How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution once your house starts to look drab and dated. Within hours, your house can be returned to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment from most home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Rancho Cordova pressure washing service. It will be a little more costly upfront, but you won’t need to deal with returning rented equipment or run the risk of harming your house due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as quickly as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you need to be careful how often you power wash your house 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 house is located and weather factors based on that location.
Most professionals recommend having your house pressure washed every year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tells you more frequent cleanings are needed is just trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love the way it looks after a cleaning, you can power wash your house many times each year.
By touching the wood or siding of your house, you will be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain your house permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you could have to change from a set schedule if you notice a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing can be harmful, but not doing it often enough will leave your house looking lackluster more than it should. It’s important to note that building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to protect your house between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the exterior of your house because you don’t need to climb up and down a ladder with a brush and a bucket while dragging ahose. Pressure washing can be accomplished from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your house. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is very easy for them to grow into colonies on your home, especially on the north side where it doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
And, power washing removes more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can negatively impact the appearance. They are all factors that have to be considered before you decide to hire a nearby pressure washer or attempt the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in a rainy area, you might also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are bigger problem in some areas of Rancho Cordova than in others. Living in a more rural area or next to an unpaved road will factor into what type of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it could be a smart idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high pressure water won’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 section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing service will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the shingles. And, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the best time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as deciding how often the service should be performed. There are times throughout the year when power washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing can help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste any money on power washing during a rainy season. You’ll end up with mud stains and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time. 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 have your house pressure washed while you are having different projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a repair like it should normally be, which means you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the other project 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 answer 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 very hot. This is the best condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s exterior.
If you are in an HOA, there could be requirements about how regularly you have your house power washed or whether you can do it yourself or if you are required to hire a professional. You might only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your house appears, but it’s really up to you to have it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the fastest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for several surfaces and can remove months of dirt and stains.