How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution if your house starts to look drab and outdated. Within just a few hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from many home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Ontario pressure washing service. It might be a little more costly upfront, but you don’t have to deal with bringing back rented equipment or run the risk of harming your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as fast as it can clean it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful about how often you pressure wash your house 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 house is located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most professionals recommend having your house pressure washed each year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tries to tell you 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 house multiple times a year.
By just touching the exterior of your house, you will be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain the outside of your house permanently if it isn’t washed off periodically, so you could have to deviate from a set schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it enough will leave your house looking lackluster more than it should. It’s important to note that modern building materials, particularly 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 much safer than scrubbing the exterior of your house because you do not have to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling ahose. Power washing can be done from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and make their way into your house. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is very easy for them to create colonies on your house, especially on the north side where it usually doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your house.
Plus, pressure washing removes more dirt and grime than hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can impact the appearance. All are factors that have to be considered before you hire a professional pressure washer or think about doing the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in a rainy area, you may also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are bigger threat in some areas than in others. Living in a rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors affect your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it could be a smart idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high pressure water won’t do any more damage. Power washing can also expedite a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) 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. Additionally, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the correct time to have your house pressure washed is almost as important as deciding how often the service needs to be completed. There are different times during the year when pressure washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing might benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste any money on pressure washing during a rainy season. You’ll end up with mud splatter and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is the most useful 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 projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a renovation or repair like it will typically be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, prolonging the ongoing work and even trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective 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 blazing hot. This is the optimal condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in an HOA, there could be guidelines about how often you have your house pressure washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a local company. You may only be under HOA rules regarding how your house looks, but it’s really up to you to have it looking maintained.
Power washing is one of the simplest and most effective methods to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for a multitude of surfaces and can eliminate years of built up dirt and stains.