How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast option when your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a few hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from many home improvement stores, or you can call a Concord pressure washing service. It might be expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with returning equipment or the risk of harming your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home just as fast as it can clean it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you really need 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 a lot on where your home is located and weather factors around that location.
Most professionals will encourage having your home pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tells you more frequent services are needed is just trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love the way it looks right after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your home several times a year.
By just touching the exterior of your home, you should be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain your home permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you might have to deviate from a planned schedule if you notice excess buildup between cleanings.
Power washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your home looking lackluster far more than it should. It’s necessary to note that modern 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 a lot safer than scrubbing the outside of your home because you won’t have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Power washing can be performed from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your home. They are not easy to get rid of, yet it is extremely easy for these things to form colonies on your exterior, particularly on the north side where it doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
And, pressure washing eliminates more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can negatively impact the appearance. They are all factors that have to be considered before you decide to hire a local pressure washer or try to do the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in a rainy area, you might also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger problem in some areas of Concord than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors affect your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your home pressure washed, it might be a smart idea to have chipped siding repaired so the high pressure water doesn’t do more damage. Power washing can also expedite a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The equipment 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 opposed to pressure washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the best time to have your home pressure washed is as important as deciding how often the service has to 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 service can help you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on professional pressure washing during a rainy season. You’ll just end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is most beneficial 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 different work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding might not be sealed into place during a repair like it would normally be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water below 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
Choose a bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is very hot. This is the optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in an HOA, there might be requirements about how regularly you have your home pressure washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you are required to hire a local company. You might only be under HOA rules regarding how your home looks, but it’s really up to you to have it looking a certain way.
Power washing is one of the most common and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for several surfaces and can get rid of months of built up dirt and stains.