Pressure washers.

Been doin' this for 4 years and no problems yet.

My nickels worth!

Mikey

But, I've read that some cold water washers have seals that will not last when using hot water.

I don't know if this is true but you might ask if the unit you are interested in buying can hold up to hot water use.

If you can afford it though, get a good one.. see Northern Tool (www.northerntool.com) for a good selection, they also have good info on their pages.

Whatever you get, you want 5 HP minimum, Honda engine, about 3000 PSI.

These machines, just like so many others, are rated at their highest possible numbers to make them look good. A 1500 psi unit in reality may only give you 1000 psi at the tip. The amount of pressure and volume losses will be determined by the horsepower of of the motor/engine driving the pump, the number and sizes of in-line hose fittings, valves, nozzle and hose itself.

I strongly suggest getting one with changable nozzles. Wide fan for larger area or lower pressure cleaning and strait stream for heavy duty cleaning in a small area. Even a small cheap 1200 psi cold water unit will do some good cleaning if the right nozzle is combined with a slower cleaning process. Cold water will not remove oil as well as hot water or steam but will leave only a thin film layer behind. Most chemicals don't help much when using only cold water. If you are not looking for high volume cleaning, you could use a cold water unit to pre-wash the surface then do some old fashioned scrubbing with warm water and a brush and rinsing with the pressure unit again.

This is one item that you get what you pay for. I priced a good unit myself just a few weeks ago. For what I need, hot water/steam, 6000 psi, super heavy duty .... the $7900 price is not easy to swallow until you see the amount of work it will do.

Cat brand is about the highest rated pump for reliability and life span, of course I think their smallest one runs around $350 for the pump alone. You may not need something that will be used every day or for extended periods of time so you need to shop around and buy the best unit to fit your needs and take price as secondary. If you're unsure of what you want, spend a few bucks and rent one you think will do what you need and try it for a day. The 30 or 40 bucks for the rent may be money well spent as opposed to dropping say $800 and not getting a machine that will work for what you want or need.