Pressure washer for patio cleaning?

[Mark M]

Ive had a decent sized patio put down last year and its starting to look a little dirty so was going to jetwash it. I dont currently own one so will be buying a new one but had a couple of questions:

1. Are Karcher as bad as everyone says? Ive seen on here that the main gripe is the Karcher has plastic insides compared to metal on the Nilfisk?
2. Ive been looking at KArcher and Nilfisk online but Karcher seems to have more accesories (a really long lance for doing the guttering being one of them)
3. Ive seen some patios where you can see the jet wash "lines" so I want to avoid that so though a proper patio head would be better and possibly quicker? Ive looked at this Nilfisk one at £15 which has 10 4 star reviews, this Nilfisk one at £37 with 9 4 star reviews compared to this Karcher at £45 that has 253 41/2 star reviews which suggests the Karcher offering may [my italics] be the better option?

The pressure washer may get used for washing the car and the front drive occasionally but very light use really. Could hiring be an option?

Any thoughts and comments welcomed thanks.

 

[fergie128]

I have a Nilfisk E140, and I find it much better to use the standard adjustable nozzle (I forget what funny name they have for it) rather than any attachments. I honestly thought the patio cleaner attachment was garbage.

Definitely go with the highest pressure one you can afford in budget. The difference between a 110 and 140 bar is startling when it comes to cleaning decking and patios.

 

[Street]

I bought a Nilfisk C120 a few months ago for about £80 and I can't fault it. My patio looks brand new!

 

[welshboy]

just bought the Nilfisk C120 from argos yesterday, its on offer.

Will let you know how it goes this weekend.

 

[uchuff]

I have a cheap Nilfisk, bottom of the range I think, maybe C110 or something. It came with the cheaper of the two patio attachments which was ok but i ended up using the regular nozzle as mentioned above, although I was trying to get the dirt out from inbetween my block paving drive so I could put new polymeric sand in.

Drive came up a treat.

Also bought the auto nozzle and an autobrite foam lance and some snow foam but not had chance to use those yet.

 

[Haze]

I have got a Nilfisk, and it came with a Patio attachment, was really good

 

[acake]

i own a Karcher k4 had it 4 years now and a k2 befor this for a lot longer cant say about internals apart from if you let any Karcher or Nilfisk freeze theres the main failure issue long term.
i kept Karcher due to all the extra lances and items i had acquired over time.But if i did not have any extras and had to pick one i would have gone for Nilfisk myself as price point on there lower models with extras is very good.

 

[Buffman]

I have a Nilfisk E140, and I find it much better to use the standard adjustable nozzle (I forget what funny name they have for it) rather than any attachments. I honestly thought the patio cleaner attachment was garbage.

.

I found the patio cleaner required a lot of brute force to shift any dirt. I used the Lance instead in the end. I got the 110 and cleaned up my patio nicely.

Put a couple pics in this:
Bungalow build log

 

[SexyGreyFox]

I bought the K4 because it has a metal pump

It has a motor which is water cooled and has an aluminium head pump. It has a rapid system for the high-pressure hose, includes a plug ‘n’ clean system for changing its course over different detergents. It comes with a lance, trigger gun and cable storage as well as a warranty of 3 years.

 

[Rotty]

my K3 just packed up and was going to be 80 to fix so ordered a K4 premium full control for 145

The reason I went for the K4 is that the bloke at service centre told me the same as SGF says above, metal internals instead of plastic

 

[jellybeard999]

I've got my eye on this. My cheap halfords pressure washer is on it's way out

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/1577941

 

[Mark M]

Thanks for all the posts so far, the Nilfisk certainly seems like the more popular product! The patio is large sandstone slabs and the front is tarmac with patio slabs down the edges so no block paving to worry about.

The above Argos link looks good thanks.

 

[tsinc80697]

When we moved house the driveway and rear needed cleaning. I had a Nilfisk C110 but I didn't have the patio cleaner or a spiral head attachment. Bought a Karcher K4 Compact that was on offer and it's night and day the difference.

It took days to do due to the size but glad I went with the Karcher as it had the spiral head and patio cleaner. I'm sure the patio cleaner on the Nilfisk is good but I can definitely recommend the Karcher K4 for the job!

The K4 Compact has the same internals as the other more expensive K4 models. The only differences are the attachments, some LEDs and a hose reel on the more expensive models.

Can't remember exactly what I paid but it was below £150 and it came with the patio cleaner.