Pressure Washing
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Pressure washing your home can be like breathing new life into it. This is especially true if it has never been done, or if the last pressure washing was more than a few years ago. Imagine if you went for several years without washing your car – the dirt and grime would be pretty evident. The same is true for your house, although the benefits go far beyond just having a home with a clean exterior.
One of the biggest reasons for pressure washing your home is to remove mold. Exterior mold is not always readily visible, and you may not spot it even if you look closely at the outside of your home. Mold tends to grow in places that are damp and dark – and the space behind the siding of your home can offer both of those ingredients. When mold grows there uninhibited, it can eventually damage the structure of the walls. Pressure washing solves that problem by getting rid of the mold.
Not all pressure/power washing is the same. If you have ever had your house painted, you might have had a form of this service performed. Some painting contractors will use a small unit to spray the exterior of the home because a cleaner exterior will hold the paint more securely. They usually use cold water, and the amount of pressure is typically pretty low. This is not what we do.
First, we use controlled high pressure. To put this into perspective, consider that a standard garden hose has an average pressure of about 50 PSI (pounds per square inch). Some of the electric pressure washers used by painters can have about 1500 PSI. We have found that those levels are insufficient to do the type of cleaning necessary. The pressure washing we do can be as much as 4000 PSI. This provides the power behind the water and steam to really get the job done.
Second, and just as important, is the fact that we use hot water – the steam can be as high as 220 degrees.
There are a few reasons for this:
- When the amount of heat increases, it means that the heat itself is doing part of the job of cleaning. Less soap and other cleaning agents are needed.
- When the temperature gets past 150 degrees, every additional 18 degree increase actually doubles the effectiveness of the cleaning.
- We want to use as little pressure as is needed to get the job done thoroughly, and higher temperatures mean that less pressure is needed.
- Higher temps mean that we are much less likely to leave behind any residue, which means your house will stay cleaner for a longer period of time.
Finally, we use gas-powered machines instead of electrical. The electrical washers just don’t have the force that is needed. Gas-powered pressure washing really deliver the “punch” that we need to do the job the right way, plus we have the mobility of not being tied to a power cord.
Some homeowners are tempted to try this high-power, hot water
pressure washing themselves. We don’t recommend this. Most of the rental machines don’t have enough power to do the job. If you can find a higher powered rental (one that runs on gas), you have to be very careful with it. A burst of that pressure at the wrong time, and you could actually damage your home. It’s also possible to put out a window – then you not only have to replace the window, you also have the water mess to clean up inside that room. This is a job best left to the professionals. Give us a call and we will give you a free estimate.
We offer pressure washing, paint and stain services in the tri-state area including Manhattan, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Mount Laurel, Newark, Jersey City, Middletown, Edison, Holmdel and Rumson.
