How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution once your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment at home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a El Monte pressure washing service. It might be costly upfront, but you don’t have to deal with bringing back equipment or run the risk of damaging your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home just as quickly as it can renew it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful about how often you pressure 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 a lot on where your home is and environmental factors based on that location.
Most professionals will encourage having your home pressure washed each year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tells you more frequent services are necessary is just trying to squeeze 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 home multiple times each year.
By touching the exterior of your home, you should be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you might have to change from a set schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing often can be harmful, but not doing it enough will leave your home looking lackluster 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 help to protect your home between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the outside of your home because you won’t have to climb up and down a ladder with a brush and a bucket while dragging ahose. Power washing can be performed 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 home. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is really easy for these organisms to grow into colonies on your house, particularly on the north side where it usually doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
And, pressure washing removes more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following 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 attempt the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in a rainy area, you might also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes more of a threat in some areas than in others. Living in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors affect your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your home pressure washed, it might be a good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high water pressure won’t do any more damage. Power washing can also expedite 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 section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing instead of pressure washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the best time to have your home pressure washed is as important as choosing how often the service should be performed. There are certain times throughout the year when pressure washing would be a total waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing might benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste money on professional pressure washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with mud stains and mildew at 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 home pressure washed the same time you are having other work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding might not be sealed into place during a repair like it should typically be, which means you run the risk of harming the area, prolonging the ongoing work and trapping water under 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 sunny day, but not one that is very hot. This is the optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you have an home owner’s association, there might be requirements about how regularly you have your home pressure washed or whether you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a professional. You might only be under HOA rules regarding how your home looks, but it’s really up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
Power washing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for several surfaces and can get rid of years of dirt and stains.