Will high pressure damage my home?

Will high pressure damage my home?

The following contribution is from another author.

If the outside of your home has been looking a little grungy lately, you may have wondered if you should get it cleaned. Obviously, you cannot clean your home’s exterior with a hose and a rag, so you will need to pressure wash the sides and front of your home. If you want to remove built-up dirt and mold, you will need to get your home pressure washed. Pressure washing uses cold pressurized water, and power washing uses hot pressurized water. Power washing is only used for very hard-to-clean places on a structure. You can rent the equipment or call a professional to do the job.

According to GWS Pressure Cleaning, pressure washing can make your home look new when it is done properly; when it is not done correctly, it can damage the home. There are a few things you should know before pressure washing any structure.

A Home Needs to be Structurally Strong Enough for Pressure Washing

Before you pressure wash a home, you must make sure that it is structurally strong enough to withstand the forceful stream of water and chemicals used in the process. Fluid from a pressure washing hose is much more forceful than water from a regular hose. Fluid is expelled with a force of up to 2000 psi.

A person who uses a pressure washer must know how to use it correctly. It also requires a certain amount of physical strength to use a pressure washer.

Inspect Your Home First

In most cases, you can use a pressure washer to clean the basic outer surface of your home. However, some portions of the structure might get damaged when pressure washed.

If you have older windows on your home, or if they are not very sturdy, they may get damaged by pressure washing. A professional cleaner will be able to inspect the condition of the windows and frames on your home and let you know if pressure washing is a good idea.

The quality of the shingles on your home must be inspected as well. If you have an older home, the force of the pressure washer may be so great that the shingles can fall off as you are cleaning. Not only is this damaging to a home, but particles from those shingles can fall off and hurt the person washing the home.

The material the shingles are made out of must also be taken into consideration. If there are weak or inexpensive shingles on your roof or other parts of your home, a professional pressure washing technician may tell you that this kind of cleaning might not be suitable for your home.

Using the Right Chemicals

A pressure washer uses a combination of water and chemicals to clean your home. You must use the right amount of chemicals in the proper combination. If you do not, you can damage the paint job on your home or the structure itself.

If you do not combine the chemicals properly, you may end up injuring yourself. If you stand too close to your home when you are using a pressure washer, you may hit yourself in the face with the chemicals you are using. Standing too close to a structure when using a pressure washer can cause damage to your home. The blast from the hose is so powerful that it can damage even strong materials.

However, if you don’t stand close enough, you may not be able to get the home as clean as it should be. That’s why it is recommended that you use a professional cleaning service.

You should pressure clean your home at least once a year. A professional cleaning will make it look great and last for a long time.

Author

Eric is the creator of At Home in the Future and has been a passionate fan of the future since he was seven. He's a web developer by trade, and serves as the Director of Communication and Technology for a large church in Nashville, TN (where he and his family are building a high tech home in the woods).