How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick fix if your home starts looking drab and dated. Within just a few hours, your home can be renewed to its beautiful appearance with nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent pressure washing equipment from many home improvement stores, or you can hire a Hampton pressure washing service. It will be costly upfront, but you don’t have to deal with returning rented equipment or run the risk of damaging your home because of lack of training or experience.
However, pressure washing can damage your home just as fast as it can beautify it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and destroy roof shingles. Therefore, you really have to be careful about how often you pressure 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 heavily on where your home is located and environmental factors around that location.
Most pros will recommend having your home pressure washed every year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing service that tries to tell you that more frequent cleanings are needed is just trying to squeeze more money out of you. However, it’s your home, and if you love how it looks right after a cleaning, you can pressure wash your home several times a year.
By just touching the exterior of your home, you should be able to tell if it needs a cleaning. The presence of dust, mud and grime can stain your home permanently if it isn’t removed periodically, so you may have to deviate from a set schedule if you start to see excess buildup between cleanings.
Pressure washing sometimes can be detrimental, but not doing it often enough can leave your home looking lackluster far more than it should. It’s necessary to note that modern building materials, particularly vinyl siding, are resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of 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 exterior of your home because you don’t have to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Pressure washing can be completed from the ground in almost all residential situations.
Mold and mildew are organisms that eat away at exterior surfaces and eventually make their way into your home. They are not easy to remove, yet it is really easy for these things to form colonies on your home, particularly on the north side of a home where it doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as the other sides of your home.
Plus, pressure washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand scrubbing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the below items can impact the appearance of a home. All are factors that need 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 to grow. If you live in a rainy area, you may also have powerful wind and a lot of rain splashing mud on the side of your home.
ENVIRONMENT
Pollen, pollution and mold are bigger problem in some areas of Hampton than in others. Living in a more rural area or near an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you think it is time to have your home pressure washed, it may be a smart idea to have damaged siding repaired so the high water pressure doesn’t do more damage. Pressure washing can also worsen a peeling paint problem.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The methods used for pressure washing are specific to your home’s exterior (brick, siding or wood) and the area of the home. For example, for roof cleaning, a pressure washing company will use soft washing opposed to pressure washing to protect the roof shingles. And, the expected results can vary widely.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the optimal time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as determining how often the service has to be performed. There are times throughout the year when pressure washing would be a real waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service can benefit you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Don’t waste any money on pressure washing during a rainy time of year. You’ll just end up with muddy splatter and mildew by the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time. Pressure washing is the most beneficial 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 work done on your home. Rock, brick or siding may not be tightened into place during a renovation or repair like it will typically be, so you run the risk of damaging the area, disrupting the other project and trapping water below building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a smart 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
Pick a sunny day, but don’t choose one that is very hot. This is the best condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning products onto your home’s siding or brick.
If you live in a neighborhood with an home owner’s association, there may be guidelines about how regularly you have your home pressure washed or if you can do it yourself or if you are required to hire a professional. You may only be under HOA rules concerning how your home looks, but it’s usually up to you to have it looking a certain way.
Pressure washing is one of the easiest and most effective ways to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for most surfaces and can get rid of years of dirt and stains.