Water Blasting Your Path or Patio

Step 1. Gather your safety gear

It is always important to put your personal safety first. When using a water blaster, it could be a good idea to get kitted out with a full face shield or safety goggles. This is because water blasters sometimes produce debris ejected at high speeds that could flick up into your eyes. It is also recommended to wear earmuffs for hearing protection, with petrol-powered water blasters getting particularly noisy.

You’ll want to avoid contact with your feet, which is why we suggest wearing fully enclosed shoes. While you're at it, pop on a pair of gloves for hand protection and wear protective clothing. If you are at all unsure about what safety gear is required, simply look on our Hirepool website for specific instructions for use.

Once you are all suited up and informed, you are safe to move on to the next step. 

Step 2.  Prepare the water blaster

Before you’re ready to blast off, you’ll want to ensure you’ve completed a few key safety steps. 

You should thoroughly check the water blaster to make sure it’s working as efficiently as possible, ensuring that the fuel tank is full if using a petrol or diesel water blaster. You should also make sure that the engine oil is at the correct level and that there is adequate water supply available. If you’re hiring a water blaster from Hirepool, there’s no need to worry about this as the team will take care of this for you. 

One attachment you won’t want to be without is the rotary surface cleaner whirlaway, which has rotating jets on it and comes in handy for cleaning a wider area in a single pass, saving you time and making it a much easier job. To change the water blaster attachments simply twist and pull the existing nozzle off in one motion and put the extension nozzle on along with the Whirlaway. Don’t have any special attachments? Don’t sweat it - you can still clean your patio and path without it.

Step 3. Wash down the surface

When you’ve completed the necessary safety checks and got your safety equipment on, it’s time to turn on your water blaster. 

For electric water blasters, you need to do the following: 

• Connect your water blaster to the power supply or an in line RCD
• Connect the water blaster to the water hose
• Connect the blast hose and gun to the water blaster
• Turn on the water supply and simply flick the switch on the back of the blaster and you’re ready to go. 

Top tip: Electric water blasters are typically best for lower-pressure jobs, as they don’t have quite as much grunt as petrol-powered water blasters.

If you’re using a petrol or diesel water blaster then you’ll want to do the following: 

• First connect the water supply to the water blaster 
• Turn on the water supply when you are ready to begin
• Turn on the fuel supply and engage the engine choke
• Turn on the ignition switch and firmly pull the starter cord until the engine starts.

If you are using the water blaster without the whirlaway attachment, here’s what you’ll need to do:

• Wash down your surface by aiming the nozzle at the area at a 45° angle, keeping the nozzle a few centimeters away from the surface you’re blasting and depress the trigger on the gun to release the jet of water. Try and keep it at a consistent angle for consistent results.
• Start slowly with a low pressure, either by depressing the trigger slowly or by holding the wand further from the surface as the water blaster can have a bit of thrust and you’ll want to be sure the surface can handle high pressure. 
• Aim to use this first pass with the water blaster to clear any leaves and loose dirt or debris that might get in the way when you use the whirlaway next. 

When water blasting your deck or patio, you’ll want to avoid any pesky streaking from occurring. To avoid this, clean in a sweeping motion away from your home. After all, you don’t want all the grime and debris getting pushed up against your walls/windows. Instead, you should aim to get it all off your deck and patio to keep the final results neat and tidy. Super high-powered water blasters might be a bit much for your deck, so try and find one that is of an appropriate power for the best finish. If you have a timber deck, we suggest staying away from the highest pressure setting, as this could cause damage to the wood. 

If you are primarily focusing on water blasting your driveway, start at the top and work your way down. Leave the gutters until last to avoid blasting any debris back onto your path.

Step 4. Use the whirlaway attachment

Now that your surface is clear and washed down, you can use the Whirlaway. As mentioned earlier, attach the whirlaway to your water blaster and turn it on. Guide the whirlaway with two hands as you sweep back and forth, working methodically down your path or patio. As you keep going over the area you’re trying to clean, you’ll notice the difference in the colour of the washed area and that unwashed area.

Use this as a guide as you sweep across, making sure to cover each area for an even and tidy result that is streak-free. Not only is this attachment effective, but it is also efficient! Use it to radically reduce the time spent hard at work without sacrificing results. 

Step 5. Rinse down your path or patio using low pressure

When you’re satisfied that the grime and build-up has been blasted off, go back to your water blaster and remove the whirlaway. Rinse down your entire surface using the water blaster at a generous distance from the surface to ensure a low pressure, making sure to get right into the corners to make it look spick and span. If you did not have a whirlaway available to carry out step 3, you can also use an outdoor cleaning solution to clear any of the excess dirt or grime left on the surface. On some water blasters, you’re able to put the solution into a detergent dispensing unit that is on the water blaster which will help dilute it for you, so ensure to follow cleaning product application instructions and water blaster manuals.