How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast option once your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a few hours, your home can be renewed to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment from home improvement stores, or you can hire a Columbia pressure washing service. It might be expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with returning rented equipment or run 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 roof shingles. Therefore, you really need 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 on where your home is located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most professionals recommend having your home pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tells you that more frequent cleanings are needed is probably trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love how it looks shortly after a cleaning, you can power wash your home multiple times each year.
By simply touching the wood or siding of your home, you will be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dust, 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 deviate from a set schedule if you start to see excess buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it enough can leave your home looking lackluster far more than it should. It’s important to note that home building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials help to protect your home between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the exterior of your home because you don’t have to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Power washing can be performed from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your home. They are not easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for them to form colonies on your home, especially 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 gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that must be considered before you decide to call a professional pressure washer or attempt the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in a rainy area, you might also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the side of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a problem in some areas than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it might be a smart idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high water pressure won’t do any more damage. Power 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 paint) and the section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the roof shingles. Additionally, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the right time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as choosing how often the service has to be completed. There are different times throughout the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing can benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on power washing in a rainy season. You’ll end up with mud stains and mildew by the end of the season regardless. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is the 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 while you are having different projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding might not be sealed into place during a repair like it will typically be, so you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the easiest answer for all your home’s exterior surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Pick a bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the perfect condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s exterior.
If you are in an HOA, there might be requirements about how regularly you have your home power washed or whether you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a local company. You might only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your home appears, but it’s ultimately up to you to have it looking a certain way.
Power washing is one of the most common 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 remove months of dirt and stains.