How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution if your home starts to look drab and outdated. Within just a few hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Greenville pressure washing service. It might be expensive upfront, but you won’t need to deal with returning rented equipment or run 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 renew it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin 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 located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most pros will recommend having your home pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tells you that 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 after a cleaning, you can power wash your home many times a year.
By simply touching the wood or siding of your home, you will be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain your home permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you may have to change from a planned schedule if you start to see a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Power washing often can be harmful, but not doing it often enough will leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s necessary to note that modern building materials, especially vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of 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 don’t need to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging ahose. Power washing can be done from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is very easy for these organisms to create colonies on your exterior, especially on the north side where it doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
Plus, power washing eliminates more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can impact the appearance. All are factors that have to be considered before you decide to call a nearby pressure washer or attempt the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in an area that is rainy, you might also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a problem in some areas of Greenville than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors affect your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it may be a good idea to have damaged siding replaced so the high water pressure won’t do more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques 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 service will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the shingles. Also, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the optimal time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as determining how often the service has to be completed. There are certain times during the year when power washing would be a real 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 your money on power washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with mud stains and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is the most beneficial 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 while you are having different projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding may not be tightened into place during a repair like it would typically be, which means you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a smart 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
Pick a bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is very hot. This is the optimal condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, there may be guidelines about how regularly you have your home power washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a local company. You might only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your home appears, but it’s ultimately up to you to have it looking good.
Power washing is one of the most common 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.