How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick fix if your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at many home improvement stores, or you can call a Roseville pressure washing service. It will be a little more expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with returning rented equipment or run the risk of damaging your home 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 is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you need to be careful how often you power wash your home 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 home is located and environmental factors around that location.
Most professionals recommend having your home pressure washed every year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tries to tell you more frequent cleanings are needed is just trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love the way it looks right after a cleaning, you can power wash your home several times a 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 your home 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 a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it enough can leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s important to note that building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very 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 much safer than scrubbing the outside of your home because you don’t have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Power washing can be completed from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that can eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your home. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is extremely easy for them to grow into colonies on your exterior, particularly on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
And, power washing removes more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can impact the appearance of a home. All are factors that need to be considered before you call a nearby pressure washer or try to do the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you may also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a problem 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 impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it may be a good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high water pressure doesn’t do more damage. Power washing can also worsen 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 company will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the roof shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the correct time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as choosing how often the service should be performed. There are different times during the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing can benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on power washing during a rainy season. You’ll just end up with muddy splatter and mildew by the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time. 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 plan to have your home pressure washed while you are having different work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding may not be fastened into place during a repair like it would typically be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, prolonging the other project and even trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a smart way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the easiest answer for all your home’s outside surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Choose a bright, sunny day, but not one that is blazing hot. This is the optimal condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in an home owner’s association, there may be rules about how regularly you have your home power washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a professional. You may only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your home appears, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking maintained.
Power 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 a multitude of home surfaces and can remove months of dirt and stains.