power washing a cedar deck

[mikebl]

I'm going to power wash my deck this week and I'm going to use 1 part bleach/ 4 parts water. If any gets on my vinyl siding, will the siding fade?

[TZ]

1. Why so strong?

Even labs when they use bleach as a disinfectant use a 1:10 dilution of bleach...

[mikebl]

2. why so strong???

I thought that I had read that somewhere before

[hatredisnotavalue]

3. My experience

We powerwashed out house several years ago with a bleach mixture and a couple of weeks later it got into our well. You could smell the bleach when showering and I couldn't use the water for cooking. If you've got a good power washer, I would forgo the bleach!

[Bennyboy]

4. As someone who does this for a living....

DONT POWER WASH! power washing only ruins wood and washes away the soft wood and leaves ruts. The wood will be all bumpy with some of the harder woods higher than the soft woods and that means a rough surface and splinter problems.

Just use a scrub broom and one of the prepared deck cleaners. Follow the instructions and then rinse without power washing.

[mikebl]

5. thats kinda what I'm afraid of

I've heard a lot of story's about the damage a powerwasher can do to wood

thanks for all of your replies

[hatredisnotavalue]

6. Hey Bennyboy...

Please don't share this with Old and In the Way. (my husband) He is a crazed man with his power washer! Don't tell him I told you this :) We have hand crafted cedar railings along the deck and they didn't hold the stain well. Just a scrubbing and a reapply with the stain should suffice?