How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick solution if your house starts to look drab and dated. Within just a couple of hours, your house can be returned to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at most home improvement stores, or you can enlist the help of a Kansas City pressure washing service. It could be a little more expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with returning equipment or run the risk of harming your house due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home just as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and destroy shingles. Therefore, you really have to be careful about 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 located and weather factors based on that location.
Most pros recommend having your house pressure washed each year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tells you more frequent services are necessary is just trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love how it looks after a cleaning, you can power wash your house many times a year.
By touching the wood or siding 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 washed off periodically, so you might have to change from a set schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Power washing can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough can leave your house looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s necessary 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 much safer than scrubbing the exterior of your house because you don’t have to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging ahose. Power washing can be performed from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are living organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your house. They are not easy to remove, yet it is really easy for them to grow into colonies on your exterior, particularly on the north side where it usually doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
And, power washing removes more dirt and grime than hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following factors can negatively impact the appearance. They are all factors that need to be considered before you decide to hire a nearby pressure washer or think about doing the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If your home is in a rainy area, you may also have wind and rain splashing mud onto the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are sometimes more of a problem in some areas of Kansas City than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine 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 good idea to have damaged siding repaired so the high pressure water doesn’t do any more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The equipment used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or paint) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing company will use soft washing instead of power washing to protect the shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the optimal time to have your house pressure washed is as important as choosing how often the service needs to be performed. There are different times during the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing could benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste money on power washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with muddy splatter and mildew by the end of the season regardless. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is most impactful at the end of a season, whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.
BEFORE/AFTER HOME PROJECTS
Don’t plan to have your house pressure washed while you are having other projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding might not be sealed into place during a renovation or repair like it would typically be, which means you run the risk of harming the area, prolonging 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 optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s surfaces.
If you live in a neighborhood with an home owner’s association, there might be guidelines about how regularly you have your house power washed or whether you can do it by yourself or if you have to hire a local company. You may only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your house looks, but it’s really up to you to have it looking a certain way.
Power washing is one of the quickest and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done the right way, it is safe for several home surfaces and can get rid of years of built up dirt and stains.