How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick option after your home starts looking drab and dated. Within just a couple of hours, your home can be renewed to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from most home improvement stores, or you can call a Rocklin pressure washing service. It can be costly upfront, but you don’t need to deal with bringing back rented equipment or the risk of harming your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home just as fast as it can renew it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you really need to be careful how often you pressure 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 heavily on where your home is and environmental factors based on that location.
Most pros will encourage having your home pressure washed every year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tries to tell you more frequent services are needed 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 pressure wash your home multiple times each year.
By just touching the wood or siding of your home, you should be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain your home permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you could have to change from a set schedule if you notice too much buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be harmful, but not doing it enough can leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s important to note that building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials protect your home between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is a lot safer than scrubbing the exterior of your home because you won’t need to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while pulling ahose. Pressure washing can be completed from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these things to grow into colonies on your exterior, particularly on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
And, pressure washing eliminates more dirt and grime than hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can impact the appearance. They are all factors that must be considered before you call a local pressure washer or think about doing the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in an area that is rainy, you might also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes bigger threat in some areas of Rocklin than in others. Having a home in a rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine what types of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it could be a smart idea to have damaged siding replaced so the high water pressure doesn’t do any more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite 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 section of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing service will use soft washing opposed to pressure washing to protect the shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the best time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as deciding how often the service needs to be performed. 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 just appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste money on professional pressure washing during a rainy season. You’ll just end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time. 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 home pressure washed while you are having different projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding could not be sealed into place during a renovation or repair like it would typically be, so you run the risk of ruining the area, disrupting the ongoing work and even trapping water under 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 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 fast without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in an HOA, there could be guidelines about how regularly you have your home pressure washed or if you can do it on your own or if you are required to hire a professional. You might only be under HOA rules concerning how your home appears, but it’s really up to you to have it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the simplest and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for most surfaces and can remove months of dirt and stains.