How Long Does Pressure Washing A Home Take?
You have a busy schedule, and as such, you need to be able to work appointments into it. Pressure washing a home should be one of those appointments. It not only makes your home look great, but it can help keep it healthy as well. Unfortunately, the time it takes to pressure wash your home will vary. A solid pressure washing company can give you an accurate estimate, but there are factors that can help you anticipate the time. How Long Does Pressure Washing A Home Take?
Size of Your Home
Obviously a 1,000 square foot home can be pressure washed much faster than a two-story 4,000 square foot home. There is just more surface area that needs to be done. Furthermore, if a home has more than one story, the technician may need to get ladders out in order to reach certain areas. This takes time.
How Dirty Is Your Home?
If your home hasn’t been pressure washed in 20 years, for example, it will take much longer to get it clean. This is why pressure washing companies can’t honestly say that ever five square feet can take five minutes. It also depends on how much dirt needs to be removed from those five square feet. The longer that mildew and dirt has been on your siding, the tougher it can be to wash away.
Environmental Factors
Every single home is unique in its own way. Every home has landscaping in different places and architecture can vary. Environmental factors that can add onto time include:
- Type of siding on a home
- Areas of heavy soiling like algae growth
- Difficult to reach areas of siding
- Trees or tall landscaping located near the home
All the above will add on time, but the best answer to this question is to talk to a pressure washing company. They will give you a solid estimate on how long pressure washing a home take. If your home needs pressure washing services, contact us today to see what Patriot Services can do for you.
Protecting Plants From Pressure Washing
When you hire a team to pressure wash your home, you are taking a great step towards a cleaner and more beautiful exterior. However, pressure washing can be dangerous to plants in the right circumstances. Pressure washing companies are typically very careful not to trample on plants as well as not to spray the highly pressurized water on plants either. The problem comes from the fact that most pressure washing companies use a technique called soft washing to safely clean houses.
Soft washing uses a lower water pressure that poses less of a risk to the exterior but uses additives like bleach to clean effectively. As you would expect, bleach can be harmful plant life. In most homes, the vegetation should be planted far enough from the home to avoid direct exposure to soft washing, but steps still need to be taken to protect from splash back.
When soft washing the exterior of the home, typically the best protection from splash back is to wet the plants before soft washing. This layer of moisture will protect the leaves from chemical burns caused by the bleach additive. As the amount of bleach used is typically not enough to cause serious damage, a coat of water is more than enough protection.
In some cases, companies may also use tarps to protect any landscaping. However, tarp usage is more common with soft washing roofing when a lot of water has the potential to spill over gutters and onto the plants below. Tarps are only used when there is a large potential of exposure and a coat of water will not be enough to protect the plant.
You put a lot of effort into your landscaping, and you deserve a home that looks just as good. If you are looking into pressure washing for your home, contact us today to see what we can do for you.
Why Pressure Wash Your Home?
Every day, your home’s exterior is subjected to the weather and elements. Over time, that can cause dirt and grime to build up. It’s a gradual process that’s not very noticeable until one day you notice the paint or siding looking dull. That’s why it’s important to pressure wash the outside of your home once a year to keep it looking its best.
Annual pressure washing keeps the exterior walls, roof, deck and fencing updated by cleaning away dirt and mildew. It also has additional benefits.
It Improves Your Home’s Curb Appeal
Your home is your castle, and you’re quite proud of it. That’s why you keep the lawn manicured and your flower beds pristine. Pressuring washing your home’s exterior just once a year keeps it fresh and seals your home’s place as the pride of the neighborhood.
It Boosts Your Home’s Value
Your home is the biggest financial investment you’ll ever make. It only makes sense that you want to keep it maintained. But while you’re checking off your to-do list that includes painting and cleaning inside and out, make sure you also pressure washing the exterior once a year. According to Consumer Reports magazine, doing so can actually help increase your home’s financial value as much as 5%.
It Keeps Your Family Healthy
As we mentioned, the outside of your home can collect dirt and mildew. This can lead to bacteria to form that can be harmful to your family and pets, causing them to become sick. Fortunately, just by pressure washing your home’s exterior, you keep surfaces clean and prevent those bacteria from forming so your family and your pets can stay healthy.
It’s Preventative Maintenance
When you pressure wash your home on a yearly basis, you eliminate the dirt and mildew that, when left unattended, can cause surfaces to deteriorate. As a result, you prevent wood rot and premature aging of siding or other surfaces that can be costly. That means you can enjoy your home, with peace of mind, for years to come.
The simple act of pressure washing your home on an annual basis can help you maintain your property while keeping it looking great — all while ensuring your family stays healthy. For more information on how we can help with your pressure washing needs, contact us today.
Is It Safe To Pressure Wash Your Roof?
Not everyone knows the anatomy of their roof, and for the most part, that’s just fine. However, knowing how your roof protects your home is crucial when it comes time to have it cleaned. Over time, your roof is exposed to the brunt of your local weather. It can manifest moss growth or streaks of mold or algae from water exposure. The good news is that this is easily cleaned away. However, you need to be careful. If it safe to pressure wash clean your roof?
The easiest way of cleaning a roof is to have it pressure washed. However, while anyone can rent a pressure washer, you don’t actually want to clean a roof with straight water pressure. The issue with using water pressure is that if you do it from the ground, you are essentially just shooting water up under the shingles. This can cause roof damage and does little to actually clean it. Furthermore, if you hit the shingles directly with a pressured stream of water, you run the risk of cleaning off the protective ceramic granules on the shingles. This protects the asphalt from the sun and without them, your roof has a shorter lifespan.
Instead, you will want to look into a professional roof cleaning service. Instead of using high water pressure, the professionals will use a pressure washing technique called soft washing. Using this technique, they use a much lower pressure washing stream on the roof. The water is also mixed with a environmentally-safe detergent that will remove mold, algae, dirt, and moss from your roof faster and more safely than a high pressured stream. It is not only more effective, but there is almost no risk to your roof, no matter if you use shingles or other materials such as tile.
If your roof is looking a little shabby and needs a solid cleaning, contact us today to see what we can do to make it look beautiful again.