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Pressure washing is a fast solution if your house starts to look drab and outdated.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 returned to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment at home improvement stores, or you can hire a Bellevue pressure washing service. It can be a little more expensive upfront, but you don’t need to deal with returning rented equipment or run the risk of harming your house due to lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as quickly as it can renew it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and ruin roof shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful 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 and environmental factors around that location.
Most professionals recommend having your house pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tells you that more frequent services are necessary 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 right after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your house multiple times each year.
By just touching the wood or siding of your house, you should be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain your house permanently if it isn’t washed off from time to time, so you could have to change from a planned schedule if you notice excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough can leave your house looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s necessary to note that building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials protect your house between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is safer than scrubbing the exterior of your house because you won’t need to climb up and down a ladder with a brush and a bucket while dragging ahose. Pressure washing can be done from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and make their way into your house. They are not very easy to get rid of, yet it is extremely easy for these organisms to grow into colonies on your house, especially on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your house.
And, pressure washing eliminates more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that need to be considered before you decide to hire a nearby pressure washer or attempt the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you may also have wind and rain splashing mud onto the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes more of a threat in some areas of Bellevue than in others. Living in a rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what types of environmental factors affect your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your house pressure washed, it could be a good idea to have damaged siding replaced so the high pressure water won’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen 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 roof shingles. And, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the correct time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as deciding how often the service should be completed. There are certain times throughout the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing service can benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on pressure washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with muddy splatter and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. 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 house pressure washed the same time you are having other projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding could not be fastened into place during a renovation or repair like it will 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 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
Choose a sunny day, but don’t choose one that is extremely hot. This is the best condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an home owner’s association, there could be guidelines about how regularly you have your house pressure washed or whether you can do it by yourself or if you are required to hire a professional. You may only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your house looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to have it looking a certain way.
Pressure washing is one of the quickest 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 remove months of built up dirt and stains.