One thing you have to understand is the GPM of the washer is just as important as the PSI. Remember, you can never have too much pressure or GPM in a PW per se meaning you can always throttle it back to reduce the pressure. The GPM is what decreases the time to wash, not just the pressure. The higher the GPM the faster the washing. Also, the farther the tip from the surface, the lower the effective pressure is. A tip 12" away from the surface at 4000psi can do less damage than a tip 2" away at 2500psi, although a lower psi PW will have a less likely chance of accidentally causing damage. The advantage of a higher pressure PW is if you need it, it's there. I'm one of those people who would rather pay a higher price for quality initially and features knowing I will have fewer problems down the road. But you still have to live within your budget. Don't buy something based on price only to find out for a few dollars more, you could have bought a much better machine which in turn will do a better job cleaning and provide better service in the long run. As far as the PW itself, the pump is the most important piece with the engine coming in a close second. Personally, I would stay away from an AR pump (Annovi Reverberi) and stick with CAT, Comet, or General pumps along with a Honda GX engine, but make sure of the model number of the pump, not just the brand name. HD, Lowes, and the like, will put the cheapest "brand name" pump on a PW to meet a price point to sell more washers (ex: CAT 67DX39 vs a 66DX40 pump. Both are closely rated but a cost difference of around $125). Each brand pump has a high level and low level pump. You have to decide which is more important: quality or price. What you may find is once you have a PW, you will be amazed as to how many jobs you will find a use for it other than the yearly deck and driveway cleaning which can justify the initial cost. If you want to clean concrete driveways, I would invest in a good "turbo rotating nozzle." This will reduce the cleaning time by 1/2 over a "fan tip" nozzle. An industrial type will run around $100 but you can get them for as little as $30. These nozzles will eliminate the "striping" effect you get with fan spray tips. Also, when you replace tips, make sure you replace it with the correct psi/gpm that the washer is rated for. One other VERY IMPORTANT feature is the unloader valve and temperature release valve. NEVER EVER let your PW run for more than 2-3 minutes without running water through the gun/pump. If so, you can damage the pump!!! You MUST keep the pump from overheating which results in blown seals and part damage. These features increase the cost but can save hundreds down the road if the pump should overheat. http://www.ultimatewasher.com/pressure-regulator-unloader-valves.htm Also remember to keep the engine and pump oil changed frequently. These parts run at high RPMs constantly usually at a high ambient temperature which can cause the oil to break down quicker. Use the oil recommended by the pump manufacturer and a good high quality motor oil (I use Amsoil 4 stroke synthetic oil). It's a bit more but worth the reduced wear and tear on the engine.

Thanks. I thought about doing the porch foundation too. We will see how this goes and then maybe do that too. Only about 1.5 block will show when I get done though....I am building stone walls to create a large raised planting bed in front of the house. That will come later though. The dental mold is a synthetic material. It looks pretty good...but I wish I hadn't used it. It doesn't look as good in real life. The house design is very simple. I wanted something that would be easy to build since I am doing it myself. I am not a builder by trade, although this is the 3rd house my DH and I have done. It's our last. We will grow old(er) in this one.

threeapples- We've got General Shale's sand-faced brick (Spalding Tudor). The information I received from GS was no pressure washing as it will remove the sand and you'll be left with a completely different color than you were intending--you won't be able to tell damage has been done by the pressure washer until the brick dries. (Maybe you read my response on antoher thread about the candy cane houses...) The GS rep also noted that you really shouldn't pressure wash ANY brick as it can be etched and you can actually remove the mortar between the bricks. DH was not happy about the pressure washing--as mentioned above, it's the quick and easy method of cleaning. But you can use a water hose with regular water pressure and a soft brush if needed (no heavy duty scrubbing obviously). As SpringtimeHomes noted, if you're in an area with the red or orange dirt you will need to take extra precautions. Our builder put out plastic sheeting to help protect until we got the backfill in place. Once the backfill was complete we opted to put down pine needles out about 3 feet all around the house. This served 2 purposes in the end as we planned on natural areas all the way around the house except for entry areas so my pine needles are already in place just waiting for plantings! Definitely remind the builder, mason, painters, landscapers and anyone else dealing with exterior componenets of the house that they need to be neat as the house will not under any circumstances be pressure washed. If you can get it written in to your contract with the builder, that's even better. That way, you are protected just in case someone's wires get crossed (or some pressure washing guy convinces your builder he can do the job without damaging the brick) and it gets pressure washed anyway. The sand-faced brick is absolutely beautiful & for us no other brick would do after looking for months and months at every brick manaufacturer line we could find in our area. We are very pleased with the look we achieved. I sincerely hope you are as thrilled with yours! Good luck!!!

That screen door has got to go. If you need some extra light in the house but want a door, a full glass door might look better. Also, i don't know about the things on the wall next to the door. Paint all the trim white I also painted the brick just above the top windows to mix it up a bit. Add some house numbers, paint the top of the columns white, all the trim white (including the window on the porch), add some shutters, a hanging light over the door, some hanging baskets and window boxes on the porch and top windows. Please don't add awnings, this isn't the 70's. If you're feeling crazy, maybe a fan over the sitting area and lights on the front of the posts. A nice vintage mailbox might be nice too. Oh and pressure washing. LOTS of pressure washing.