Don wanted some responsible pressure cleaning when he called us to clean, acid etch and paint the concrete driveway/car park and main entrance to one of his suburban retail outlets over the coming Easter break.
We hadn’t heard from him in a number of years although we did routinely do responsible pressure cleaning for him in the past.
When we went to measure up we were shocked to see the condition of the surface. It appears he’d been opting for cheaper quotes and engaged contractors who either didn’t know what they were doing ….or simply didn’t give a damn. It was quite evident they had been using pressure washers (Gurni’s) which had gouged the substrate.
Don ultimately became apprehensive that further pressure washing, even responsible pressure cleaning, might simply highlight the pre-existing damage to his treasured concrete shop entrance, so he decided not to proceed. Regrettably the damage has already been done and lamentably the gateway to his business is almost beyond salvation at reasonable cost.
There are a number of ways deterioration like this can occur but usually it’s attributable to four basic causes: –
- Inexperienced operator (leaving a rotary head on in a set position whilst taking a phone call)
- Using equipment with too much pressure and too little water volume, which tends to bite or slice into the surface (eg: 5000 psi & 21 litres/minute)
- Use of the wrong head on the lance (turbo head when it should have been a fan-jet)
- Failure to use chemicals or use of the wrong chemicals
Pictures below show block walls at a Brisbane Tertiary Institution that have been ruined by inappropriate use of pressure cleaning equipment.
We recommend you engage contractors who know what they’re doing. Some Companies have been around for years just like us but their employees, or in some cases sub-contractors, are relatively inexperienced.
Call Waterworks on (07) 3300 6100 – employees of our Quality Assured Company have between 20 and 30 years experience and all of that at Waterworks Professional Exteriors.
