How often do you have your home's exterior walls, wood deck, patio, driveway, and other areas of your property power washed? If you're like many homeowners, you might put this job off for as long as possible, and then try to tackle the work yourself. Both of these choices can be a mistake!
​To better understand why it's good to keep your property clean and in good repair with regular commercial power washing, and why you should leave this job to professionals, note a few ways regular pressure washing can improve your property's appearance, and even protect its many exterior surfaces.
Did you know that one of the major causes of potholes and soft spots in asphalt is motor oil? Asphalt is a petroleum-based product, and motor oils react with this petroleum to break down its adhesion. In turn, the longer oil drips are allowed to remain on asphalt, the more likely it is that potholes will form.
Motor oil may not have the same effect on concrete, but concrete gets very brittle and more likely to crack when it becomes overly dry. Leftover salt used to melt snow and ice can absorb moisture from your driveway's concrete, causing the material to dry out and then increasing the risk of it cracking and chipping.
Commercial power washing will help to remove oils stains and other automotive fluids that soften and damage asphalt, as well as remaining salt that dries out a concrete driveway. Power washing will also clean away built-up dirt, grime, mud, and other debris that gets caught in the pitted areas of these materials, so that your home's driveway and walkways are strong and durable, and always look their best.
Pests can get into a home in many ways, including through holes in exterior walls and along the foundation. Once inside, they may start nesting in the attic or the insulation behind the walls.
However, not all pests live inside the home, as some will build tunnels, nests, and webs along the house's roof eaves, in the corner of the chimney, or in dark edges of exterior walls. Once nests are built, those pests may then access your home for food and water, becoming a health hazard to you, your family, and your pets.
Regular commercial power washing can remove nests, webs, and other homes of pests that are outside the house. Tunnels used by termites can also be washed away so that they have less access to your home. By having your home regularly power washed, you make it less inviting for those pests and less likely that you'll see them infest the inside of the house!
Cleaning outside window glass is a challenge, and can be downright dangerous! Merely being up on a ladder is always unsafe, but it's even more precarious when you need to reach, stretch, and bend to clean windows.
Cleaning a home's windows with harsh cleansers or abrasive cloths and tools can also damage the glass, causing microscopic cracks and chips that allow dirt and debris to settle onto9 the window's surface. On the other hand, using cleansers that are not strong enough can mean just rubbing dirt and mud across that glass, making it look cloudy and streaky.
Regular commercial power washing of your home's windows will remove caked-on dirt, mud, acid rain, dust, and other debris, protecting the glass from long-term etching and scratching. Power washing is also a safe way to reach all the windows of your home, without the risk of falling off a ladder and injuring yourself!
While it might be tempting to try to power wash your home's windows yourself, consider how easy it is actually to shatter glass with a pressure washer. This risk is especially true of older glass that has been exposed to sunlight and inclement weather, causing it to weaken. Pressure is needed to get water to those upper story windows, but too much pressure, especially in the middle of the glass, can outright break a window! This potential damage is why commercial power washing of your home's windows is always best left to a professional.
You might not think that caked-on dirt, acid rain, and bird droppings can be damaging to your home, but these types of debris can etch away a home's brick and siding. Brick especially can be susceptible to damage, as the pollutants in acid rain and the acidic content of bird droppings can soften the materials used to make both brick and mortar.
Regular commercial power washing of your home's aluminum siding or brick exterior and the brick of the chimney can reduce this risk of damage and ensure the home is protected from erosion and wear. You may then see fewer holes, chips, and cracks develop in the home's exterior when you invest in regular commercial power washing.
If someone were to suffer a slip-and-fall accident on your property, your homeowner's insurance might cover the cost of their medical bills, but those premiums may then skyrocket! While clearing your property's walkways of snow and ice in wintertime can help to prevent these injuries, remember that loose aggregate, a buildup of gravel, caked-on mud, motor oil, and other such debris can also pose a hazard.
Regular commercial power washing of your property's walkways and driveway can remove all that loose and dangerous debris. It can also expose chipped, cracked, or otherwise damaged areas of a driveway or sidewalk, so that you can have those areas filled in and patched, to keep surfaces safe for visitors and your own family!
If someone in your family has any breathing disorder, you know how important it is to keep the air inside the home free of pollen, mold, mildew, dust, and other such irritants. While it's good to have air purifiers in the home and to clean the floors and ductwork of the house regularly, you also want to consider removing as many of those irritants from outside the home as well.
