How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution once 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 power washing equipment at many home improvement stores, or you can hire Overland Park pressure washing service. It might be expensive upfront, but you don’t have to deal with returning equipment or the risk of harming your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as quickly as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful how often you power 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 a lot on where your house is and environmental factors around that location.
Most pros recommend having your house pressure washed every year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tells you 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 shortly after a cleaning, you can power wash your house several times each year.
By 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 periodically, so you could have to change from a planned schedule if you notice excess buildup between cleanings.
Power washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough can leave your house looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s important to note that building materials, especially vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials help to protect your house between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is a lot safer than scrubbing the outside of your house because you don’t have to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging ahose. Power washing can be done from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and make their way into your house. They are not easy to remove, yet it is really easy for them to form colonies on your home, especially on the north side where it usually doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
Plus, power washing removes more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that have to be considered before you decide to hire a nearby pressure washer or try to do the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you may also have wind and a lot of rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger problem in some areas of Overland Park than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide 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 worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing service will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the roof shingles. Additionally, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the optimal time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as deciding how often the service should be completed. There are times during the year when power washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service can help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste money on professional power washing during a rainy season. You’ll end up with muddy splatter and mildew by the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is 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 different projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding could not be sealed into place during a repair like it will normally be, so you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the other project and trapping water underneath 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 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 extremely hot. This is the best condition for the surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning chemicals onto your home’s surfaces.
If you are in an HOA, there could be guidelines about how regularly you have your house power washed or if you can do it yourself or if you have to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA guidelines concerning how your house looks, but it’s usually up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
Power washing is one of the most common and most effective ways to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for most surfaces and can remove months of built up dirt and stains.