How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick option if your house starts looking drab and dated. Within hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from most home improvement stores, or you can call a Union City pressure washing service. It could be costly upfront, but you won’t need to deal with bringing back rented equipment or run the risk of damaging your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you really need 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 around that location.
Most professionals recommend having your house pressure washed once a year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tries to tell you that more frequent services are needed is probably 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 pressure wash your house many times each year.
By touching the exterior of your house, you should be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain your house permanently if it isn’t washed off from time to time, so you may have to deviate from a planned schedule if you notice too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it enough will leave your house looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s necessary to note that home building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials help to 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 won’t need to climb 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 make their way into your house. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these organisms to create colonies on your house, especially on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get as 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 of a home. All are factors that have to be considered before you decide to call a professional pressure washer or attempt the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in an area that is rainy, you may also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are bigger problem in some areas of Union City than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it may be a good 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 company will use soft washing opposed to pressure washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the right time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as determining how often the service has to be performed. There are certain times during the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing could help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste money on professional pressure washing in a rainy season. You’ll end up with mud stains 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 near 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 other projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding may not be fastened into place during a repair like it would normally be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the ongoing work and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the easiest 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 don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the optimal condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s surfaces.
If you have an HOA, there may be guidelines about how often you have your house pressure washed or whether you can do it by yourself or if you are required to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your house looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to have it looking a certain way.
Power washing is one of the fastest and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for several surfaces and can eliminate months of built up dirt and stains.