When Spring rolls around and people start readying their homes for summer, the idea of power washing might come to mind but be quickly dismissed as an extravagance, an unnecessary expense. However, the reality is power washing should be part of your home’s maintenance routine, similar to cleaning the gutters and servicing your furnace and A/C. Your home protects your family from harsh elements year-round, working to keep you and your family sheltered from the weather and free from exposure to pollutants, like acid rain and car exhaust. All of the things which your home serves to shelter your family from take their toll on your house’s exterior, contributing to grime build-up, discoloration, and eventual damage. Power washing is the easiest way to clean your home’s exterior. Here are six benefits to power washing that you may not have considered.
Power Washing Protects Your Family’s Health
One of the most overlooked, but significant, benefits of power washing is the ways in which it improves your home’s environment and, in so doing, protects your family from exposure to allergens and illnesses. Removing a year’s worth of accumulated dirt, grime, pollen, and mildew from your home’s exterior will have a significant impact on the environment inside your home as well. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies each year, leading allergies to be the 6th most common cause of chronic illness in the United States. The root of most of these allergies is found in our bodies’ reactions to pollen and mold, both of which accumulate on the exterior of your home, peaking here in Northeast Ohio between the months of April and September. Power washing the exterior of your home will wash away these allergens, reducing your family’s exposure and improving their health by improving your home environment.
Power Washing Prevents Damage to Your Home
Throughout the year, the moisture surrounding your home allows grime to build up on your exterior surfaces. As with any dirt on any fabric in your family’s laundry, allowing this build-up to sit for too long on your exterior can lead to permanent staining. Power washing helps prevent these stains from setting on your home’s exterior surfaces. The moisture surrounding your home throughout the year also encourages mold growth on your home’s exterior. Mold damages your home’s exterior by feeding on the paints and finishes, literally eating away at them until they are gone. Crevices around your home’s exterior are especially susceptible to the accumulation of mold, particularly those in shaded areas. Power washing removes mold build-up and helps prevent the damage it will do to your home.
Power Washing Saves Money
For many people, buying a home will be the single most significant investment of their lifetime. And just like any other investment, a home is one that must be watched over, protected, and maintained. The price of any routine maintenance pales in comparison to the potential loss of not properly protecting such an investment. Power washing protects your investment and saves you money by helping you avoid costly, sometimes catastrophic, repairs to the exterior of your home. By making power washing part of your home’s routine maintenance plan, you can take years off of an older home and keep it looking new for years to come. As the most cost-efficient way to clean the exterior of your home, power washing may also save you substantially if you’re looking to spruce up your home. Power washing is far less expensive than refinishing or repainting.
Power Washing Prepares Surfaces for Refinishing
If you are planning on refinishing the exterior of your home, power washing is the most important first step for doing so. Power washing will remove all the dirt, grime, and pollutants to ensure your exterior is perfectly primed and ready for any repainting, refinishing, or resurfacing. By removing all the dirt, you are creating a clean, smooth surface, which helps new finishes adhere better to the exterior of your home. The same is true for restaining your deck. By washing away the old stain or previous paint, you will create a better surface for a cleaner, more even finished look.
Power Washing Saves Time
Power washing is not only the easiest way to clean your home’s exterior, but also the most time-efficient. A thorough professional power washing can be completed in a relatively short amount of time, as compared to the painstaking process of mixing a cleansing solution, climbing up on a ladder, and scrubbing the entire exterior of your home. Aapex Construction & Restoration can accomplish in minutes with a power washer what would take hours by hand.
Power Washing Improves Curb Appeal
If you’re looking to sell your home, one of the best ways to drive up the selling price and attract buyers is to improve your home’s curb appeal. This can be done many ways (landscaping, planting flowers, etc.), but the most effective way to make your home stand out is to make the exterior sparkly clean. Power washing gives your home a makeover without forcing you to spend a lot of money on renovations before you sell. It doesn’t add up to spend money on landscaping or flowers if your home’s exterior still looks dirty and drab. According to Consumer Reports, power washing along with making minor exterior repairs, such as painting the trim around your windows, will provide a 2-5% return on investment when it comes time to sell. And Katie Messenger, an Ohio realtor, suggests that not doing these minor exterior repairs and power washing your home will lead buyers to lowball you or not make an offer at all because they’ll think your house “needs a lot of work.”
Interested in taking advantage of these six benefits of power washing? Contact us today to schedule an appointment.
