patrick mitchel wrote:
Buy from one of the big box retailers or a dedicated dealer? Buy
spares or as needed (wondering about buying later with the planned
obselescence making parts possibly harder to come by in the yrs.
ahead) Any caveats- looking for a "do all", something that will do
the house owners typical needs- perhaps the max being cleaning
blasting paint/stripping. Any tips regarding brands or pump types?
TIA Pat

I would suggest doing some research first. There are many different
models and some work better at some uses than others.

For example. I have a small electric model. It works fine for me. I
don't need to worry about gas, what to do during the winter (I just put mine
in the basement.) and it does all I ask of it. However it would not be my
choice for heavy duty work.

Watch out for the specs. Consumer models, especially those sold at big
box stores tend to list high pressure specs, but they don't list the gallons
per minute. I like to clean my drive and walks and get rid of the dirt and
moss. My electric is powerful enough, but it does not supply much volume.
A heavy duty model with a higher gallons per minute would greatly decrease
the time it takes. I have chosen the convenience of electric over the speed
of other models. You may chose otherwise.

As for paint stripping, I suggest you do some research on that one.
Depending on the job, I would not recommend a power washer. On wood power
washers are questionable as they tend to damage the wood if powerful enough
to remove paint, even loose paint and they wet the wood enough that it can
be damaged or take days to dry. If you have a really large job, you may
want to consider renting a commercial model and keep a small electric for
day to day stuff.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit