How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick solution after your house starts looking drab and dated. Within hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment from most home improvement stores, or you can call a Miramar pressure washing service. It will be 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, power washing can damage your home just as fast as it can renew it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you need to be careful how often you power 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 heavily on where your house is located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most pros encourage having your house pressure washed each year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tries to tell you that more frequent services are needed is just 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 power wash your house several times each year.
By simply touching the wood or siding of your house, you will be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your house permanently if it isn’t washed off periodically, so you could have to change from a planned schedule if you start to see a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be detrimental, 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, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials protect your house between power 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. Pressure washing can be completed from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that can eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your house. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for these things to form colonies on your house, especially on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as the other sides of your house.
And, power washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can impact the appearance. All are factors that have to be considered before you decide to hire a local pressure washer or try to do the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If your home is in a rainy area, you might also have wind and rain splashing mud onto the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be bigger problem in some areas than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors affect your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your house pressure washed, it could be a good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high water pressure doesn’t do any more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing service will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the best time to have your house pressure washed is as important as choosing how often the service needs to be completed. There are different times throughout the year when power washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing can benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on power washing during a rainy season. You’ll just end up with mud splatter and mildew by the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is the 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 while you are having other projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a renovation or repair like it will normally be, which means you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the other project and trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective way to increase your 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
Choose a sunny day, but don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the best condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in an home owner’s association, there could be guidelines about how regularly you have your house power washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you are required to hire a professional. You might only be under HOA rules regarding how your house looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
Pressure washing is one of the easiest and most effective methods to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for a multitude of home surfaces and can eliminate years of dirt and stains.