How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution once your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a couple of hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at home improvement stores, or you can hire a Roanoke pressure washing service. It can be a little more costly upfront, but you don’t have to deal with returning rented equipment or the risk of damaging your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home just as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and ruin roof shingles. Therefore, you have 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 environmental factors around that location.
Most professionals will encourage having your home pressure washed once a year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tells you more frequent services are necessary is probably trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love how it looks right after a cleaning, you can power wash your home several times a year.
By just 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 periodically, so you could have to deviate from a planned schedule if you notice too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your home looking dirtier 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 home between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is a lot safer than scrubbing the outside of your home because you do not have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging ahose. Power washing can be accomplished from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is really easy for these things to create colonies on your home, particularly on the north side where it doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
And, power washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
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 think about doing the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and 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 rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a problem in some areas than in others. Living in a rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your home pressure washed, it could be a smart idea to have damaged siding repaired so the high water pressure won’t do any more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing service will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the roof shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the correct time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as deciding how often the service needs to be completed. There are different times during the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing might help you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste money on professional power washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is most beneficial at the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t 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 typically be, which means you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful 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
Choose a sunny day, but don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the perfect condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s exterior.
If you have an home owner’s association, there could be guidelines about how often you have your home power washed or if you can do it on your own or if you are required to hire a local company. You may only be under HOA rules regarding how your home appears, but it’s usually up to you to have it looking maintained.
Power washing is one of the quickest and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for several home surfaces and can remove years of built up dirt and stains.