When should you clean the outside of your home?
Who doesn’t want a clean house? There is nothing better than when your home is clean both inside and out, but when was the last time you actually cleaned the outside of your house. Even if it’s just a little a day or once a week, most people devote at least some of their time to making sure the inside of their house is clean. From the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the bedroom it is commonplace to maintain these areas in at least some capacity. The same cannot be said for the outside of houses, from your roof, to the siding, and everything in between. Many exteriors are lucky if they get cleaned once a year, and it would be silly to wash your homes outside every week, but to keep your home in the best shape possible exterior cleaning should be a more regular part of most peoples maintenance plan.
The materials that make up the exterior of your home also play a large part in how the home needs to be maintained. For example, traditional roof shingles will require more regular maintenance than a metal roof to obtain the full lifespan of the product. Similarly a brick exterior may age better and look better for longer than a vinyl or wood siding that will be more prone to dirt building up. Not only do different materials need different levels of maintenance, they need different types of maintenance. Materials like concrete may require the high power of a pressure washer to removed built up dirt, whereas a roof would be destroyed with the use of a pressure washer because it is a much more delicate material.
As with anything when you let dirt and grime build up over time it becomes harder to remove. I’m sure we’ve all done it, we spill something or make a mess and decide, “I’ll deal with this later” only to find the spill is now caked on and much harder to remove than it initially would have been. Now imagine this over month or even years, that dirt may end up permanently damaging or discolouring parts of your house. Not only will the house need cleaning, but replacements and repairs may now be needed, creating a much bigger headache both financially and time consumption wise. Developing a regular exterior cleaning schedule as part of your home maintenance plan is one of the many ways you can extend the life and value of your home. Keep your home happy.