How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick solution once your home starts looking drab and outdated.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 many home improvement stores, or you can call Alpharetta pressure washing service. It can be expensive upfront, but you don’t have 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 just as quickly as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you really 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 heavily on where your home is located and weather factors based on that location.
Most professionals will recommend having your home pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tells you that more frequent cleanings 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 shortly after a cleaning, you can power wash your home multiple times each year.
By touching the exterior of your home, you will be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you could have to change from a set schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing can be harmful, but not doing it enough will leave your home looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s important to note that building materials, especially vinyl siding, are very 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 exterior of your home because you won’t have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling ahose. Pressure washing can be done from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and find their way into your home. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for them to form colonies on your house, particularly on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
Plus, power washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can negatively impact the appearance of a home. All are factors that need to be considered before you hire a professional pressure washer or think about doing the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in an area that is rainy, you may also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a threat in some areas than in others. Having a home in a rural area or next to an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors affect your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it could be a smart idea to have damaged siding repaired 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 unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing company will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the roof shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the optimal time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as choosing how often the service needs to 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 could help you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste money on professional power washing in a rainy season. You’ll just end up with muddy stains and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is most useful near the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t have your home pressure washed while you are having different work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a repair like it should normally be, so you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the ongoing work and trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great 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 don’t choose one that is very hot. This is the best condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s surfaces.
If you live in a neighborhood with an home owner’s association, there could be requirements about how regularly you have your home power washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you are required to hire a professional. You may only be under HOA rules regarding how your home looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for several surfaces and can remove years of dirt and stains.