How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution once your house starts looking drab and dated. Within hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at home improvement stores, or you can call a Baytown pressure washing service. It will be expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with bringing back rented equipment or run the risk of harming your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as quickly as it can renew it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin roof shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful how often you power wash your house 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 heavily on where your house is and environmental factors around that location.
Most pros encourage having your house pressure washed each year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tries to tell you more frequent services are necessary is probably trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love the way it looks after a cleaning, you can power wash your house multiple times a year.
By simply touching the exterior of your house, you will be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your house permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you could have to change from a planned schedule if you start to see excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your house 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 materials protect your house between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is a lot safer than scrubbing the outside of your house because you do not have to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while dragging ahose. Pressure 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 house. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for them to create colonies on your house, especially on the north side where it usually doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
Plus, power washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following factors can impact the appearance. They are all factors that have to be considered before you decide to hire a local pressure washer or think about doing the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you may also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud on the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger threat in some areas of Baytown than in others. Having a home in a rural area or next to an unpaved road will factor into what type of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it could be a good idea to have chipped 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 specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing service will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the roof shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the best time to have your house pressure washed is as important as choosing how often the service should be completed. There are certain times throughout the year when power 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
Don’t waste your money on power washing in a rainy season. You’ll end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is most impactful near the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t plan to have your house pressure washed the same time you are having other work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a renovation or repair like it would normally be, which means you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the ongoing work and even trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great way to increase your home’s 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
Pick a sunny day, but don’t choose one that is very hot. This is the best condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s exterior.
If you have an HOA, there could be guidelines about how often you have your house power washed or if you can do it yourself or if you are required to hire a local company. You may only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your house looks, but it’s usually up to you to have it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the easiest and most effective methods to clean your entire home exterior. 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.