How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick option if your house starts looking drab and dated. Within hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment from home improvement stores, or you can call Athens pressure washing service. It might be a little more expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with returning equipment or run the risk of harming your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as quickly as it can renew it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you really have to be careful how often you power 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 a lot on where your house is and environmental factors based on that location.
Most pros recommend having your house pressure washed every year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tells you 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 house many times each year.
By just touching the wood or siding of your house, you should be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain your house 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 a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often 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 very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials help to protect your house between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is safer than scrubbing the exterior of your house because you won’t have to climb up and down a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling ahose. Pressure washing can be done from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your house. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for these things to create colonies on your home, particularly on the north side where it usually doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your house.
Plus, 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 of a home. They are all factors that need to be considered before you decide to call a local pressure washer or think about doing the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you may also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger threat in some areas than in others. Having a home in a rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it could be a good idea to have damaged siding repaired so the high water pressure won’t do any more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the shingles. And, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the optimal time to have your house pressure washed is as important as deciding how often the service should be performed. There are times during the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing service might benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on power washing during a rainy season. You’ll end up with muddy splatter and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an 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 house pressure washed the same time you are having different work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding could not be sealed into place during a repair like it will normally be, so you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the other project and trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the simple 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 perfect condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s surfaces.
If you are in an home owner’s association, there could be rules about how often you have your house power washed or if you can do it yourself or if you have to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your house looks, but it’s usually up to you to have it looking a certain way.
Pressure washing is one of the quickest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for a multitude of surfaces and can remove months of dirt and stains.