You can't install air purifiers outdoors, but regular commercial power washing of your home's exterior walls, walkways, and driveway will remove as much of that debris from your property as possible. The more often you have your home and property power washed by a professional, the less pollen and dust and other such irritants that will make their way into your home as well.
Your property's curb appeal is critical, as your neighbors may not appreciate living next to an unkempt and downright dirty home, and having a house in disrepair may bring down your property values as well as theirs. A clean and well-tended home, on the other hand, is very welcoming and inviting, and something you probably appreciate seeing every time you come up the driveway!
While you might try to improve your property's curb appeal with lovely hedges and flowerbeds, these plantings will usually do little to enhance the look of a filthy home. They also can't hide or dress up lines of algae across the roof, streaks on the windows, and cobwebs along all the corners.
Regular commercial power washing will protect and even enhance your home's curb appeal, bringing out the true colors of brick and aluminum siding, shutters, and even your home's gutters and downspouts. Power washing also ensures that unsightly stains on the house or your property's pavement don't detract from its overall curb appeal.
Chipped and peeling paint on a home's exterior, porch railings, steps, and other such surfaces can be very unsightly, and even dangerous. Paint on a home's exterior helps to protect the siding or brick from water damage and damage from exposure to bright sunlight, high winds, and the like. It also keeps water out from the framework of the home.
Children and animals may also ingest paint chips; even though lead-based paint is typically outlawed in many areas today, this doesn't mean that paint is safe for children and pets to eat! However, you may not even realize that your home's exterior walls or railings have chipped paint, as dust and dirt may be covering those cracked areas, or the peeling areas of paint may not have come away from the materials under it.
Regular commercial power washing will remove those damaged areas of exterior paint, so you can better note if those surfaces need a fresh coat. Commercial power washing will also ready those surfaces for new paint, so you might be able to use touchup paint on your own, and forego the expense of calling a professional. On the other hand, commercial power washing may reveal so many areas of damaged paint that you realize it's time to have your home's exterior walls and trim work painted by a pro!
Most homeowners will have outdoor rubbish bins that they use for their home's garbage before trash day arrives. While sturdy plastic or rubber bins may keep your home's trash contained, old containers that are dented or dinged, or those with ill-fitting lids or no lids at all, may allow solid waste and moisture to spill out and collect around those bins.
This type of trash residue can easily attract raccoons, mice, and other such pests, and allow for unpleasant odors to develop. While it's good to invest in sturdy bins to forego these problems, you might still want the area of your property around those trash bins power washed on a regular basis. High-pressure washing, along with a strong detergent, can keep the pavement, garage floor, side of the home, or other such areas clean of all germs and bacteria, and help reduce the risk of pest infestation in and around those rubbish bins.
You may assume that regular power washing is damaging or dangerous for a home's wood features, including wood shutters, window frames, porches, and decks. It is true that being exposed to lots of water and harsh cleaning chemicals can be damaging to some wood surfaces and home accents, but regular commercial power washing preserves a home's wood features. How so?
While wood might absorb water and then begin to soften, keep in mind that the water used for power washing is sprayed at such a high pressure that it doesn't settle on that wood. In turn, that water is likely to dry before it can be absorbed. This is especially true if you schedule your home's power washing for a warm, sunny day!
Caked-on mud and other such debris can be more dangerous to wood than power washing, as mud and dirt hold moisture against that wood, allowing the wood to absorb that hydration. Washing away mud, dirt, and other such debris can then actually be better for wood than allowing those materials to collect on a deck, shutters, and the like.
Cleaning away mold and algae is also essential for preserving wood surfaces, as both mold and algae can penetrate wood and then spread, causing that wood to get soft and making it more prone to breakage. Regular power washing can then prolong the life of outdoor wood pieces that are prone to mold and algae, such as wood decks and fences that are near pools, or wood shutters that are often exposed to heavy rains.
Regular commercial power washing for a West Hartford CT home can help preserve more than just a home's exterior walls and windows; power washing can remove stains and damaging materials from concrete, asphalt, wood, and all other surfaces outside your home. Power washing can also remove more than just dirt, as this type of service will also remove mold, algae, and the residue of acidic rain. Your home will then look its best and always be in good repair, so give us a call to learn more about the importance of regular commercial power washing, or for your free quote for the services we can perform around your home and property.