I sanded all the rusted parts to knock off the loose rust then primed with the self etching primer. While I was spraying everything I moved over to the swing hardware. I hope this will hold up well and provide many years of protection. Then I followed up with the same treatment as the plastic parts with 3 coats of paint followed by 3 coats of gloss clear coat. I found some matching spray paint and gave all the parts 3 coats of paint and then topped them off with 3 coats of gloss clear coat for protection.įor the metal handles I used some acetone to clean off any dirt and oils. The climbing handholds and other plastic accessories were really faded from years of being in the sun. You can see the gouge it took out of the wood at this close distance. While I was spraying the floor of the playset I accidentally swung too far out and hit the side from only a couple inches away. Pressure washing the wood does leave it a little rough so I went back and sanded the edges and other places where little hands would be touching with a 150 grit sanding block.Īnd here’s a great example of why you need to be careful with a high pressure sprayer. Update the Playset AccessoriesĪ key part of playset restoration is sanding and updating the accessories. I finished up my fun by spraying off the mesh screens and the climbing pulls then let everything dry out for a couple days. You can check out some more ideas and tips for using your pressure washer over at the Briggs and Stratton blog as well. I got pretty aggressive with the spraying, but it was worth it to not have to scrub that mess off. I gave them the business though and I was amazed how quickly the pressure washer cut through the funk. The outer swing set posts were absolutely disgusting. But some areas of the playset had a ridiculous amount of mildew and fungus on them. I worked my way around the playset blasting off years of dirt and debris. This did the trick perfectly and the mildew came right off on the second pass. So I switched over to the 25 degree green tip to get a little more aggressive spray pattern. The Elite3300 Gas has an upgraded 30 foot EasyFlex™ hose that made moving around the playset a breeze.Īfter cleaning the bench though I noticed some mildew still hanging on the lower boards. Then the fun began! I started with the roof and was watching the grime and mildew get blasted away. I turned up the pressure until it did a pretty good job of removing gunk without stripping the wood. I’d never used a pressure washer before so I tested it out on the rotten boards I removed from the climbing wall. While I was waiting I switched the quick-connect tip out to the 40 degree white tip which is the least aggressive of the bunch. To begin the playset refinishing prep I started at the top of the swing set and hosed everything down with a good dosing of the cleaner then let it sit for 5 minutes to do it’s thing. I started up the pressure washer and dropped the siphon tube into the bucket of cleaner which pulls the soap through the line into the sprayer. Of course whenever you’re using a pressure washer you want to wear safety goggles to protect from overspray. So I plugged in the soap spray tip then hooked up my hose to supply the water. It can go up to 3300 psi and it has 5 quick-connect spray tips and one made specifically for applying soap and cleaner at low pressure. The pressure washer I’m using is the Briggs and Stratton Elite3300 Gas. I mixed it in a one to one ratio for normal cleaning though I probably should have used the straight concentrate for heavy cleaning. I mixed up some multi-purpose cleaner concentrate to help cut through the mildew and grime. To make cleaning the wooden playset a lot faster I’m using a pressure washer. Pressure Wash the Wooden Playset for Refinishing They were held on by long through bolts and I backed them all off and was ready to start cleaning the playset. The hardware holding the swings was all rusted up so I wanted to refurbish them as well. And my younger son jumped in to help and we removed the slide and all the swings from the playset and put them aside. Most everything else was just screwed in so I removed the handles, screen and windows easily. I also removed some rotted boards on the bottom of the climbing wall that I’ll replace with new cedar boards later. But on a few I had to break out the grinder and cut off the rusted insert to remove them. The climbing hand holds were bolted into threaded inserts and most came off easily. I started by taking off all the different accessories on the wooden playset to prep for cleaning. And after 5 more years without any maintenance it was really showing its age so it was time to do something about it. When we moved into our house the playset in the backyard wasn’t in the best shape.
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