How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast fix once your house starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a couple of hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment at many home improvement stores, or you can call a Grapevine pressure washing service. It might be a little more expensive upfront, but you don’t need to deal with bringing back rented equipment or the risk of harming your house due to lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you have to be careful how often you pressure 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 heavily on where your house is and environmental factors around that location.
Most professionals will encourage having your house pressure washed each year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tells you that more frequent cleanings are needed is probably trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love the way it looks right after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your house multiple times each year.
By simply touching the exterior of your house, you should be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain the outside of your house permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you may have to deviate from a planned schedule if you start to see a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Power washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your house looking lackluster more than it should. It’s necessary to note that building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials help to protect your house between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is safer than scrubbing the exterior of your house because you don’t need to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling a garden hose. Power washing can be done from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your house. They are not easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for them to grow into colonies on your house, especially on the north side where it doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
Plus, pressure washing removes 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 must be considered before you hire a nearby pressure washer or try to do the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in an area that is rainy, you may also have wind and rain splashing mud onto the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a problem in some areas than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors affect your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it may be a good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high pressure water won’t do any more damage. Power washing can also expedite a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The equipment used for pressure washing are unique 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 pressure washing to protect the shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the right time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as deciding how often the service should be performed. There are different times throughout the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service could benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on pressure washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with mud splatter and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is most beneficial near the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t have your house pressure washed the same time you are having different work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding may not be sealed into place during a renovation or repair like it will normally be, which means you run the risk of damaging the area, prolonging the other project and trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great way to increase your curb appeal. It’s the simple solution for all your home’s exterior surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Choose a bright, sunny day, but not one that is extremely hot. This is the best condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an home owner’s association, there may be guidelines about how often you have your house pressure washed or whether you can do it yourself or if you are required to hire a professional. You may only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your house looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
Power washing is one of the simplest and most effective methods to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for most home surfaces and can remove years of dirt and stains.