How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast fix 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 power washing equipment from home improvement stores, or you can call a Corona pressure washing service. It could be expensive upfront, but you won’t need to deal with returning equipment or run the risk of harming your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home as quickly as it can clean it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and ruin roof shingles. Therefore, you really have to be careful about how often you power wash your home 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 on where your home is and weather factors around that location.
Most professionals will recommend having your home pressure washed every year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing pro that tells you 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 how it looks shortly after a cleaning, you can power 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 washed off from time to time, so you could have to change from a planned schedule if you start to see too much buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing often can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough can leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s necessary to note that home building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials 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 don’t need to climb up and down 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 organisms that eat away at home exterior surfaces and make their way into your home. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is extremely easy for these organisms to grow into colonies on your house, especially on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get as much sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
And, power washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can negatively impact the appearance. They are all factors that have to be considered before you hire a nearby pressure washer or attempt the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather events create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in a rainy area, you might also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold can be more of a threat in some areas than in others. Having a home in a more rural area or next to an unpaved road will factor into what type of environmental factors affect 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 repaired so the high water pressure won’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also expedite a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The processes used for pressure washing are specific 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 instead of power washing to protect the roof shingles. And, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the right time to have your home pressure washed is just as important as determining how often the service has to be completed. There are different times throughout the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing might benefit you in more ways than appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on power washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll end up with mud stains and mildew at the end of the season regardless. Winter, for example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is most beneficial 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 tightened into place during a repair like it would typically be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, prolonging the ongoing work and even trapping water under 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
Pick a sunny day, but not one that is extremely hot. This is the optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you are in 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 regarding how your home appears, but it’s usually up to you to have it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the fastest and most effective ways to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done right, it is safe for most home surfaces and can get rid of years of built up dirt and stains.