How Often Does a House Need Washed

How often a house needs to be washed depends on it's location. Climate definitely plays a major role in how often house washing needs to be done. Typically houses in the southern states need to be washed more often than northern houses. With a warmer climate and high humidity green algae, mold, and mildew will grow faster in the south.

A house that is close to a busy road, highway, or even an airport will need washed more often than a house that is not. Car emission and airplane emissions have to land somewhere and if your house is nearby it will collect this black residue and need cleaned more often.

Houses near water like a pond or lake are usually covered in bugs and spiders. Bug fecal does show up on vinyl siding and can be quite unsightly. Also, with cobwebs all over the house mosquitoes and other small insects are constantly getting caught in the webs and hanging all over the house. Houses near water could be washed every year even in the more northern states.

So how do you get more time out of your clean house? A wet wax can be applied to vinyl siding which will help it stay cleaner longer and will help with oxidation caused by the sun. Ask the house washing contractor about a wet wax. Also, after your house has been washed, you may think about having the perimeter sprayed for spiders to help deter them from climbing right back on the house and getting cobwebs all over it again. These are just a few things that may help. The important thing is to have your house cleaned as often as every year or two to help keep its value up.

The Life of a Deck Sealer Depends On The Deck Cleaning Results

Deck sealing can be a tedious task for most homeowners. Most do it yourselfers do not realize that the wood deck needs to be prepped and cleaned thoroughly before deck sealer can be applied. Deck cleaning is more than just wash the wood with water from a pressure washer. Actually most pressure washers, even the small homeowner type, will put out too much pressure which can easily scar, fur, and mark up the wood. These marks will be visible through the new deck sealer.

It will not matter what brand or type of deck sealer is applied to the deck nor how many years the deck sealer is claiming to last, if the wood is not cleaned properly the longevity of the sealer will be shortened significantly.

Deck cleaning is a matter of removing all the grey sun bleached wood fibers, dirt, mold, and old sealer (if present), and any other stains or debris on the deck. This all needs to be done with the proper chemicals so low pressure can be used. No more than 1000psi should be used to clean the wood or it can be damaged. Even at low pressure care must be taken to eradicate any wand marks during the wash process. After cleaning the deck and neutralizer is used to lower the ph level of the wood to make it more acidic and to open the pours to prepare for the new sealer. Most do it yourselfers will fall short of these important necessities. Some do not wash the wood at all but will just sweep the deck off and then apply and new sealer.

The number one reason a deck sealer fails is because the wood was not prepared correctly. These steps are as important to the life of the deck stain as any other key factor regardless of how many years the sealer claims to last. Hiring a professional deck cleaning and sealing company is the best choice, but do your homework and research to find a reputable deck cleaning company. Some fly by night and unethical companies won't follow the necessary steps either and a year later you won't be happy when your deck needs attention again.