How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick solution once your house starts to look drab and dated. Within just a few 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 Winston Salem pressure washing service. It will be a little more costly upfront, but you don’t have to deal with bringing back rented equipment or the risk of harming your house due to lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as quickly as it can beautify it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful how often you pressure 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 a lot on where your house is located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most professionals encourage having your house pressure washed every year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tells you that 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 shortly after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your house many times a year.
By simply touching the wood or siding of your house, you will be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain your house permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you may have to change from a set schedule if you start to see a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough can leave your house looking lackluster more than it should. It’s important to note that home building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials protect your house between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is a lot safer than scrubbing the outside of your house because you don’t have to climb up and down a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling a garden hose. Power washing can be done from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and make their way into your house. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is extremely easy for them to grow into colonies on your home, particularly on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your house.
And, pressure washing removes more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following factors can impact the appearance. They are all 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 can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in a rainy area, you might also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes more of a problem in some areas than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors affect your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your house pressure washed, it may be a smart idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high pressure water doesn’t do more damage. Power washing can also expedite a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The equipment 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. And, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the right time to have your house pressure washed is almost as important as choosing how often the service has to be performed. There are certain times throughout the year when pressure washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing might benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on pressure washing in a rainy season. You’ll end up with mud splatter and mildew by the end of the season regardless. Winter, for 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 have your house pressure washed the same time you are having different work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding may not be sealed into place during a repair like it will normally be, which means you run the risk of damaging the area, prolonging the ongoing work and even trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful way to increase your 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
Choose a sunny day, but don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the perfect condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s exterior.
If you are in an HOA, there may be requirements about how regularly you have your house pressure washed or whether you can do it on your own or if you have to hire a professional. You might only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your house appears, but it’s usually up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
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 most surfaces and can eliminate months of dirt and stains.