How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution when your home starts looking drab and dated. Within hours, your home can be returned to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Norman pressure washing service. It could be expensive upfront, but you don’t have to deal with returning rented equipment or the risk of harming your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home just as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you have to be careful 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 pros will recommend having your home pressure washed once a year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tries to tell you more frequent cleanings are necessary is just trying to squeeze 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 a year.
By just touching the exterior of your home, you should be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain your home permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you could have to change from a set schedule if you start to see a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Power washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your home looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s necessary to note that modern building materials, especially vinyl siding, are very 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 safer than scrubbing the exterior of your home because you won’t have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging ahose. Power washing can be accomplished from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that can eat away at home exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is very easy for these things to create colonies on your house, especially on the north side where it doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
Plus, power washing removes more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following 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 think about doing the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If your home is in a rainy area, you might also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the side of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes more of a problem in some areas 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 affect your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your home pressure washed, it could be a good idea to have chipped siding repaired so the high water pressure won’t do any more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The processes used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing technician will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the shingles. And, the results can vary widely.
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 completed. There are times throughout the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing can help you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on professional power washing during a rainy season. You’ll just end up with muddy splatter and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is the most beneficial at the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t have your home pressure washed while you are having other projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a repair like it will normally be, so you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the ongoing work and even trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful way to increase your 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 bright, sunny day, but not one that is extremely hot. This is the optimal condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you have an HOA, there could be guidelines about how regularly you have your home power washed or whether you can do it yourself or if you are required to hire a local service. You might only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your home appears, but it’s really up to you to keep it looking maintained.
Power washing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for several home surfaces and can get rid of months of built up dirt and stains.