How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a fast solution when your home starts looking drab and outdated. Within just a few hours, your home can be returned to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment at many home improvement stores, or you can hire a Reno pressure washing service. It could be a little more costly upfront, but you won’t need to deal with bringing back rented equipment or the risk of damaging your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home just as fast as it can renew it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you have to be careful 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 a lot on where your home is located and weather factors based on that location.
Most professionals will recommend having your home pressure washed each year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tells you that more frequent cleanings are needed is probably trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love the way it looks right after a cleaning, you can power wash your home multiple times each year.
By touching the exterior of your home, you should be able to tell if it needs 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 might have to change from a set schedule if you notice a lot of buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough will leave your home looking lackluster more than it should. It’s necessary to note that building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These materials help to protect your home between power washings.
Why Pressure Washing is the Preferred Method
Pressure washing is much safer than scrubbing the exterior of your home because you won’t need to climb a ladder with a rag and a bucket while pulling ahose. Pressure washing can be accomplished from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organic organisms that can eat away at home exterior surfaces and find their way into your home. They are not easy to remove, yet it is very easy for them to create colonies on your house, especially on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get as much direct sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
Plus, power washing removes more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following items can negatively impact the appearance. All are factors that need to be considered before you hire a professional pressure washer or think about doing the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and extreme weather events can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew. If you live in a rainy area, you may also have wind and rain splashing mud on the side of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are more of a problem in some areas of Reno than in others. Living 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 think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it might be a smart idea to have damaged siding repaired so the high pressure water won’t do more damage. Pressure 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 technician will use soft washing opposed to power washing to protect the shingles. Also, 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 as important as choosing how often the service should be performed. There are different times during the year when power washing would be an ultimate waste of time and money. Other times, however, a professional pressure washing service can benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on professional power 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 the most useful 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 the same time you are having different work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding might not be sealed into place during a repair like it will typically be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water under building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a great way to increase your home’s curb appeal. It’s the easiest solution for all your home’s exterior surfaces, including sidewalks, porches, driveways, patio furniture and wood and composite decks.
SUNNY DAYS
Choose a bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is blazing hot. This is the best 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 HOA, there might be requirements about how regularly you have your home power washed or if you can do it on your own or if you have to hire a local service. You may only be under HOA guidelines regarding how your home looks, but it’s really up to you to keep it looking good.
Pressure washing is one of the easiest and most effective methods to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for a multitude of home surfaces and can remove months of dirt and stains.