7 Exterior Power Washing Mistakes To Avoid in Denver Metro, CO
When you have some cleaning to do on the exterior of your home, there are many ways and techniques that you can use to make it happen but some are considerably more efficient than others.
With power washing being one of the best ways to clean your home exterior, it’s noteworthy that there are also ways to err in the process and possibly cause extreme damage to your property or worse… injury to yourself or others.
Let’s now look at seven exterior power washing mistakes to avoid in Denver Metro, CO.
1. Leaving Your Plants Unprotected
Your plants are sensitive, especially to things such as water comes out at a tremendous amount of pressure, as well as some of the cleaners that are often used in power washing.
Instead of power washing with your plants unprotected (which may lead to their getting damaged or possibly destroyed), make the time to cover your plants during the power washing process — after gently sprinkling the plants with some water to keep them moist — with a bit of plastic covering.
This will ensure that the plants are kept okay during the washing process.
2. Too Much Pressure Applied
You may be well aware of the fact that the way that power washers work is by shooting out water with a greater pressure such that it is able to clean surfaces quite well with considerably less water used.
However, when you are cleaning there are different pressures which you can set your washer and there are some which will be just too strong for certain surfaces.
Particularly strong streams can even punch holes in the surfaces you try to wash, so it is worth starting with a lower pressure before moving on to higher pressures.
3. Trying To Clean Your Tile Roof
In the world of power washing, one major mistake that people make in starting out is to think that just about anything can be cleaned with their power washer.
This is often not the case as can be demonstrated by the many tile roofs that are damaged by the use of pressure washing — it seems like a good idea in principles but too often, a little too much pressure is used and tiles are blown entirely off the roof.
The better thing to do is to use a less powerful washer for the roof, perhaps even a simple garden hose — this will not damage your roof the way a power washer can.
4. Painted Surfaces Care
If you are considering washing a painted surface, it’s worth noting how long it has been since the surface was painted — and if it was painted a while ago and has seen a lot of sun, reconsider using pressure washing on it.
The issue with washing older painted surfaces is that you can loosen or remove paint entirely if it has been there long enough or has had enough exposure to the sun.
5. Starting From The Bottom
Another mistake that is commonly made is in cleaning homes from the bottom rather than starting from the top.
When you wash the top of your home, the dirt pretty much has nowhere to go but down… and if you’ve already washed the bottom of your home, you’re just going to be getting it dirty all over again.
6. Not Using Any Detergent
Though your power washer is going to do a lot of good just through the pressure that it uses, but making good use of detergent is an important part of the cleaning process.
With a good detergent, you can really get some of the grime off of the surfaces, and you can then rinse off with plain water.
7. Using Hot Water
Lastly please make sure that you do not even consider using hot water with your home pressure washer — for even though it is a common practice in commercial cleaning, it’s not something you should do with home cleaning.
Hot water in home cleaning can damage your equipment, quite possibly, or the surfaces that you are looking to clean — better to stay safe with colder water.
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
Related: 7 Colors To Paint Your Stucco Exterior in Denver Metro, CO
7 Exterior Paint Problems And How To Fix Them in Denver Metro, CO
5 Things To Know When Inspecting Exterior Paint Work in Denver Metro, CO