How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick option if your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a couple of hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance with 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 St Petersburgh pressure washing service. It can be costly upfront, but you don’t have to deal with returning equipment or the risk of damaging your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you need to be careful how often you pressure 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 pros will recommend having your home pressure washed each year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tells you that more frequent services are necessary is just 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 pressure wash your home multiple times each year.
By just touching the exterior of your home, you will be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain 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.
Power washing often can be harmful, but not doing it often enough will leave your home looking dirtier more than it should. It’s important to note that building materials, especially 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 don’t have to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling ahose. Power washing can be accomplished from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is really easy for these things to form colonies on your home, particularly on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
Plus, pressure washing eliminates more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can negatively impact the appearance. They are all factors that need to be considered before you decide to call a professional pressure washer or think about doing the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in an area that is rainy, you may also have wind and rain splashing mud on the side of your home.
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 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 chipped siding repaired so the high water pressure won’t do any more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing company will use soft washing instead of pressure washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the right time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as choosing how often the service needs to be completed. There are times during the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing can 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 beneficial near the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t plan to have your home pressure washed the same time you are having different work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding could not be sealed into place during a renovation or repair like it will typically be, which means you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful way to increase your curb appeal. It’s the easiest solution 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 don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in an home owner’s association, there could be rules about how regularly you have your home pressure washed or whether you can do it yourself or if you are required to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your home looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to have it looking good.
Power washing is one of the quickest 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 months of built up dirt and stains.