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 returned to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment from most home improvement stores, or you can hire a Garland pressure washing service. It can be a little more costly upfront, but you won’t have to deal with bringing back rented equipment or the risk of harming your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as quickly as it can clean it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you have to be careful about how often you power 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 a lot on where your home is located and weather factors based on that location.
Most pros encourage having your home pressure washed each year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tries to tell you more frequent cleanings are necessary is just trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love the way it looks after a cleaning, you can power wash your home many times a year.
By just touching the wood or siding of your home, you should be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t washed off from time to time, so you might have to change from a set schedule if you notice a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be harmful, but not doing it enough will leave your home looking dirtier 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 protect your home between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is a lot safer than scrubbing the exterior of your home because you won’t have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging ahose. Pressure washing can be completed from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that can eat away at home exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not easy to get rid of, yet it is really easy for these things to grow into colonies on your house, particularly on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
Plus, power washing eliminates more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following factors can impact the appearance. All are factors that have to be considered before you decide to hire a nearby pressure washer or try to do the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in a rainy area, you may also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the side of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger threat in some areas of Garland than in others. Living 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 damaged siding repaired so the high water pressure doesn’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite 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 area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the right time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as determining how often the service needs to be completed. There are times during the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing could help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on power washing in a rainy season. You’ll end up with muddy splatter and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is the most impactful 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 projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding might not be fastened into place during a renovation or repair like it should typically be, which means you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective way to increase your curb appeal. It’s the simple solution for all your home’s exterior 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 blazing hot. This is the optimal condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, there might be guidelines about how regularly you have your home power washed or whether you can do it by yourself or if you are required to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA rules regarding how your home appears, but it’s ultimately up to you to have it looking good.
Pressure washing is one of the most common and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for most home surfaces and can eliminate years of dirt and stains.