How to Pressure Wash a House

Mold and mildew can harm your home. Dirt can just make your home look older than it should and it can make it look less appealing. Pressure washing your home can solve all these solutions. You can buy a small electric or gas pressure washer at inexpensive prices. Plus, the actual act of pressure washing your home isn't that hard. It just takes some effort on your part and a little bit of common sense. Once your home is sparkling clean, you will find your efforts were well worth it.Here are some tips to get you started.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pressure washing machine
• Outside watering hose/with water
• Brush
• Bucket of Water
• Bleach
• Detergent made specifically for type of siding of house you are washing
• Safety goggles for your eyes

Remember to be safe

1. Cover any and all outside electric outlets you have. Remember the golden rule-water and electricity do not mix.

2. Actually survey the home you are washing. Walk around it and look for black spots. Black spots are indicators that the home has mold and/or mildew. These spots should be pretreated. Pour some common household bleach into a bucket of water. Now take a brush with a long extending arm and dip into the bucket. Gently, scrub the brush over all the blackened spots. Allow these spots to sit and soak for awhile.Never put bleach directly into your pressure washer. The bleach will damage the machine.

3. As the bleach is soaking on the house, you can begin preparing to pressure wash. First, make sure you have adequate protection for your eyes. This means you should wear goggles. When using a pressure washer the chemicals are apt to fly back at you and you need to protect your eyes.Connect your pressure washer to your outside hose and quickly start your pressure washer machine, whether it is gas-powered or electric.

4. Get a feel for the wand. Learn how it sprays by spraying out in the open, where you can do no harm. Learn the different settings. Begin practicing how the wand moves by aiming it at the ground toward. Learn how to spray continuously side by side. Once you feel like you have control of the wand, it is time to actually get busy. First, spray the house entirely with fresh water. This will begin loosening all the dirt and dust. Always spray horizontally in a 3 to 4 foot area. Begin at the bottom of the house and work your way toward the top.

5. Begin applying detergent made specifically for the type of house siding you are cleaning. This can usually be bought at most department and hardware stores in their hardware or garden department. You will be applying it in the same manner as you first sprayed the home. Begin at the bottom of the home and work your way upwards. Pay close attention to the gutters.

6. Begin rinsing the home. Never allow the detergent to sit on the siding more than 10 minutes. When rinsing the home, you should begin at the top and work your way toward the bottom. Continue to rinse until you see no signs of detergent.

7. If the home still looks dirty, repeat process.

Tips & Warnings

• Be cautious around windows and lights.
• Never direct your wand at any wood surface for an extended amount of time or you will dent the surface area.
• If you are pressure washing a house to get it ready for painting, you must gauge the wand directly at the pieces of paint, yet be careful that you don't actually harm the surface. Work slowly.
• If the home has shutters, do not forget to remove these to wash the area underneath. (This is where spiders love to hide)