How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick option once your home starts to look drab and dated. Within hours, your home can be renewed to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment at most home improvement stores, or you can hire a Philadelphia pressure washing service. It could be expensive upfront, but you won’t need to deal with returning 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 quickly as it can renew it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and ruin roof shingles. Therefore, you have to be careful about 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 weather factors based on that location.
Most pros will encourage 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 cleanings are necessary 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 touching the wood or siding 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.
Pressure washing can be detrimental, but not doing it enough will leave your home looking lackluster far more than it should. It’s important to note that modern building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to 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 need to climb 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 can eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your home. They are not easy to get rid of, yet it is very easy for them to create colonies on your exterior, especially on the north side where it usually doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
And, pressure washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can negatively 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 attempt the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and 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 powerful wind and rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger problem in some areas than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it could be a good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high water pressure doesn’t do any more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The processes used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing opposed to pressure washing to protect the roof shingles. Additionally, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the correct time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as deciding how often the service needs to be performed. There are times throughout the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing could help you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on professional pressure washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with muddy stains and mildew by the end of the season regardless. 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 plan to have your home pressure washed while you are having other work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding could not be fastened into place during a repair like it should normally be, so you run the risk of harming the area, prolonging the ongoing work and even trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful way to increase your home’s 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
Pick a bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is blazing hot. This is the perfect condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s exterior.
If you are in an home owner’s association, there could be requirements about how regularly you have your home pressure washed or if you can do it yourself or if you are required to hire a professional. You may only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your home appears, but it’s really up to you to have it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the easiest and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for most home surfaces and can eliminate months of built up dirt and stains.