How Often Should You Pressure Wash Your Home?
Pressure washing is a quick fix when your home starts to look drab and outdated. Within just a few hours, your home can be renewed to its beautiful appearance by nothing more than high pressure water.
You can rent power washing equipment from home improvement stores, or you can hire a Knoxville pressure washing service. It might be expensive upfront, but you don’t have to deal with returning equipment or the risk of damaging your home due to lack of training or experience.
However, power washing can damage your home just as fast as it can clean it. The pressurized water can break windows, damage siding and ruin shingles. Therefore, you really have to be careful about how often you power 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 environmental factors around that location.
Most pros will recommend having your home pressure washed once a year or, at least every 2 years.
Any pressure washing company that tries to tell you more frequent services are necessary is just trying to squeeze a little more money out of you. However, it’s your house, and if you love how it looks after a cleaning, you can power wash your home several times each year.
By simply touching the wood or siding of your home, you will be able to tell if it’s time for a cleaning. The presence of dust, 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 start to see excess buildup between cleanings.
Power washing can be detrimental, but not doing it enough will leave your home looking dirtier far more than it should. It’s necessary to note that modern building materials, especially vinyl siding, are very resistant to stains, mold and mildew. These types of materials 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 do not have to climb up and down a ladder with a rag and a bucket while dragging a garden hose. Power washing can be accomplished from the ground in most residential situations.
Mold and mildew are 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 really easy for these things to form colonies on your exterior, particularly on the north side of a home where it usually doesn’t get much direct sunlight or wind as other sides of your home.
And, power washing gets rid of more dirt and grime than manual hand washing.
Factors that Affect Your Home’s Exterior
All of the following factors can impact the appearance. They are all factors that have to be considered before you decide to hire a professional pressure washer or think about doing the job yourself.
CLIMATE
Factors like humidity and weather can create a perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow. If your home is in an area that is rainy, you may also have 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 of Knoxville than in others. Living in a more rural area or next to an unpaved road will determine what type of environmental factors impact your home more.
HOME CONDITION
If you do decide to have your home pressure washed, it might be a smart idea to have chipped siding repaired so the high pressure water won’t do more damage. Power washing can also worsen a peeling paint issue.
EXTERIOR FINISH
The techniques used for pressure washing are unique 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 instead of power washing to protect the shingles. Also, the results can vary widely based on technique.
When to Pressure Wash Your Home
Determining the best time to have your home pressure washed is almost as important as choosing how often the service has to be performed. There are certain times throughout the year when power washing would be a total waste of time and money. Different times, however, a professional pressure washing service can help you in more ways than just appearance.
WEATHER
Do not waste your money on power washing in a rainy season. You’ll just end up with mud splatter and mildew at the end of the season anyway. Winter, as an example, isn’t the best time of year. Pressure washing is most beneficial near 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 might not be fastened into place during a renovation or repair like it should typically be, so you run the risk of harming the area, disrupting the other project and even trapping water underneath building materials.
BEFORE SELLING
Pressure washing is a cost-effective 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 bright, sunny day, but don’t choose one that is very hot. This is the perfect condition for the surfaces to dry fast without baking cleaning products onto your home’s exterior.
If you live in a neighborhood with an home owner’s association, there might be requirements about how often you have your home power washed or if you can do it yourself or if you are required to hire a professional. You may only be under HOA rules regarding how your home appears, but it’s really up to you to keep it looking a certain way.
Power washing is one of the simplest and most effective methods to clean your entire home exterior. As long as it’s done correctly, it is safe for several surfaces and can get rid of years of built up dirt and stains.