How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution once your house starts looking drab and dated. Within just a few hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at most home improvement stores, or you can call a The Woodlands pressure washing service. It could be costly upfront, but you won’t have to deal with returning equipment or the risk of damaging your house due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as fast as it can clean it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you have 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 and environmental factors around that location.
Most pros will recommend having your house pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro 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 how it looks after a cleaning, you can power wash your house many times each year.
By 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 the outside of your house permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you might have to change from a planned schedule if you notice excess buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it enough will leave your house looking dirtier more than it should. It’s necessary 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 safer than scrubbing the outside of your house because you don’t have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling ahose. Power washing can be performed from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your house. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these organisms to form colonies on your home, particularly on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
Plus, power washing removes more dirt and grime than hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following factors can impact the appearance. They are all factors that must be considered before you hire a nearby pressure washer or try to do the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you may also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud on the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a threat in some areas than in others. Living in a more rural area or next to 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 might be a smart idea to have chipped siding repaired so the high pressure water doesn’t do any more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the roof shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the correct time to have your house pressure washed is as important as determining how often the service needs to be performed. There are times during the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service might help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste any money on power washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with mud stains and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is most useful 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 work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding might not be fastened into place during a renovation or repair like it will normally be, so you run the risk of ruining the area, prolonging the other project and even trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the simple solution for all your home’s outside surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Pick a bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the best condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s surfaces.
If you have an home owner’s association, there might be rules about how often you have your house power washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your house looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
Power washing is one of the quickest and most effective methods to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for several home surfaces and can eliminate months of dirt and stains.