How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast fix after your home starts to look drab and outdated. Within hours, your home can be returned to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at many home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Somerville pressure washing service. It can be a little more costly upfront, but you don’t have to deal with returning equipment or the risk of harming your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful about 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 and weather factors based on that location.
Most pros encourage having your home pressure washed once a year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tells you that more frequent cleanings are necessary is just trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love the way it looks right after a cleaning, you can power wash your home multiple times a year.
By touching the exterior of your home, 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 home permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you could have to deviate from a set schedule if you notice too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing often can be harmful, but not doing it often enough can leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s necessary to note that building materials, especially 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 safer than scrubbing the exterior of your home because you don’t have to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling ahose. Power washing can be accomplished from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and find 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 home, particularly on the north side where it usually doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
And, power washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can impact the appearance. They are all factors that need to be considered before you call a professional pressure washer or think about doing the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you may also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger problem in some areas than in others. Living in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what type of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it could be a smart idea to have damaged siding repaired so the high pressure water doesn’t do more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The equipment used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing company will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the best time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as choosing how often the service needs to be completed. There are different times during the year when power washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing can help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on professional power washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with muddy stains and mildew at the end of the season regardless. 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 plan to have your home pressure washed the same time you are having other projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a renovation or repair like it will normally be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the ongoing work and even trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a smart way to increase your curb appeal. It’s the simple answer for all your home’s exterior 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 best condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s surfaces.
If you have an HOA, there could be rules about how regularly you have your home power washed or if you can do it on your own or if you are required to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your home 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. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for several surfaces and can eliminate months of dirt and stains.