How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast option if your home starts to look drab and dated. Within hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment at many home improvement stores, or you can call a Birmingham pressure washing service. It will be a little more expensive upfront, but you don’t need to deal with bringing back rented equipment or the risk of harming your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful 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 and weather factors based on that location.
Most pros recommend having your home pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tries to tell you that more frequent cleanings are necessary 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 pressure wash your home several times each year.
By just touching the wood or siding of your home, you should be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you might have to deviate from a set schedule if you notice excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be harmful, but not doing it enough will leave your home looking lackluster far more than it should. It’s important to note that home building materials, especially vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to protect your home between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is a lot safer than scrubbing the exterior of your home because you do not need to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling a hose. Pressure washing can be done from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your home. They are not easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for these organisms to create colonies on your exterior, particularly on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
And, pressure washing removes more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following factors can negatively impact the appearance. They are all factors that need to be considered before you decide to call a professional pressure washer or think about doing the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in a rainy area, you might also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the side of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger problem in some areas of Birmingham than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine 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 good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high pressure water doesn’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The equipment used for pressure washing are specific 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 opposed to pressure washing to protect the shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the right time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as choosing how often the service has to be completed. There are times during the year when pressure washing would be a total waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing might benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on professional pressure washing during a rainy time of year. 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 impactful 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 other projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding might not be fastened into place during a renovation or repair like it would normally be, so you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the ongoing work and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a helpful 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
Choose a sunny day, but not one that is very hot. This is the optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning products onto your home’s exterior.
If you have an home owner’s association, there might be rules about how regularly you have your home pressure washed or if you can do it yourself or if you have to hire a local service. You might only be under HOA rules concerning how your home appears, but it’s really up to you to have it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the most common and most effective ways to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for most surfaces and can eliminate years of built up dirt and stains.