What Are The Best Pressure Washers For Stucco?

​Pressure washers are great tools for cleaning stucco and the cool thing about them is the fact that they could be used for so many other things, so usually the money invested in one of these is well worth it.

I wanted to make a page that recommended some of the best pressure washers for stucco because there seems to be a lot of questions regarding what kind of pressure washers use, how much PSI they should have and so on.

The Best Electric Pressure Washer For Stucco

​​This article is going to address a lot of those issues and it and I'm going to recommend a couple of different pressure washers as well. I decided to break up the types of pressure washers based on two different key elements and these are: pressure washers for general cleaning and stronger pressure washers for more aggressive cleaning. Hope you like it!

Two Electric Pressure Washers Ideal For Cleaning Stucco:

​Here are two different electric power washers ​I found that would be ideal for various types of light to medium duty cleaning around your home, including the stucco of course. Both of these happen to be under $200 at the time and I would consider them to be a mid-grade pressure washer overall but actually turned out to be the higher-end models on the electric side of the spectrum.

​A Briggs And Stratton Electric Power Washer...

​This electric pressure washer from Briggs and Stratton is a unique electric pressure washer and reminds me of a gas powered model, to be honest.

This sprayer offers a good balance between price and functionality and is why I think it should be at the top of the list. It also comes with a turbo nozzle, on top of all of the other standard nozzles that usually come with a pressure washer so you can tackle a lot of different cleaning chores right out the gate.

The Best Electric Pressure Washer For Stucco

​The feedback left by people for this model was really good and the overall price was very appealing for what you get and the ​quality. It was well under $200 at the time of this article and I expect that it will always be under that $200 mark, a great choice for more general cleaning when it comes to stucco walls and just about anything else on your home.


​The Sun Joe SPX3000, A Highly Rated Pressure Washer:

​The Sun Joe SPX3000 had a ton of reviews and was the best rated electric model out there, by far, with more than 5000 people leaving feedback for this particular model andan overall rating of nearly 4.5 stars!

​There is always a nice peace of mind when you see that other people have rated something so highly because it ensures that it is a quality piece of equipment that really works.

The Best Rated Electric Pressure Washer On Amazon

​I don't really like the overall layout of the machine and would like to see a wider footprint on the base which is always easier to roll around but not a total dealbreaker.this has a little bit more power than the Briggs & Stratton model we looked at, having roughly around 2000 PSI of power and a two-year warranty, which is quite impressive. This was also around the same price as the Briggs & Stratton model, again well under that $200 mark.

​Gas Powered Pressure Washers:

​Gas powered power washers are more powerful than electric models, have greater mobility and are useful for general cleaning and deep cleaning. They are a bit more ($100 - $200 more on average) but worth the money if you want something that is more versatile and more powerful.

​The Generac 6921 Is A Great Choice!

​The Generac 6921 is a good entry-level pressure washer (gas powered) that has plenty of power to tackle both general cleaning and deeper cleaning tasks.

​You have the option to choose between three different power levels when buying one of these Generac pressure washers: 2500 psi, 2800 PSI, and 3100 PSI. I would recommend going with either the 2800 PSI or the 3100 PSI models because of the power and ratings.

Generac 6921

​The 3100 PSI model comes in two different types, either a standard pressure washer or one with a dial that you can actually select different pressure settings from. This is a cool feature that I think a lot people can benefit from and will really like to have but remember you can always adjust the pressure using different nozzles so the dial is really not necessary but a nice "luxury item", if you will.

​This came in at just under the $400 mark, at the time but is well worth the money and what you have to remember is that most of these pressure washers will be in that $300-$400 price range when you are looking for a model that has a balance between a decent amount of pressure and quality.


​A More Affordable Gas-Powered Power Washer...

​The WEN PW31 is a more affordable model that has great feedback and has all the requirements that make power washing stucco surfaces easy and effective.

​I posted a link to the 3100 PSI model because the 2800 PSI model did not have as good of ratings and seemed to have more problems so be sure to look at the 3100 PSI model.

Since it does have that much pressure, they can be used for general cleaning tasks as well as deeper cleaning tasks because of that additional power that an electric model will not have.

WEN PW31

​This was just over that $300 mark, making it one of the most affordable models out there that had decent ratings as well. I like the over sized wheels on the unit which will make dragging it around your house a lot easier and will easily roll over different surfaces like concrete, grass, gravel and so on.


​A More Powerful Model For More Demanding Jobs!

​The SIMPSON Cleaning ALH4240 is a higher pressure, heavier duty model that is intended for really tough and demanding jobs. If you are worried about having enough power with some of the other models, then this will not disappoint!

​I wanted to include a more powerful pressure washer to give you another choice, in particular those of you who may be thinking that 3000 PSI is not nearly enough to tackle some of the cleaning that you may want to do.

