How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast option after your house starts looking drab and outdated. Within hours, your house can be returned to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from many home improvement stores, or you can hire a Glendale pressure washing service. It will be a little more expensive upfront, but you won’t need to deal with returning equipment or run the risk of damaging your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home just as quickly as it can clean it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you need to be careful how often you pressure wash your house and who you hire to 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 house is located and environmental factors around that location.
Most professionals will encourage having your house pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tells you that more frequent services are necessary is probably trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love the way it looks right after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your house many times a year.
By simply touching the exterior of your house, you should be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain your house permanently if it isn’t washed off from time to time, so you may have to deviate from a planned schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be harmful, but not doing it enough will leave your house looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s important to note that modern building materials, especially vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to protect your house between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the exterior of your house because you won’t need to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling a garden hose. Power washing can be performed from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your house. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these organisms to create colonies on your exterior, especially on the north side where it doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
Plus, pressure washing eliminates more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can impact the appearance. They are all factors that need to be considered before you hire a nearby pressure washer or attempt the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in a rainy area, you might also have wind and rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a threat in some areas than in others. Having a home in a rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your house pressure washed, it may be a smart idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high water pressure won’t do any more damage. Power washing can also expedite a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The processes used for pressure washing are specific 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 pressure washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the right time to have your house pressure washed is almost as important as deciding how often the service needs to be performed. There are different times during the year when pressure washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing could help you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on professional pressure washing during a rainy season. You’ll just end up with muddy splatter and mildew by the end of the season regardless. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is most beneficial at the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t have your house pressure washed while you are having other projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding may not be sealed into place during a renovation or repair like it should normally be, which means you run the risk of ruining the area, prolonging the ongoing work and even trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the simple solution for all your home’s exterior surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Choose a sunny day, but not one that is extremely hot. This is the perfect condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, there may be requirements about how regularly you have your house pressure washed or whether you can do it on your own or if you are required to hire a professional. You might only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your house appears, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking good.
Power washing is one of the fastest and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for several surfaces and can get rid of years of built up dirt and stains.