How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick option after your house starts to look drab and dated. Within just a few hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from most home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Milipitas pressure washing service. It might be a little more costly upfront, but you don’t need to deal with returning rented equipment or the risk of damaging your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure 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 really need to be careful about how often you pressure 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 a lot on where your house is and environmental factors around that location.
Most pros will encourage having your house pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tries to tell you that more frequent services are needed is just trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love how it looks right after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your house several times each year.
By just touching the exterior of your house, you should be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain your house permanently if it isn’t washed off periodically, so you might have to change from a set schedule if you notice excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be harmful, but not doing it often enough will leave your house looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s important to note that home building materials, especially vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to protect your house between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is safer than scrubbing the outside of your house because you do not need to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Pressure washing can be accomplished from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that can eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually 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 home, especially on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
And, pressure washing eliminates more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can negatively impact the appearance. They are all factors that must be considered before you hire a local pressure washer or think about doing the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you might also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud on the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a problem in some areas than in others. Having a home in a rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it might be a good idea to have damaged siding repaired so the high water pressure doesn’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The processes used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing instead of pressure washing to protect the shingles. And, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the right time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as deciding how often the service should be performed. There are certain times during the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing can benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on pressure washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with mud splatter and mildew by the end of the season regardless. 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 house pressure washed while you are having different work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding might not be fastened into place during a repair like it would typically be, which means you run the risk of damaging the area, prolonging the other project and trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a smart way to increase your home’s 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
Pick 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 chemicals onto your home’s surfaces.
If you are in an HOA, there might be rules about how regularly you have your house pressure washed or if you can do it on your own or if you have to hire a professional. You might only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your house appears, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
Pressure washing is one of the quickest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for several home surfaces and can get rid of months of built up dirt and stains.