How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick option after your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a few hours, your home can be renewed to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at many home improvement stores, or you can call a Raleigh pressure washing service. It will be a little more costly upfront, but you won’t need to deal with bringing back rented equipment or run the risk of damaging your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home just as quickly 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 how often you power wash your home 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 a lot on where your home is and weather factors around that location.
Most professionals encourage having your home pressure washed every year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tells you more frequent services are needed is probably trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love how it looks shortly after a cleaning, you can power wash your home many times a year.
By just touching the wood or siding of your home, you will be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain your home permanently if it isn’t washed off periodically, so you might have to deviate from a set schedule if you notice excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough can leave your home looking lackluster far more than it should. It’s necessary to note that home building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials protect your home between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the exterior of your home because you do not need to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling ahose. Pressure washing can be performed from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and find their way into your home. They are not easy to remove, yet it is really easy for them to form colonies on your house, particularly on the north side where it usually doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as the 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 following factors can impact the appearance. All are factors that have to be considered before you hire a local pressure washer or attempt the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in a rainy area, you may also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the side of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are bigger problem in some areas of Raleigh than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into 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 damaged siding repaired so the high water pressure doesn’t do any more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The equipment used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the shingles. Also, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the right time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as deciding how often the service has to be performed. There are times during the year when power washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service might help you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on professional power washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with muddy stains and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is the most useful near 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 might not be sealed into place during a repair like it should normally be, which means you run the risk of ruining the area, prolonging the ongoing work and even trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a smart way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the easiest solution for all your home’s exterior surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Pick a bright, sunny day, but not one that is blazing hot. This is the best condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, there might be requirements about how regularly you have your home power washed or whether you can do it by yourself or if you are required to hire a professional. You may only be under HOA rules concerning how your home looks, but it’s usually up to you to have it looking good.
Pressure washing is one of the easiest and most effective ways to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for a multitude of surfaces and can get rid of months of dirt and stains.