How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick option once your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a couple of hours, your home can be restored to its beautiful appearance from nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from most home improvement stores, or you can hire a Redmond pressure washing service. It can be a little more expensive upfront, but you won’t need to deal with bringing back rented equipment or the risk of damaging your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home just as quickly as it can beautify it. The pressurized water is powerful enough to break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you really have 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 on where your home is and weather factors around that location.
Most pros encourage having your home pressure washed each year or, no longer than every 2 years.
Any pressure washing technician that tells you that more frequent services are necessary is probably trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love the way it looks after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your home many 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 the outside of your home permanently if it isn’t washed off periodically, so you might have to change from a set schedule if you notice excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be harmful, but not doing it enough can leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s important to note that modern building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to protect your home between pressure washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is a lot 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 ahose. Pressure washing can be completed from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that can eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually find their way into your home. They are not very easy to remove, yet it is very easy for these organisms to create colonies on your exterior, particularly on the north side where it doesn’t get much sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
And, pressure washing removes more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below factors can negatively impact the appearance of a home. They are all factors that must be considered before you decide to call a professional pressure washer or try to do the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If you live in an area that is rainy, you might also have powerful wind and rain splashing mud on the exterior of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are bigger problem in some areas of Redmond than in others. Living in a rural area or next to an unpaved road will factor into what types of environmental factors affect your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it might be a smart idea to have damaged siding replaced so the high water pressure won’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen 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 technician will use soft washing instead of pressure washing to protect the shingles. And, the results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Choosing the optimal time to have your home pressure washed is as important as determining how often the service needs to be completed. There are times during the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing could benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste money on pressure washing in a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with muddy stains and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, for 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 home pressure washed while you are having other projects done on your home. Rock, brick or siding might not be fastened into place during a renovation or repair like it should typically be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the ongoing work and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great way to increase your curb appeal. It’s the easiest 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 blazing hot. This is the optimal condition for the exterior surfaces to dry quickly without baking cleaning products onto your home’s exterior.
If you have an home owner’s association, there might be guidelines about how often you have your home 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 home looks, but it’s really up to you to keep it looking maintained.
Pressure washing is one of the fastest and most effective methods to clean your entire home. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for a multitude of surfaces and can remove years of dirt and stains.