How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast fix after your house starts looking drab and outdated.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 from home improvement stores, or you can hire Atlanta pressure washing service. It can be expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with bringing back equipment or run 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 renew it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you need to be careful about how often you pressure wash your house 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 house is located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most professionals encourage having your house pressure washed each year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tells you that more frequent services are necessary is probably 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 pressure wash your house multiple 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 periodically, so you could have to change from a planned schedule if you start to see a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be harmful, but not doing it enough will leave your house looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s important to note that building materials, especially vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to protect your house between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the outside of your house because you don’t have to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling ahose. Pressure washing can be done 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 easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for these things to form colonies on your home, particularly on the north side where it doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your house.
And, pressure washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following factors can negatively impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that must be considered before you decide to hire a professional pressure washer or try to do the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in a rainy area, you might also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud on the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a threat in some areas than in others. Living in a rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what type of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your house pressure washed, it could be a smart idea to have damaged siding repaired so the high water pressure doesn’t do any more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite 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 company will use soft washing opposed to pressure washing to protect the roof shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the best time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as choosing how often the service should be performed. There are certain times throughout the year when pressure washing would be a total waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service might help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste money on pressure washing in a rainy season. You’ll end up with muddy stains and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is the most impactful near the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t plan to have your house pressure washed while you are having other work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding could not be sealed into place during a repair like it will normally be, which means you run the risk of ruining the area, prolonging the other project and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful way to increase your 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
Pick a bright, sunny day, but not one that is blazing hot. This is the perfect condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s exterior.
If you have an home owner’s association, there could be guidelines about how regularly you have your house pressure 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 usually up to you to have it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the quickest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for a multitude of surfaces and can get rid of years of dirt and stains.