How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick solution after your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within hours, your home can be restored 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 Sarasota pressure washing service. It will be a little more costly upfront, but you don’t have to deal with returning equipment or the risk of damaging your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home just as quickly as it can clean it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you have 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 a lot on where your home is located and environmental factors around that location.
Most professionals will encourage having your home pressure washed each year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tells you more frequent cleanings are needed is just trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love the way it looks shortly 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’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you may have to deviate from a set schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough can leave your home looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s necessary to note that home building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials help to protect your home between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is safer than scrubbing the outside of your home because you do not have to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Power washing can be accomplished from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your home. They are not easy to remove, yet it is really easy for them to grow into colonies on your home, especially on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
Plus, pressure washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can negatively impact the appearance of a home. All are factors that must be considered before you hire a nearby pressure washer or think about doing the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in an area that is rainy, you may also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the side of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are bigger threat in some areas of Sarasota than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors affect your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your home pressure washed, it may be a good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high water pressure doesn’t do any more damage. Power washing can also expedite a peeling paint problem.
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 service will use soft washing instead of pressure washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the correct time to have your home pressure washed is as important as determining how often the service should be completed. There are different times during the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing can benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste money on professional pressure washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll just 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 most impactful 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 work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding may not be fastened into place during a repair like it will typically be, so you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the other project and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective 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
Choose a bright, sunny day, but not one that is very hot. This is the optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in an home owner’s association, there may be guidelines about how often you have your home pressure washed or whether you can do it on your own or if you are required to hire a local company. You may only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your home looks, but it’s really up to you to have it looking maintained.
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 a multitude of home surfaces and can remove years of dirt and stains.