Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Right now I am dogged tired. I have been cleaning house all week. When I mean cleaning, I have been cleaning the outside of the house.
Once a year I give the siding a good cleaning to get the dirt, bugs, bird droppings, and mildew off. I am sure everyone has seen those commercials where you just spray some chemicals on, and like magic, you have bright, clean, good-as-new siding. I have never had that experience. I have a wrap -around porch, from the living room entrance way around to the back door next to the kitchen. Bugs and critters love to live under there and they make a mess you would not believe.
So I have found that the best way to get the walls and ceiling clean is to get one of those sponge mops…and a big pail of warm water primed with a good all-purpose cleaner…like Pine Sol or Mr. Clean. Fortunately the wall and ceilings are not that high so I can reach everything without climbing a ladder. I scrub a section and then spray it down with water from the hose. Do another area and repeat the process. The weather has been hot this past week but when I wash down the house I get drenched in water from head to toe..part sweat and part soapy water…but it keeps me cool; however, my hands get kind of wrinkled looking. That took two afternoons to complete and that was the easy part. The house is a partial two story and there are places that are difficult to get to, even on a step ladder.
Despite the obstacle of height, I still try to get as much area sponge bathed as possible since this approach seems to get the most of the dirt and grime off even though it kills my body. You have to realize that you are climbing up a 16 foot ladder dragging a water laden mop…then you reach out and over your head to get as high as you can, and you slowly wipe back and forth until you run out of water. Go back down the steps… Get a refill… Back up and do another area. For some added height I enlisted a paint roller pole that has one of those extensions. Don’t laugh, it works. Get one of those big fluffy rollers, dip it into the soapy water and go at it. Sort of like painting except it is wetter and heavier than normal paint.
Even with that there are several peaks I cannot reach and one side of the garage is on a hill that defies any way to balance a ladder without tempting fate. So for good measure I rented a pressure sprayer. They do not have one that you can attach a bucket to and shoot cleaning solution high up in the air…just water. So I have to buy some siding cleaner that are in bottles with a nozzle that you attach to a hose and they are supposed to spray up about 20 feet or so. Warning: spraying up that high means a lot of that spray is coming down in your face; wear goggles, gloves and a hat, trust me. Now this helps get to places that I cannot get to with a ladder and an extension, but of course it helps if the motor will start.
I got the rented unit home, hook everything up, followed the owners instructions and nothing. After 5-10 minutes I was able to get it to run for maybe 10 seconds and then it would shut off. I called the owner and went over the instructions again on the location of the two switches that were necessary to start the engine. Tried again, no better results than before. I convinced him to come out, after an hour he showed up. He checked the switches, pulled the starter several times with no better luck than I had. Then he kind of grinned, walked over and picked up the sprayer, pulled the handle so the water started spraying out of the nozzle, reached over and pulled the starter cord. It started right up! He forgot to tell me that the sprayer helped kick the engine over.
After understanding that little trick, the engine kicked over every time with one pull. My routine was to walk up the hill, turn on the water, walk back down and start the sprayer. Spray water, turn off motor, walk back up the hill, turn off water, walk back down, take the sprayer off the hose and attach the cleaner. Walk back up the hill, turn the water back on, walk back down, start motor, spray cleaner, let it set for a few minutes, walk back up to the garage turn the water off, walk back down, re-attach the sprayer hose, walk back up to turn the water back on, and back down to start the mower and spray water to remove the cleaner. Do that several times till the side is clean. Drag the ladder, hose, and motor to another side of the house and repeat the process.
By the end of the day I felt like I was part mountain goat, and part sun-baked fish. My body ached from my lower back to the top of my neck. Even a week later my body still has places that are sore to touch.
Well, I have talked your ear off on this one. As always be good, do good, play safe and remember a clean house starts on the outside in.
JR
