The Sprayonette- a Multipurpose Tactical Pressure Washer

So there I was, out on the perimeter wall with a work detail. It was hot and the work was nasty- we were pressure washing the splattered remains of the undead off the wall and burning the bigger chunks.

The noise of the machine must have attracted some stragglers because we soon heard that ominous, low growl. They were on us before we could load into the truck- about two dozen Zs in various stages of rot.

I swung quickly, severing two zombie heads with the blade of my deadly tool. I heard one behind me and jabbed over my shoulder, lodging the blade in it's forehead right before he took a bite. A pull of the trigger sent a stream of water into his brain, dislodging him from my weapon in the process. A quick spin to the left tripped an oncoming ghoul with the supply hose allowing me to dispatch him with my boot while sending one of his mates to meet him with the business end of my sprayer.

Slash, smash, jab and stomp- long story short, I was back inside and showering zombie ick off instead of joining the undead horde thanks to my trusty Sprayonette Multipurpose Tactical Pressure Washer!

Sigh...

So a pressure washer with a putty knife mounted on the end like a bayonette looks like some kind of prop from a silly zombie movie but it's actually a lot more boring. I'm a house painter. Last week I was pressure washing a house to prep for painting. It soon became obvious that someone had painted it without any prep at some point in the distant past as notebook paper sized sheets of paint were coming off. You would think that removing paint this loose would be easy. You would be wrong. Rather than peeling up the edge of the flaking paint, the stream of high pressure water just pressed it flat against the wall. I ended up having to pressure wash a section, then scrape it with a putty knife and then pressure wash it again. This got me thinking about a better solution.

I present the Sprayonette.

Step 1: Cutting the Block

I decided that the solution to my pressure washing problem was to attach a scraper to the end of the sprayer like a bayonette. This would allow me to slide it under the edge of the loose paint and then spray the jet of high pressure water underneath. I picked up a putty knife from Harbor Freight and played around with different ways to mount it. I finally decided to mount the putty knife to a block of plywood and then attach the plywood block to the end of the sprayer with hardware. I measured the hardware and the putty knife handle and cut a piece of plywood that was 2"x4".

Step 2: Mounting the Scraper

I drilled out the rivet in the putty knife handle. I used the resulting hole and the existing hole in the handle to bolt it to the block. I marked the hole locations on the black and drilled them out. I used a larger bit on the back side so that the nut would be recessed.

Step 3: Mounting the Hardware

I used some recycled hardware to mount the block and scraper to the end of the pressure washer nozzle. I used a 1/2" conduit strap on the back to stabilize it and a stainless steel rope guide in the front to tighten it firmly. I marked the holes and drilled them out.

Step 4: Putting It All Together

I mounted the wood block on the pressure washer with machine screws and nuts with lock washers. it's important to install the spray tip so that the fan is parallel to the blade.

This will save a lot of time and unnecessary effort. I'm pressure washing a 1920's bungalow next week so I'll report back.

And if any zombies do show up, I'll be ready.