How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick fix once your home starts to look drab and dated. Within just a couple of hours, your home can be returned to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from most home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Garden Grove pressure washing service. It could be a little more expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with bringing back rented equipment or run the risk of harming your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home just as fast as it can renew it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you really have to be careful how often you pressure wash your home 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 home is located and environmental factors around that location.
Most pros will recommend having your home pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tries to tell you that more frequent services are needed is just 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 pressure wash your home several times a year.
By just touching the exterior of your home, you should be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you could have to change from a set schedule if you notice a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be harmful, but not doing it enough can leave your home looking dirtier more than it should. It’s necessary to note that home building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials protect your home between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the outside of your home because you won’t have to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling ahose. Pressure washing can be performed from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is extremely easy for them to grow into colonies on your house, especially on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
Plus, pressure washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following factors can negatively impact the appearance. They are all factors that need to be considered before you hire a professional pressure washer or try to do the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you might also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes more of a threat in some areas than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will determine 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 water pressure won’t do more damage. Pressure 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 section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing instead of pressure washing to protect the roof shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the optimal time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as choosing how often the service should be completed. There are times throughout the year when pressure washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing service might benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste any money on professional pressure washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. 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 while you are having other projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a renovation or repair like it will typically be, which means you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the ongoing work and trapping water below 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 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 surfaces.
If you are in an HOA, there could be guidelines about how regularly you have your home pressure washed or whether you can do it on your own or if you have to hire a local company. You might only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your home looks, but it’s usually up to you to have it looking a certain way.
Pressure 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 get rid of months of built up dirt and stains.