If the next item on your to-do list is to clean the exterior surfaces in your domestic space, you’ve likely seen pressure washing among the most popular techniques to accomplish your task—for good reason. The proper wand-spray application of high-powered H2O can clear excess dirt and muck while preserving the shine and color in your home’s outside walls.
No matter how resolute you may be with your power-washing wand, it’s crucial to step back before you go to town on the painted surfaces of your house. To understand the effects of pressure washing, we have to educate ourselves on its benefits and dangers.
Pressure washing can indeed preserve paint over a long time. Let’s discover how and why.
Benefits of Pressure Washing On Paint
If you know how to handle the pressure washing mechanism, there’s no end to what you can do to improve the look and texture of exterior paints.
Take a close look at the surface of your home. Unless you clean your shingles regularly, you’ll find
grime,
dirt,
droppings,
and lots of stains.
These are the markings on your paint that present a discolored look to visitors and pedestrians passing by. Pressure washing can solve those problems without repainting with a new coat.
While it’s entirely possible to clean paint surfaces by hand, you’ll need costly solvents or detergents with bad odors (like TSP, or trisodium phosphate) to accomplish the job. But if you use a pressure washer, you can extend the life span of your paint by two to three years.
For one-fifth of the effort and time it takes to repaint your exterior surfaces, you can use pressure washers to remove all the grime and muck that accumulates on shingles, trim, door panels, and eaves. Many pressure hose systems are indeed used to remove paint, but there’s no reason not to use them to gently clean paint surfaces and shine them up.
How Pressure Washing Affects the Home Exterior
The first thing you’ll hear when renting out a pressure washing hose system is this: “Pressure washing is for removing paint and preparing the surface for a new coat.” While many homeowners use pressurized water for this purpose, the careful user will adopt the washing system to clean existing paint surfaces without damaging them.
So how does pressure washing affect paint? Firstly, it removes the cobwebs, dirt, grass stains, and gunk that naturally accrue on the sides of painted objects over time. There’s also
mold,
mildew,
dust,
pollen,
substances caused by pollution.
All these superficial pollutants endanger the lifespan of your paint. You might also notice a layer of chalk on the paint—this grows on your home as UV light penetrates it.
Selecting the right nozzle is key when choosing how you’re going to wash your painted surfaces. You’ll want to employ a 25-degree or 15-degree nozzle to ensure you don’t slake off paint chips while you’re cleaning. A 0-degree wand will certainly remove paint at once—we don’t recommend these wands.
Understanding pressure washing means understanding technique. It works on wood, brick, aluminum siding, and vinyl. If the paint layer that you’re dealing with has any chance of being lead-based (painted before 1978), stop power washing immediately. Go to your local professionals. They’ll use manual methods instead.
Dangers of Pressure Washing Your Home
Of course, it is just as important to know the precautions to take with pressure washing paint as it is to know the benefits. The main thing you might be looking for when employing pressure washing is to secure the long lifespan of the paint. Pressure washing can do that.
By scouring away the damaging dirt, mildew, and dirt, all exterior paints benefit from a healthier environment and more air. It’s not only curb appeal that improves from a good pressure washing—your paint surface itself with thank you too.
However, you have to keep safety precautions at the fore when using pressure washing solutions. The hose on pressure washers is not like a garden hose. It’s not a toy. So make sure you observe the proper pressurization standards and, for our sake, keep your wands angled at 30–15%.
The goal when directing pressurized water at paint is to clean it, not to strip it. You’d be surprised at how low the pressure needs to be to blast away cobwebs, mildew, and mold. The golden rule: less is more.
Last Thoughts – Give Us a Call!
Not only should you employ pressure washing for serious grime removal. Your painted surfaces will benefit all the more from regular scourings with the power wand. You’ll extend your paint’s lifespan and ensure it keeps impressing the neighbors and visitors for decades.
Are you thinking of renting a pressure washer to bring back the glow to your beloved painted house, gate, or fence? Dial us up at 205-749-7019 in Birmingham, 334-270-4145 in Montgomery, and 205-752-1216 in Tuscaloosa today!