How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick solution once your home starts looking drab and dated. Within just a few hours, your home can be returned to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Franklin pressure washing service. It can be a little more expensive upfront, but you don’t need to deal with bringing back equipment or run the risk of damaging your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as quickly as it can renew it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to 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 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 on where your home is located and weather factors around that location.
Most pros encourage having your home pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tries to tell you that more frequent services are necessary is probably trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love the way it looks right after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your home multiple times a year.
By just touching the exterior of your home, 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 home permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you might have to deviate from a set schedule if you start to see a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing can be detrimental, but not doing it enough can leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s important to note that home building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very 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 exterior of your home because you don’t need to climb up and down a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling ahose. Pressure washing can be accomplished from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your home. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is very easy for them to create colonies on your house, particularly on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
Plus, pressure washing removes more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can negatively impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that have to be considered before you decide to call a local pressure washer or try to do 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 may also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes more of a problem in some areas 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 replaced so the high water pressure won’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite 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 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 based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the right time to have your home pressure washed is as important as choosing how often the service should be performed. There are times during the year when pressure washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing could benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste any money on pressure washing in a rainy season. 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 most useful 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 other projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding might not be fastened into place during a repair like it should normally be, so you run the risk of harming the area, prolonging the other project and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful way to increase your home’s 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
Pick a sunny day, but not one that is blazing hot. This is the perfect condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s exterior.
If you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, there might be rules about how often you have your home pressure washed or whether you can do it by yourself or if you are required to hire a local company. You may only be under HOA rules regarding how your home looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking good.
Pressure washing is one of the most common and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for a multitude of home surfaces and can get rid of years of dirt and stains.