So today¹ I did some pressure washing! Since I have moved into this new house I have disliked how the driveway and backyard concrete tiles looked. They had bunch of moss and black coating (forgot what it is called). So I was finally able to rent a pressure washer and be on my way on this DIY adventure. Bare in mind I have never pressured washed before.

Before, with a smiley face (forgot to take picture of it while dry)

I began on the driveway first as the garage was providing a little bit of shade from the sun, it was 25°C so I had my hat and started on my way, at the start I thought I'd be sweating way more than I thought, but the fine particles of the pressure washer being blown away with the wind was kind of chilling among all the dirt and gunk.

First few tiles washed, smiley face for testing

The whole process, albeit messy was very satisfying. Being able to wash away all the spots and get nice clean spot under was super nice (for now)!

I also started doing the side concrete skirt of the house, I only took a picture of this part but just imagine it being this moss and such along the whole house wall.

Wall concrete edge

I think the sun might have affected how I worked as I forgot to take a after picture of this or more pictures to be honest.

I started on the driveway at around 11:30 and finished up around 16:00~ with a lunch break in the middle. During this whole time, I forgot that I dd not use sunscreen :) Lesson learnt as once I finished with the whole thing, I was a red tomato in my arms and neck.

Here is a before and after of the driveway once it was finished.

After finishing the driveway, I felt a great relief of success, the rest of the places where much smaller in comparison (I think). After that the work on the trash area began, which basically is to the right of garage and driveway.

Before

My neighbour likes to collect the pallets for burning wood maybe(?) no clue. There were also a large amount of magots around there so I did not go digging too much, but I did do his side and around those wood planks as well. Because of the all loose leaves and wood pellets(?) on the floor you can see at the top right corner it was a little difficult to do his side.

It also was a little tricky to do around his backyard door as whatever I was pressure washing the more dirt and mess I was blowing under the door to his side.. whoops. (I did explain to him what I was doing and he was happy with it and not bothered, chill neighbour). I think I spent about an hour or two here only as it was relatively easy, I have a phobia of spikers and boy did the spiders not like my pressure washing the trash containers and floor around their nests. They should've moved away though, there was a notice about this pressure wash service being done in advance (j).

After picture of pressure washing being done

With that done, the task for the backyard started. Thankfully I did this now before planting anything in the garden itself, otherwise I am pretty sure I would've blown them all away.

Before, in the backyard

There were few issues trying to pressure wash the backyard, there is a dip in the tiles in the middle area as well as along the both doors, so water builds up like a puddle. This not only made it difficult to see where I pressure washed already (ruined the satisfying feeling) but also sloshed dirt water on myself and on everything around.

After, in the backyard

I also grabbed this chance to get rid of the rotten wood on the backyard floor (they were part of the box that is next to the current 2 standing ones). I need to replace those boxes at some point since the wood is just rotten to the core, it breaks if I blow on it. I am thinking maybe concrete blocks might look nicer and stay better for longer? If you have suggestions I am open to them, drop me an email or @ me on mastodon :).

After that I got to the end of the day. Throughout the whole day I was energized and did not stop for too long, most of the breaks I did were 15-20min long, so when I finally finished pressure washing everywhere I sat down and rested and boy did the pain come in hard. I must be really out of shape or weak heh. Biggest pain point was my wrist, which I believe was from holding the pressure washer handle all day squeezed, wish it had a "toggle" on button instead of hold down to "on" mode (maybe it did? And I missed it, no clue). Legs and back were also pretty sore but I was happy to finish it up!

This was only day 1 though, next up there were pouring sand and brushing to do, which I am going to write about in Part 2. But for actual real life progress, if the weather permits it tomorrow I will be sanding down pallets and wood to make backyard furniture out of, which I will also be writing about in the coming days!

This whole post was written in one sitting at 23:30, I was too tired and did not proof read it or reread it to fix any mistakes, apologies for that! If you did reach all the way to the bottom, let me know if you have any DIY tips for woodworking/pressure washing for future reference :)

Until next time,

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