Ways to Deep Clean Your Home Exterior
If you are looking to add curb appeal, the tips below will help you achieve a clean home exterior.
16/05/2020
There are numerous reasons why you need to maintain the exterior of your home. Aside from hygienic reasons, it can definitely increase the value of your property too. However, keeping the exterior of your home clean and free from molds and algae can prove to be a daunting task and a time-consuming project. Fortunately, you have the option of getting professional help, but in case you are determined to accomplish this project yourself, the tips below will help you achieve a clean home exterior.
Plan and prepare
The first thing that you need to do before you delve into a home exterior cleaning project is to plan and prepare your home, as well as all the tools and equipment you may possibly need. The best time to clean the exteriors of your home is during a warm and dry day. Washing on a windy day is ineffective as outdoor elements brought about by the wind may only stick to the surfaces that you have just recently washed.
You also need to protect the area around your home by covering up small plants or shrubs with a plastic sheeting so that your cleaning agents will not come in direct contact with them. As much as possible, move the furniture on your lawn away from the house too. Cover all vents, outlets, and other electrical features outside your home with a duct tape for safety purposes. After which, make sure that your equipment, such as your pressure washers, scrubs, and cleaning agents are ready.
Pressure washing your exteriors
Scrubbing the exterior of your home with a rag and a bucket can clean your exteriors but it may also take you a significant amount of time and effort. The best way to do it is to use a pressure washer. Pressure washing your home regularly will help you mitigate the build up of black mold, mildew, green algae, dirt, dust, and other outdoor elements. However, you need to ensure that you use the right nozzle and set the proper pound of pressure to avoid causing cosmetic damage and structural issues on your home.
Some pressure washers come with an all-in-one adjustable nozzle that is appropriate for cleaning easily damaged surfaces, as well as for tough cleaning jobs like power washing vinyl siding. Nonetheless, one tip from the experts is to use a 40-degree angle or a low-pressure nozzle for cleaning the wood surface because this won’t shred the wooden surface. It is also best to keep the nozzle at least half a feet away from the surface that you are cleaning.
Cleaning your patios, porches and decks
You can also use a pressure washer with the proper setting to clean your patios, porches, and decks. However, this may be insufficient if you need to eliminate moss from your wooden patio. In this case, you need to treat the wood with chemical solutions that contain powdered oxygen bleach to prevent moss from growing back.
For a stone or brick patio, the use of a pressure washer may prove to be enough to clean its surface. But if you likewise need to deal with moss growth, then you can use a plant-safe cleaning solution to eliminate it. Conversely, if you need to remove oil stains, DIY baking powder solutions may be helpful. On the other hand, you can use specially formulated stain removers for tougher blemishes such as rust or fertilizer stains.
Washing your windows
Pressure washers are also effective in cleaning windows, provided that it is configured in the proper setting. If the pressure of the washer is set too high, you may shatter the glass of your windows. The best way to go about this is by using a low-pressure nozzle, spraying a cleaning agent that is essential to remove the glass stains on your windows. Other than a pressure washer, a safer alternative would be to use an exterior window cleaner that can be attached to a simple garden hose.
Once you have effectively washed your windows, make sure that you dry them properly. Air drying your windows may leave water streaks. To avoid this, use a long-reach squeegee to take off excess water from your windows. If the glass still has some of those water streaks, better dry the squeegee using a towel first after every stroke on the glass of your window.
Also remember to give your window screens some deep cleaning. To do so, wipe them down with a rag to loosen any debris caught in them. After which, you can proceed on using a power washer as well to hose them down. In case your window screens are already rusty, scrub them with an ammonia-based or dish detergent-based cleaning solution. For tougher stains that don’t seem to budge, make some baking soda paste and apply it to your screens. You need to let this solution sit for a couple of hours on your screen before you wash them off with water.
Maintaining your roof
According to the experts, while pressure washers work well on most of your exteriors, you must avoid pressure washing your roof as much as possible. Instead, simply sweeping it can do the trick. Otherwise, you can also use a leaf blower to remove debris not only from your roof, but from your gutter too. In case your roof is already covered in moss, water cleaning may no longer work. What you need to do in this case is to treat your roof with a cleaning product that is specifically designed to break down moss and prevent it from growing.
Final Word
Keeping the exterior of your home clean and looking brand new is indeed challenging. However, if you regularly wash your exteriors with a pressure washer, then you can prevent the accumulation of dirt on your outside walls over time. There are also specific cleaning processes for your patios, porches, or decks, depending on the material that it is made of, as well as the problem that you are trying to address, to keep their curb appeal. Don’t forget that your windows and roof also need a deep cleaning.