How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast option after your house starts to look drab and dated. Within hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment at most home improvement stores, or you can hire a Macon pressure washing service. It can be expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with returning rented equipment or run the risk of damaging 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 can break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you have 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 located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most professionals will encourage having your house pressure washed every year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tries to tell you that more frequent cleanings are necessary is probably trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love how it looks after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your house many times each year.
By touching the exterior of your house, you should be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain your house permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you might have to change from a planned schedule if you start to see excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough can leave your house looking lackluster 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 house between pressure 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 dragging ahose. Pressure washing can be accomplished from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that 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 these organisms to form colonies on your home, particularly on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your house.
And, pressure washing removes more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can negatively impact the appearance. All are factors that need to be considered before you hire a professional pressure washer or attempt the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in a rainy area, you may also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud onto the side of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a problem in some areas of Macon than in others. Having a home 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 might be a smart idea to have damaged siding replaced so the high water pressure doesn’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The methods used for pressure washing are unique 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. And, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the right time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as determining how often the service has to be performed. There are different times during the year when pressure washing would be a total waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing can benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on professional pressure washing during a rainy season. You’ll end up with muddy stains and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is the most useful 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 might not be tightened into place during a repair like it will typically be, so you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the ongoing work and even trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective way to increase your 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 perfect condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you have an HOA, there might be rules about how regularly you have your house pressure washed or whether you can do it on your own or if you are required to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA rules regarding how your house looks, but it’s usually up to you to keep it looking good.
Pressure washing is one of the fastest and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for several surfaces and can remove years of built up dirt and stains.