How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast option after your house starts looking drab and outdated. 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 many home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Hillsboro pressure washing service. It might be costly upfront, but you don’t have to deal with bringing back equipment or run the risk of damaging your house due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home just as fast as it can clean 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 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 on where your house is located and environmental factors around that location.
Most pros recommend having your house pressure washed each year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tries to tell you that more frequent services are needed is probably trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love the way it looks shortly after a cleaning, you can power wash your house many times a year.
By just touching the exterior of your house, you should be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain the outside of your house permanently if it isn’t washed off from time to time, so you may have to change from a set schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your house looking dirtier more than it should. It’s necessary to note that building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials help to 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 up and down a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling a garden hose. Pressure washing can be done from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that can eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your house. They are not easy to get rid of, yet it is extremely easy for these organisms to create colonies on your home, particularly on the north side where it doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as the 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 below items can negatively impact the appearance of a home. All are factors that have to be considered before you decide to call a local pressure washer or attempt the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you may also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a problem in some areas of Hillsboro than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or next to an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your house pressure washed, it may be a smart idea to have chipped siding repaired so the high pressure water won’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The methods 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 company will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the roof shingles. Also, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the best time to have your house pressure washed is almost as important as determining how often the service should be completed. There are times throughout the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing could help you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on power washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll just 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 the most beneficial near the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t have your house pressure washed while you are having different work done on your house. Rock, brick or siding may not be fastened into place during a repair like it should normally be, which means you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the ongoing work 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 simple answer for all your home’s outside surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Choose a bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is very hot. This is the best condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in an HOA, there may be guidelines about how regularly you have your house power washed or whether you can do it yourself or if you are required to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your house looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking good.
Pressure washing is one of the quickest and most effective methods to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for a multitude of home surfaces and can remove months of built up dirt and stains.