How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick fix if your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a couple of hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Conroe pressure washing service. It will be costly upfront, but you won’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 as quickly as it can clean it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you really 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 heavily on where your home is located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most professionals will recommend having your home pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tells you that more frequent services are needed is probably trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love how it looks right 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’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain your home permanently if it isn’t washed off from time to time, so you may have to change from a set schedule if you start to see excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be harmful, 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 materials 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 don’t have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Pressure washing can be performed from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and find their way into your home. They are not easy to get rid of, yet it is very easy for these organisms to create colonies on your exterior, particularly on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
And, pressure washing removes more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can impact the appearance. All are factors that have to be considered before you decide to call a nearby pressure washer or think about doing the job on your own.
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 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 threat in some areas of Conroe than in others. Living in a more rural area or next to 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 may be a good idea to have damaged siding repaired so the high pressure water won’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) 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 roof shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the right time to have your home pressure washed is as important as determining how often the service has to be completed. There are times throughout the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service could benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste money on professional pressure washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll 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 the most useful near 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 projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding may not be fastened into place during a repair like it would typically be, which means you run the risk of damaging the area, prolonging the ongoing work and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great 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 sunny day, but not one that is extremely hot. This is the best condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s surfaces.
If you have an HOA, there may be rules about how often you have your home pressure washed or whether you can do it on your own or if you have to hire a local service. You might only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your home looks, but it’s really up to you to have it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the most common and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for a multitude of surfaces and can remove months of dirt and stains.