How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution when your home starts to look drab and outdated. Within just a few hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at home improvement stores, or you can hire a Mesquite pressure washing service. It will be a little more costly upfront, but you won’t need to deal with bringing back equipment or run the risk of damaging your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as quickly as it can clean it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you need to be careful about 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 on where your home is located and weather factors based on that location.
Most pros encourage having your home pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tries to tell you 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 after a cleaning, you can power wash your home multiple times a year.
By just 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 washed off from time to time, so you may have to deviate from a set schedule if you start to see excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing can be harmful, but not doing it often enough can leave your home looking dirtier more than it should. It’s necessary to note that building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These 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 need to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling a garden hose. Pressure washing can be done from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that can eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your home. They are not easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these organisms to grow into colonies on your home, 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.
And, power washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that need to be considered before you call a nearby pressure washer or try to do the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in a rainy area, you may also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the side of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a threat in some areas of Mesquite than in others. Living in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what type of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it may be a smart idea to have chipped siding repaired so the high water pressure doesn’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing service will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the right time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as choosing how often the service should be completed. There are certain times throughout the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing service could benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on professional power washing during a rainy season. You’ll end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is the most useful 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 the same time you are having other projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding may not be sealed into place during a repair like it should typically be, so you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the ongoing work and trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great way to increase your home’s 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
Pick a bright, sunny day, but not one that is extremely hot. This is the best condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, there may be rules about how regularly you have your home power washed or whether you can do it on your own or if you have to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA rules concerning how your home looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to have it looking a certain way.
Pressure washing is one of the simplest and most effective methods to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for most home surfaces and can get rid of months of built up dirt and stains.