Until he left, my ex was in charge of pressure washing. I would stay inside and think he was wonderful for getting out there and doing it, and I’d be ready with a cup of tea when he’d finished.
When he left, he took the pressure washer with him, which I was fine with. But now (nearly two years later!) I’ve decided that the back steps need a damn good clean, and a pressure washer really is the only way to do it.
My house is on a slope, so the kitchen is on the ground floor if you come in the front door, but the door to the kitchen at the back of the house is up a set of steps. In wet weather (and let’s face it, at this time of the year in the north of England, all the weather is wet), they never really dry out. The sandstone has turned black with – well, with whatever it is that turns sandstone black if it never dries out and hasn’t been cleaned for far too long.
I needed to buy a pressure washer. I happen to work at a place that sells pressure washers, and I get staff discount – so that bit was easy.
Of course, once you open the box that contains your shiny new pressure washer, you find that everything needs to be fitted together. But it comes with instructions, and I can read, so that was OK too.
The next couple of hours, however, was a bit of a learning curve.
This is what I learnt from pressure washing the back steps –
- I should have worn a hat – that muck goes everywhere
- No matter how hard you try, the muck is still going to splash up to the very top of your white uPVC back door
- I should have worn my oldest trousers. And socks, and jumper, and jacket and gloves.
- Moving my car off the drive was wise
- I really need a wife – or at least someone who thinks I’m wonderful for getting out there and doing it, and is ready with a nice cup of tea when I’m finished.
- I should have remembered that I meant to give the back door mat a clean before I put everything away.
- Wearing wellies was a good move
- Just doing the pressure washing bit isn’t the end of it – you have to clean everything down and put it away, stand with your feet under the outside tap to get the worst off of your wellies before you can come back inside, you have to take everything off and put it to the wash, and then wash your glasses. Then, and only then, are you clean enough to even think about jumping in the shower.
- You feel very righteous once it’s done.
- It’s fun.
- I should do it more often
So – how long should I leave it before I do it again? Next Spring? This time next year? Every four years whether it needs it or not?
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