How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick fix after your home starts to look drab and outdated. Within hours, your home can be renewed 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 hire a Port St Lucie pressure washing service. It can be a little more expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with returning equipment or the risk of harming 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 can 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 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 on where your home is located and environmental factors around that location.
Most pros will recommend having your home pressure washed once a year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tries to tell you more frequent cleanings are necessary is just trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love how 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 should 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 may have to deviate from a planned schedule if you start to see excess buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s necessary to note that building materials, especially vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials 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 do not have to climb up and down a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling ahose. Power washing can be done from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is extremely easy for these organisms to grow into colonies on your home, especially on the north side where it doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as 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 following factors can negatively impact the appearance of a home. All are factors that have to be considered before you decide to call a nearby pressure washer or attempt the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in an area that is rainy, you might also have wind and rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger threat in some areas than in others. Living in a rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine what types 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 smart idea to have chipped siding repaired so the high water pressure doesn’t do more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The methods used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing instead of pressure washing to protect the roof shingles. And, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the optimal time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as determining how often the service should be completed. There are certain times during the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service can help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on professional pressure washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with muddy stains and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, for 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 plan to have your home pressure washed the same time you are having different work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding may not be tightened into place during a repair like it should typically be, which means 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 great way to increase your curb appeal. It’s the simple solution 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 don’t choose one that is very hot. This is the best condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning products onto your home’s exterior.
If you have an HOA, there may be guidelines about how often you have your home pressure washed or whether you can do it yourself or if you have to hire a local company. You might only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your home appears, but it’s usually up to you to have it looking maintained.
Power washing is one of the most common and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for several home surfaces and can get rid of months of dirt and stains.