How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick option when your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within hours, your home can be renewed to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment from home improvement stores, or you can hire a Alexandria pressure washing service. It might be costly upfront, but you won’t have to deal with bringing back rented equipment or run the risk of harming your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as quickly as it can clean it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful about how often you power wash your home and who you let do it.
Is it Time to Pressure Wash Your Home?
The question of how often to pressure wash your home is one that depends a lot on where your home is located and weather factors based on that location.
Most professionals will encourage having your home pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tries to tell you more frequent services are needed is just trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love the way it looks shortly after a cleaning, you can power wash your home several times each year.
By touching the wood or siding of your home, you will be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t washed off from time to time, so you may have to deviate from a set schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be harmful, but not doing it enough will leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s necessary to note that modern building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to protect your home between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is a lot safer than scrubbing the exterior of your home because you won’t have to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling ahose. Pressure washing can be done from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and find their way into your home. They are not easy to get rid of, yet it is extremely easy for these organisms to grow into colonies on your home, particularly on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
Plus, power washing eliminates more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can negatively impact the appearance of a home. All are factors that must be considered before you call a professional pressure washer or attempt the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in an area that is rainy, you might also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a threat in some areas than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors affect your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your home pressure washed, it may be a good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high pressure water doesn’t do any more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The equipment used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the shingles. And, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the best time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as choosing how often the service has to be completed. There are different times during the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing service can benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on professional power washing during a rainy season. You’ll end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is the most beneficial at the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t have your home pressure washed while you are having different work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding may not be tightened into place during a renovation or repair like it should typically be, which means you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the easiest solution for all your home’s exterior surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Pick a bright, sunny day, but not one that is blazing hot. This is the optimal condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s surfaces.
If you are in an home owner’s association, there may be requirements about how regularly you have your home power washed or whether you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a local company. You might only be under HOA rules concerning how your home looks, but it’s really up to you to have it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the quickest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for several surfaces and can remove years of dirt and stains.