How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast option when your home starts looking drab and dated. Within hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from many home improvement stores, or you can call a Bowie pressure washing service. It might be expensive upfront, but you won’t need to deal with bringing back equipment or run the risk of damaging your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as fast as it can renew it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you have to be careful about 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 environmental factors around that location.
Most pros encourage having your home pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tells you that more frequent cleanings are necessary is probably trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love how it looks shortly after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your home several times a year.
By touching the exterior of your home, you will be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you could have to deviate from a set schedule if you notice a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your home looking dirtier more than it should. It’s necessary to note that home building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very 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 exterior of your home because you don’t need to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Pressure washing can be done from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your home. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these organisms to create colonies on your home, particularly on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
And, pressure washing eliminates more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can impact the appearance of a home. All are factors that need to be considered before you call a local pressure washer or try to do the job yourself.
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 might also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a threat in some areas of Bowie than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your home pressure washed, it could be a good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high pressure water won’t do 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 section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing company will use soft washing opposed to pressure washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the best time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as deciding how often the service has 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 can help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste money on professional pressure washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time of year. 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 other work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a repair like it would normally be, so you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the ongoing work and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the simple answer for all your home’s exterior surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Pick a sunny day, but not one that is blazing hot. This is the perfect condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s exterior.
If you are in an home owner’s association, there could be rules about how often you have your home pressure washed or if you can do it on your own or if you are required to hire a local company. You might only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your home looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to have it looking good.
Pressure washing is one of the most common and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for several surfaces and can eliminate years of built up dirt and stains.