How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick solution once your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a couple of hours, your home can be renewed to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment from many home improvement stores, or you can hire a Asheville pressure washing service. It will be expensive upfront, but you don’t need to deal with returning rented equipment or the risk of damaging your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you need to be careful how often you power wash your home 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 a lot on where your home is and environmental factors around that location.
Most professionals recommend having your home pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tells you that more frequent cleanings are necessary is probably trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love the way it looks shortly after a cleaning, you can power wash your home many times each year.
By simply touching the wood or siding of your home, you should be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t removed from time to time, so you could have to change from a set schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it enough can leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s necessary to note that building materials, especially vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to protect your home between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the outside of your home because you won’t need to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling a garden hose. Power washing can be completed from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that can eat away at home exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not easy to get rid of, yet it is really easy for these organisms to form colonies on your home, especially on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
And, power washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that need to be considered before you hire a nearby pressure washer or attempt the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you might also have wind and rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a threat in some areas of Asheville than in others. Having a home in a rural area or near an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your home pressure washed, it could be a good idea to have chipped siding replaced so the high water pressure won’t do any more damage. Power 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 wood) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing company will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the roof shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the correct time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as deciding how often the service has to be completed. There are certain times throughout the year when power washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing service could help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste your money on professional power 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. Pressure washing is most impactful near the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t have your home pressure washed the same time you are having other work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding could not be tightened into place during a renovation or repair like it would normally be, which means you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great way to increase your curb appeal. It’s the simple solution 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 optimal condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, there could be requirements about how often you have your home power washed or if you can do it on your own or if you are required to hire a local company. You might only be under HOA rules concerning how your home looks, but it’s usually up to you to keep it looking good.
Power washing is one of the easiest and most effective ways to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for a multitude of home surfaces and can eliminate years of dirt and stains.