SIMPSON Cleaning ALH4240

​This Simpson power washer has a max capacity of 4200 PSI which is phenomenal and will actually take off most stucco so you do need to be careful when using it but if you are using the right ​type of nozzle and are the proper distance away from the wall, it can be extremely ​effective and cut the time down it takes to clean stucco walls that are very dirty.

This unit also has a feature integrated into the one that can actually adjust the water pressure on the fly which is a cool feature that is not typically found in other models and can be really helpful especially because of the power of this unit. This does come with a pretty hefty price tag though, somewhere around $1200 and $1400, at the time!


​5 Things You Need To Think About...

​there are a ton of different pressure washers out there nowadays but there are a few specific things you will want to consider when looking for one ​to use on a stucco exteriors specifically. These are very simple things that make all the difference in the world! Let's take a look at what some of these things are...

Should I Get A Gas Or Electric Model?

​There are two main types of pressure washers and ​these are either a gas or electric model, each of which has there advantages and disadvantages, of course.

Gas: A pressure washer that uses a gasoline engine is more convenient because you don't need to run a power cord to them, all you need is a water line and you're ready to go. These are usually a little bit more powerful than the electric models but are also more expensive too, usually costing about $100-$200 more than an electric model.

 Keep in mind that these will also require you to buy gasoline and oil on a semi regular basis and you will need to drain both the oil and gas every time it is going to be stored for longer periods of time.

Electric: An electric pressure washer will not have any of the maintenance issues that you would typically find with a gasoline engine so it is way more maintenance-free ​in that aspect. Since it is does rely on electricity, you will have to make sure that you have plenty of outlets around the house or a very long extension cord to make your way around the entire house.

These will have less power than a gasoline powered model which is usually okay for cleaning ​stucco but won't work as well for a deep cleaning, like if you were going to paint your house and you wanted to pressure wash it prior to painting it. The recommended PSI for this is around 2800 to 3200 PSI and it is really rare to get this kind of pressure out of an electric pressure washer.

​Dragging It Around The House:

​Remember, you are going to be dragging this pressure washer around the house or building and I would recommend having a unit that has a couple of wheels on it and is mounted onto some sort of frame. This will be so much easier dragging it around from corner to corner in order to reach all of the areas of your project.

Certain accessories like quick disconnect fittings for your water hose can be a huge timesaver and eliminate a lot of frustration as well if you have to disconnect and reconnect the hose every time you reposition your pressure washer.

​Hoses And Nozzles...

​One thing that you will definitely need to take into consideration are some of the components of the pressure washer such as the length of pressurized hose you need, what type of nozzle you intend to use, whether you're going to use a detergent or not and so on.

Hoses: Most pressure washers only come with about 25 feet to 50 feet of hose at the most, so you will probably want to buy an extra 25 feet to 75 feet, depending on wall height, the overall length of your walls, etc. these are pretty inexpensive and can be connected very easily using the threaded fittings which are pretty standard as far as sizes are concerned just make sure you read the description and know which size your pressure washer uses.

Nozzles: Many pressure washers come with an assortment of different nozzles which are pretty standard. Again optional nozzle to buy would be a turbo nozzle which uses the power of a stream in a circular motion so you get more surface area coverage and needs can really help in cleaning more stubborn stains on stucco surfaces.

Be careful when using these types of nozzles because they can actually remove paint an actual stucco finish if you're not careful, especially when connected to a higher powered pressure washer. Just make sure you're far enough away so that this doesn't happen and pay attention to what you're doing at all times.

​Accessories That May Be Helpful...

​There are a few different accessories that they make that may actually help you out quite a bit when you are running around your house. Extension wands are very helpful if you have taller walls and don't want to climb up a 30 foot ladder to reach some of those high spots. They hook onto your existing pressure washer one and have a telescoping ability which can reach 20 feet in length or more sometimes.

Another accessory that I would recommend using is a quick disconnect for your water supply line. This will make connecting and disconnecting the garden hose a whole lot easier and will eliminate wear and tear on the threads of your pressure washer hose fitting at the same time.

​How Much Power Do I Need?

​For general cleaning purposes you will want to use a pressure washer that is around 2000 PSI. From my experience this works pretty well on most mild to medium duty staining that occurs on stucco walls. 

If you're looking for a unit that can handle a little more aggressive staining then you will probably want to look for one that is around 3000 PSI to tackle those types of issues and if you want something that can really power through some of the toughest stains then you'll want to look at a 4000 PSI washer.

About the author

The Stucco Guy

My name is Ryan and I have been a licensed stucco contractor for many years and I feel that there is a huge "knowledge gap" when it comes to stucco, in particular. I hope you find the information here useful, and if you have a question for me fill out this Q & A form, so I can answer those questions better. Thanks for stopping by!

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