How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick solution if your house starts to look drab and dated. Within hours, your house can be returned to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment at most home improvement stores, or you can hire a Davie pressure washing service. It might be a little more costly upfront, but you won’t have to deal with bringing back equipment or run the risk of harming your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as quickly as it can clean it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin 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 on where your house is located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most professionals will recommend having your house pressure washed each year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tries to tell you that more frequent services are needed is just trying to squeeze 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 multiple times each year.
By just touching the exterior of your house, you will be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain your house permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you might have to change from a planned schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your house looking dirtier more than it should. It’s necessary to note that modern building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials protect your house between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is safer than scrubbing the exterior of your house because you do not have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging ahose. Power washing can be accomplished from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your house. They are not easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these things to grow into colonies on your exterior, especially on the north side where it usually doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
And, pressure washing removes more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can impact the appearance. All are factors that need to be considered before you call a local pressure washer or try to do the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in a rainy area, you might also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud on the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be bigger problem in some areas of Davie than in others. Living in a rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what types of environmental factors affect your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it might be a smart idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high pressure water 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 service will use soft washing instead of pressure washing to protect the shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the optimal time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as choosing how often the service has to be performed. There are times throughout the year when pressure washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing might help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on professional pressure washing during a rainy season. You’ll end up with mud stains and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is most impactful at the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t plan to have your house pressure washed the same time you are having other projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding might not be fastened into place during a repair like it should typically be, so you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the other project and trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a smart way to increase your curb appeal. It’s the simple answer for all your home’s exterior surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Choose a bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the best condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s exterior.
If you have an home owner’s association, there might be requirements about how often you have your house pressure washed or whether you can do it on your own or if you have to hire a local service. You might only be under HOA rules concerning how your house appears, but it’s usually up to you to keep it looking maintained.
Power washing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for most home surfaces and can remove years of built up dirt and stains.