Many people like to pressure wash their houses to get rid of unsightly dirt and grime. While it’s easy to purchase or rent a power washer, you may want to think twice about doing the job yourself. Pressure washing presents certain dangers to your house and must be done in the correct way to avoid or minimize potential problems. Here are a few things that commonly go wrong when inexperienced people attempt to pressure wash their house by themselves.
#1 Get Water in Your House or Attic
While it’s easy to think that your house can handle some water, the reality is that the exterior of your home is not made to withstand the kind of pressure that is used with a high-pressure washer. Using a powerful pressure washer on your home can force water through window and door seals. Water can end up soaking hardwood floors, carpet or furniture. It can also end up in your attic.
#2 Water in Your Walls
This is one of the worst possible outcomes if a house is pressure washed incorrectly, getting water into the walls. Many commercial pressure washers launch water at pressures beginning around 1500 psi and ranging up to 3300 psi. Launching water with that much pressure can power through asphalt, solid wood, and even concrete.
If your house is made from a wood frame with any type of wood siding, there is definitely a chance that pressure washing your house will launch water into the siding which can soak through wall cavities, flooring, wiring, insulation, and plaster. Don’t underestimate the power of these pressure washers.
#3 Siding Damaged or Knocked Loose
Powerful pressure washers aren’t very kind to siding. Not only is it not completely waterproof, but siding does not hold up very well when pressure washed incorrectly. It is very easy to damage vinyl siding or to knock it loose leading to costly repairs on your house.
Powerful pressure washing can damage more than siding. Many may think that if they have a brick home, they are fine to power wash. However, old brick-and-mortar is softer than what is produced today. Even mortar that is decades old can be blasted away when it is pressure washed. Sadly, repointing a brick house can be a major expense, much more than investing in a professional power washer.
#4 Window Damage
As you can imagine, windows don’t hold up very well under the kind of pressure from powerful water. Not only can the seals around the windows leak, leading to potential rot problems, but screens can possibly be shredded and destroyed. The powerful blasts of water can also break the double pane on windows which leads to fogging between the two layers of glass.
#5 Remove Paint
Pressure washing is often one of the first things that many people do before they begin to repaint a house. However, removing the paint it is not beneficial to you if you are just planning on cleaning your house and weren’t planning on repainting.
On top of that, pressure washing a house that was potentially painted with lead paint is a concern to everyone around you. Lead paint chips can potentially be blasted around the yard and end up being mixed into the soil where children can ingest it. Even if you don’t have children, this can still pose a risk to neighbors and anyone who lives in your house after you.
Pressure washing is an incredibly effective way to clean your house. However, if done incorrectly by you or even an inexperienced company, it can lead to expensive disasters that no one wants to deal with. It may be tempting to buy or rent a power washer to get the job done by yourself, saving some money upfront. But with all the potential problems that you could be causing, it may be best to think twice.
Hire a professional power washing service who will efficiently, safely, and thoroughly clean your house without causing any potential problems. Contact us today to learn more about our services!