it. But, if you’re not careful, it’s going to blow up wood fiber if you get the wand too close to the wood.
Front, back, switches. DeWalt uses what appears to be the same gasketed, threaded hose-to-unit connection with the same thread climb as every other unit I’ve used. DeWalt’s industrial design, unlike every other unit I’ve used, makes this fitting accessible and gives plenty of room for your hand. I still have to fight to get the threads started, but it is a vast improvement over other units.
If I used this tool every day, I’d have a protocol for this, but I don’t. The tool is a cube. The cord comes out of one corner, the hose out of another. And there’s an on-off switch someplace else. Nice and simple.
The DeWalt unit is about three times easier to manage than any other pressure washer I have ever used. See more at dewalt.com. Cost is $330
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