Power Washing: A Great Way to Give Your Home a Quick Facelift

With busy lives and packed schedules, it can be tough to keep up with house cleaning maintenance. Keeping the inside of your home clean, neat and inviting is probably a top priority, but what happens when the exterior falls short of the cleanliness of the interior?

Your home is subject to the elements, to insects and animals and even to mold, especially if you have a large north-facing façade. You may find that your home has started to look a little worn, maybe with cobwebs, dirt, mold, leaves or pollen. Cleaning the exterior of your home is well worth the time, effort and expense.

Your first step to exterior house cleaning will be to assess the condition and material of your home. A brick, aluminum or wood siding, or vinyl siding home will benefit from power washing. If your home has peeling paint, be aware that power washing will only lift the chipping paint and cause the underlying wood to swell. What started out as a house cleaning may end up being a repainting job!

A word of caution when house cleaning: if your home’s exterior is Masonite or other hardboard siding, do not proceed with power washing. The intense pressure of the power washer can damage the siding; opt for the old stand-by garden hose and some household bleach to do the job.

Home washing is a great weekend project, that just about anyone can tackle is power washing. Once only a tool of the experts, a homeowner can rent a power washer for under $100 a day or even purchase a quality model like an electric pressure washer for around $700. Basically, a power washer contains a motor and a pump and cycles the water from your hose through the machine and pushes it out with a great force, bumping the pressure up to around 158 bar (2300 psi).This pressure is very effective for cleaning surfaces, but it is very important to test out the machine and be familiar with it before beginning your house cleaning.

Whether you have rented a power washer or purchased one for yourself, start your home washing project by getting acquainted with all the pressure washer parts and accessories. Most models come with nozzle tips in several different sizes. As the water rushes through the nozzle, the tip helps you concentrate it in differing ways depending on the size and shape of the tip. Be aware that the smaller the tip, the more concentrated the spray will be; it’s easy to become overzealous when power washing, so begin with the largest tip. Test the spray in an inconspicuous spot on your home or another surface altogether. While doing home washing, be sure to keep the nozzle in motion so that you won’t damage the surface of your home with water pressure that is too strong.

If you find that the power washer alone isn’t doing the job when home washing, you may want to consider using some bleach or a detergent mix kit that may be sold or rented along with the unit. You can spray the surface of your home with common household bleach, and then allow it to sit for just a minute. If it stays on too long, you may damage the siding or even change its color! Follow up with another pass with the power washer.

In just an afternoon, you can give your home a makeover and remove some of the effects of nature on the appearance of your house. Home washing with power washer is all worth of your time and money.