How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution after your home starts to look drab and dated. Within just a few hours, your home 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 hire a Huntington Beach pressure washing service. It can be costly upfront, but you don’t need to deal with bringing back rented equipment or run the risk of damaging your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as quickly as it can clean it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you have to be careful about 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 heavily on where your home is and environmental factors based on that location.
Most professionals encourage having your home pressure washed each year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tells 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 how it looks shortly after a cleaning, you can power wash your home several times each year.
By simply touching the exterior 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 the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t washed off periodically, so you might have to change from a set schedule if you notice a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be harmful, but not doing it enough will leave your home looking lackluster far more than it should. It’s necessary to note that home building materials, especially vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials help to protect your home between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the outside of your home because you do not need to climb 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 organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for these things to grow into colonies on your exterior, especially on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
And, power washing removes more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can impact the appearance. All are factors that must be considered before you call a nearby pressure washer or think about doing the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in a rainy area, you might also have wind and rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes more of a problem in some areas of Huntington Beach than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it might be a smart idea to have damaged siding replaced so the high water pressure won’t do more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The processes used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the area 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 based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the right time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as deciding how often the service should be completed. 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 service could help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste money on power washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with muddy splatter and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is the 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 might not be tightened into place during a repair like it will typically be, which means you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the other project and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a smart way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the simple answer 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 exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an home owner’s association, there might be requirements about how often you have your home power washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a professional. You might only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your home appears, but it’s usually up to you to have it looking good.
Power washing is one of the simplest 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 eliminate years of dirt and stains.