How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution after your house starts to look drab and outdated. 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 pressure washing equipment from home improvement stores, or you can hire a Scottsdale pressure washing service. It will be a little more expensive upfront, but you won’t have to deal with bringing back equipment or run the risk of harming your house because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure 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 need to be careful about 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 weather factors around that location.
Most pros will recommend having your house pressure washed once a year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tries to tell you that more frequent services are necessary is just trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love the way it looks after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your house multiple times a year.
By just touching the exterior of your house, you should be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dirt, mud and grime can stain the outside of your house permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you could have to deviate from a planned schedule if you start to see a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it enough can leave your house looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s important to note that modern building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These 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 don’t have to climb a ladder with a brush and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Pressure washing can be done from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your house. They are not easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these organisms to form colonies on your exterior, particularly on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your house.
Plus, pressure washing eliminates more dirt and grime than hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can negatively impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that need to be considered before you decide to hire a local pressure washer or think about doing the job on your own.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If your home is in a rainy area, you might also have wind and rain splashing mud on the exterior of your house.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be bigger threat in some areas of Scottsdale than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will determine 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 repaired so the high water pressure won’t do any more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The methods 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 technician will use soft washing opposed to pressure washing to protect the roof shingles. Also, the expected results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the optimal time to have your house pressure washed is just as important as determining how often the service should be completed. There are certain times throughout the year when pressure washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing might help you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on professional pressure washing during a rainy season. You’ll end up with muddy splatter and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time of year. 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 have your house pressure washed while you are having different projects done on your house. Rock, brick or siding could not be sealed into place during a repair like it would typically be, which means you run the risk of harming the area, prolonging the other project and even trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective 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 bright, sunny day, but not one that is very hot. This is the best condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning solutions onto your home’s exterior.
If you have an HOA, there could be guidelines about how often you have your house pressure washed or if you can do it on your own or if you have to hire a local service. You might only be under HOA rules regarding how your house looks, but it’s ultimately up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
Pressure washing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for a multitude of surfaces and can remove years of dirt and stains.