My house is 40 years old. The exterior trim – between the brick facing and the eaves – is painted wood, a dentil-molding. The trim has probably been painted 4 or 5 times, last time ten years ago. This trim is filthy and I’d like to clean it before winter. Can I use a pressure washer to clean it? Or is there a better way? Thanks.

A ryobi pressure washer will do fine. An experienced user will know what chemicals to use for cleaning as well as the pressure and jet sizes to use. To DIY just be careful and try to stay even with your cleaning.

Yesterday I went to Sears and they had a floor model pressure washer (ie, used) 2550psi Craftsman for $203. Came with everything and appears new, but when I got it home and tried to start it, it failed About 40 pulls later my arm was too sore to continue and I gave up.

With pressure washers, more than any other product I can think of, you can’t go cheap. You need to spend more than $200 (new) to get something decent. I went through two that were under $200 in the SAME DAY. One broke after about five minutes, and the second broke just after I finished my job (thankfully).

I haven’t purchased one since, but if I ever have a need, I’ll put up the money for a good one.

Should I use my ryobi pressure washer to wash a previously stained cedar fence?

As there are many different PSI washers available, there are different tips you can use. Just don’t use a 0 tip and don’t get too close to the fence with the wand.

The hotter it is, the faster you have to work. Try to work in the shade when staining and keep a wet edge. If the material dries and you overlap you will get what we call a “flash mark” – meaning that the material will be shiny in the overlapped area.