How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast option when your house starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a couple of hours, your house can be renewed 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 enlist the help of a Quincy pressure washing service. It will be expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with bringing back equipment or the risk of damaging your house due to 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 roof shingles. Therefore, you really have to be careful how often you pressure wash your house and who you let 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 weather factors based on that location.
Most professionals will recommend having your house pressure washed each year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tries to tell you more frequent cleanings are needed is just trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love how it looks right after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your house several times each year.
By simply touching the exterior of your house, you will be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain the outside of your house permanently if it isn’t removed 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 can be harmful, but not doing it often enough will leave your house looking lackluster far more than it should. It’s important to note that modern building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials protect your house between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is safer than scrubbing the outside of your house because you do not have to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Power washing can be completed from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your house. They are not easy to get rid of, yet it is very easy for these things to form colonies on your home, especially on the north side where it usually doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
And, pressure washing eliminates more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can negatively impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that need to be considered before you hire a local pressure washer or try to do the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in a rainy area, you may also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud on the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a threat in some areas of Quincy than in others. Living in a rural area or next to an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors affect your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it may be a smart idea to have chipped siding repaired so the high pressure water won’t do more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The processes used for pressure washing are unique 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 pressure washing to protect the roof shingles. Also, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the optimal time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as determining how often the service needs to be performed. There are times during the year when pressure washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing might benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on pressure washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with muddy splatter and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an 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 different work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding may not be fastened into place during a repair like it would typically be, so you run the risk of harming the area, prolonging the ongoing work and even trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a smart way to increase your 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
Pick a bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s surfaces.
If you have an HOA, there may be guidelines about how often you have your house pressure washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you are required to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA rules 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 easiest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for most surfaces and can eliminate months of dirt and stains.