How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick fix once your house starts looking drab and dated. Within just a couple of hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment from most home improvement stores, or you can hire a Mt. Pleasant pressure washing service. It will be a little more expensive upfront, but you don’t have to deal with bringing back equipment or the risk of harming your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you really have to be careful about 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 professionals recommend having your house pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tells you more frequent cleanings are necessary is probably trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love how it looks right after a cleaning, you can power wash your house several times each year.
By touching the exterior of your house, you will be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain the outside of your house permanently if it isn’t washed off periodically, so you may have to deviate from a set schedule if you notice excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be harmful, but not doing it often enough can leave your house looking lackluster more than it should. It’s important to note that modern building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials protect your house between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the outside of your house because you do not have to climb up and down a ladder with a brush and a bucket while dragging ahose. Pressure washing can be accomplished from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and make their way into your house. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these things to form colonies on your house, especially on the north side where it doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
And, power washing removes 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 hire a nearby pressure washer or attempt the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in a rainy area, you might also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud onto the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a problem in some areas of Mt. Pleasant than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what types of environmental factors affect your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it may 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 problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The processes used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing company will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the correct time to have your house pressure washed is almost as important as choosing how often the service has to be completed. There are certain times during the year when power washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service might help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on power washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is 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 house pressure washed while you are having other work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding may not be fastened into place during a renovation or repair like it will typically be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the easiest 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 blazing hot. This is the optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in an HOA, there may be requirements about how often you have your house power washed or whether you can do it yourself or if you have to hire a local company. You might only be under HOA rules concerning how your house looks, but it’s really up to you to have it looking good.
Pressure washing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for most surfaces and can remove years of dirt and stains.