As a homeowner, if you’re looking to get rid of dirt and grime, power washing your house might not be the best solution. Even though it is easy to buy or rent a power washer, you should reconsider doing the job yourself.
Power washing presents certain dangers to your house when done incorrectly, and to avoid or minimize potential problems, you should hire a professional. In this article, we will look at a few things that usually go wrong when inexperienced people try to power wash their houses themselves.
Dangers of Power Washing your House
Although several people use power washers on the surfaces of their house, there are certain dangers that could result from it.
- Power washing expels water at an extremely high pressure that it can get into your walls and house. Houses are built to withstand rain and other moisture, and they can withstand low PSI from a power washer, but when power washers are used at their full capacity, your house may end up with wet attics, soggy carpet, and mold.
- A power washer can damage siding and even knock it loose when done incorrectly. This can cause leaking in window seals and more.
- It can also remove paint from the surface of your wall. If you were only power washing to clean your house, you’d likely end up repainting as well.
Power washing can be an effective way to clean the exterior of your house. Nevertheless, if done incorrectly either by you or inexperienced company staff, it can immediately lead to expensive disasters that you don’t want to deal with. At times, it may be tempting to rent or buy a power washer to get the job done yourself. But with all the potential dangers mentioned above, it may be best to reconsider.
When to Power Wash
This article is not in any way against power washers – they are really helpful tools that are just often misused. There are jobs or projects where a power washer is a perfect tool to use, so let’s mention those as well.
Some washing projects are more effective with high pressure from about 2000-3000 PSI. Also, some require lower pressure from about 1250 – 2000 PSI. Here are some of those projects:
- Railings – Low pressure
- Decks – Low pressure
- Vinyl Fences – Medium pressure
- Wood Fences – Medium pressure
- Asphalt – Medium pressure
- Concrete Sidewalks and Driveways – High pressure
- Stone and Pavers – High pressure
- Metal Patio Furniture – High pressure
Since power washing appears to be dangerous to almost all the surfaces of your house, what can you do to keep your home clean? You can always switch to soft washing.
Conclusion
Power washing is valuable, but only when correctly done. To get it right, you need to know how it affects different materials, how those materials react under pressure, what you have to do in unexpected situations, and more. As a result of this, you should only power wash your house’s exterior by hiring a licensed professional company.
Contact The Clear Factor today for a free quote! (508-418-9274)
