Washing time is here! I don’t know about where you live, but Winter weather here in Monmouth County, NJ is pretty harsh, with freezing temperatures, multiple snowfalls, rain and sleet – all mixed in with the occasional brief warm spell. Prolonged direct sunlight, even though it’s not as strong as in the warmer months, somehow seems to speed up the process, too. By the time Spring rolls around every year, the combination of factors – and the repetition – has taken a real toll on my home’s exterior. I hate to say it, but it can look pretty beat-up by the time Winter comes to a close every year.
Multiple Surfaces Are A Challenge
Even though they are strong enough to keep us safe and secure inside our homes, the materials that cover our houses can actually be quite delicate when it comes to cleaning them. There’s a covering of asphalt, metal, slate, or a composite on the roof; there’s siding of vinyl, wood, brick or stone – among other options – on the walls; there’s concrete or stone on the porches, patios and walkways; not to mention glass windows and other materials that comprise the features of your home. Each of these materials and the challenges that they pose needs to be addressed.
Power Washing Can Be Destructive
The problem is not restricted to the house itself, either. Sure, the siding needs to be cleaned pretty badly, and I can use a Power Washer on it. But this is a time where “more power” is actually a problem. Tim Allen, on “Tool Time” notwithstanding, power is not always the answer. Too much Power, or Pressure, can actually damage the siding material (even strong materials like vinyl, aluminum, and stucco), sometimes demanding expensive repairs or even replacement.
Strong Cleansers Are Not The Answer
There’s no time to waste on pointless tasks around the house,and I must admit that I’ve been tempted in the past to try a shortcut or two. After concluding that strong stains required strong cleansers, I learned the hard way that that was simply not true. I have a two-foot square section of brick that’s almost “too pink” to bear, and a short piece of aluminum trim that has lost its coating. Well, it didn’t “lose” the covering – in fact, I guess I took it! (Fortunately for me, these are in the back of the house where I was smart enough to test first.)
Strong Brushes Can Be Worse
I have managed to avoid it myself but have heard of a neighbor who used a very stiff brush and soapy water on a dirty section of wooden trim around his front door. Not even a wire brush, but a very stiff-bristled scrub brush.
The wood itself may have been weakened or perhaps he used too much pressure, I’m not sure. Either way, the bristles left score marks and scratches on the wood that required repair and refinishing to blend it into the rest of the trim. Not the result he was after.
Smart Washing Is The Answer
What Is Smart Washing?
“Smart Washing” is a term used nowadays in several different ways, from constructing cleaning schedules and organizing teams for large complex campuses, to coordinating personal space cleaning with smart devices that monitor things like home air quality. Here it is used to simply describe the combination of cleaning and washing techniques, equipment, and cleansers that are most effective in reviving and resuscitating the variety of components that make up your home’s exterior. Smart Washing combines the use of all the available tools.
Power Washing (or Pressure Washing)
This technique uses jets of high-pressure water direct from the equipment nozzle to strip away dirt, grime, grease, mold and organic material from the surface of the target. Perfect for cleaning concrete, stone, blacktop, and other elements of the hardscape, a Pressure Washer can even strip paint.
Soft Washing
When dialed down and used by a trained technician, Power Washers can be used for more sensitive materials, too. This is often referred to as “Soft Washing”. Soft Washing is the answer for a wide variety of surprisingly sensitive roofing materials. Asphalt shingles, for example, can stand up to the elements for thirty years and still perform well, keeping us warm and dry. But misusing a Power Washer on an asphalt roof is a big mistake that usually demands very expensive repairs after stripping away the granular stones and even tearing off chunks of shingle.
Soft Washing is actually the answer for many home cleaningchallenges, including window glass, skylights, and most types of siding (including all the varieties of wooden shingles and sidings).
Can I DIY It?
In this case, the real question is: Do I want to DIY it? The jobs themselves are not that difficult, but do require some specialized equipment and an extension ladder, along with generic cleaning tools and cleansers. The biggest challenge – after you master working on a roof and up on a ladder – is finding the time to do a proper job.
All things considered, the Spring Sparkle-Up is best performed by a professional. Fortunately, there are providers eager to do the work for you. When you decide the time is now, be sure to consider the pro’s at All Clean Exteriors, one of Monmouth County’s leading providers of Smart Washing services.
Call us today at (732) 570-4923 or visit us online at www.allcleanexteriorsnj.com for a free estimate
