How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast fix when your house starts to look drab and outdated. Within hours, your house can be renewed to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment at home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Cypress pressure washing service. It will be expensive upfront, but you won’t need to deal with bringing back equipment or the risk of harming your house due to lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home as fast as it can renew it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you have to be careful how often you pressure wash your house 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 house is located and environmental factors based on that location.
Most pros will encourage having your house pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tells you more frequent cleanings are necessary is just 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 a year.
By 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 your house permanently if it isn’t washed off from time to time, so you might have to deviate from a planned schedule if you notice a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it enough will leave your house looking lackluster more than it should. It’s important to note that home 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 outside of your house because you do not need to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Pressure washing can be accomplished from the ground in most 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 get rid of, yet it is extremely easy for them to create colonies on your exterior, especially on the north side where it usually doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as the other sides of your house.
And, pressure washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can impact the appearance. They are all factors that have to be considered before you call a nearby pressure washer or think about doing the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in an area that is rainy, you may also have wind and rain splashing mud on the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a problem in some areas than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine what types of environmental factors impact your house more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your house pressure washed, it might be a good idea to have damaged siding replaced so the high water pressure doesn’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The equipment used for pressure washing are unique to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing service will use soft washing instead of pressure washing to protect the roof shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the right time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as choosing how often the service should be completed. There are different times during the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing can help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on professional pressure washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with mud stains and mildew by the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an 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 have your house pressure washed the same time you are having other projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding might not be fastened into place during a renovation or repair like it would normally be, which means you run the risk of damaging the area, prolonging the other project and even trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great way to increase your home’s 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 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 products onto your home’s surfaces.
If you have an home owner’s association, there might be rules about how often you have your house pressure washed or if you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a professional. You may only be under HOA rules concerning how your house appears, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
Pressure washing is one of the easiest and most effective ways to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for most surfaces and can get rid of months of built up dirt and stains.