It’s no secret that regular maintenance is crucial to keeping your home in good condition. Cleaning, in particular, is a great preventive measure that addresses a plethora of problems before they arise. You can always perform deep cleaning yourself, but you can also opt for services that already have the right, professional equipment to keep your tenants happy effectively.
Key Highlights:
- Regular power washing is an effective preventive maintenance measure that helps preserve your rental property's condition and value by removing dirt, buildup, and organic growth.
- Power washing requires proper equipment, cleaning solutions, and expertise, incorrect pressure or chemicals can cause paint damage, surface deterioration, or costly repairs.
- Different types of power washing, soft washing, pressure washing, and roof washing serve specific purposes and must be chosen based on the surface and material being cleaned.
- DIY power washing carries several risks, including peeled paint, property damage, landscape destruction, stripped sealants, and potential equipment misuse.
- Hiring knowledgeable professionals ensures safe, effective cleaning that protects your property’s exterior surfaces and extends the lifespan of key components like walls, roofs, and wooden structures.
What Do You Need for Power Washing
There’s quite a long list of things you need to achieve effective power washing. There’s the motor and pump that deliver the water, along with high-pressure hoses, spray guns, nozzles, and cleaning solutions for specific applications. For stubborn floor stains and gunk, you might even need an industrial floor scrubber.
Investing in the mentioned equipment can be practical in the long term, but you also need to account for the time it will take to execute these tasks and the expertise you need to ensure you’re doing it right. Too much pressure on your wall, for instance, can lead to peeling paint. Using the wrong cleaning solutions can also destroy your property, so you need to be careful.
What Are The Types of Power Washing?
Soft Washing
This method is perfect for cleaning the exteriors of your rental property, as it is both effective and safe. It can be done on hard surfaces like brick, stone, stucco, and hardboard, but it is still delicate enough for painted surfaces, glass windows, and screens.
This is the recommended solution for organic growths, like moss, mold, mildew, algae, and lichen. Depending on the height of your rental home, you might need additional attachments to reach every part of the exterior of your home.
Pressure Washing
This is typically done for tough floors that tend to retain gunk and stains, such as driveways, walkways, sidewalks, paver stones, curbs, parking lots, concrete pads, and more. Since most of these surfaces are rough or porous, dirt will be harder to remove. Elbow grease might not be enough to get the job done.
In many cases, an industrial floor scrubber will do the trick, as its bristles can reach the smallest holes and crevices. While cleaning solutions often soften dirt and grime, you need to be careful about which chemicals you use, as most can kill plants in your yard.
Roof Washing
Your roof is one of the areas of your home that’s most exposed to the elements. Since they are either slanted or horizontal, a build-up of debris is expected. The type of cleaning you need depends largely on the type of roof you have.
Consult companies, like TKF Maintenance Solutions, that are knowledgeable about the roof cleaning process approved by the Asphalt Roof Manufacturers Association (ARMA), which will not only provide your roof with the needed cleaning, but also prolong its lifespan.
Risks of DIY Power Washing
Peeled Paint
Whether your paint is freshly applied or not, it can easily crack and peel with the right amount of pressure. While a fresh coat of paint may not be as expensive as other fixes, it can still be a tedious task. The inverse is not any better. Wash too lightly, and you would risk leaving dirt or organic growths behind, which can start to spread again.
Property Damage
Some materials, as you know, are more fragile than others. You need to do your research to learn how much pressure you can use to prevent something from breaking. You might not want to use the amount of force on the window that you would on a pavement. Using the wrong nozzle or settings can lead to costly mistakes or even harm to your tenants.
Landscape Destruction
As mentioned before, cleaning solutions are typically needed to clean most surfaces effectively, but these chemicals can be harmful to any living thing. Water mixed with a cleaning solution can kill your plants when it seeps into the soil. In some cases, the chemicals linger, keeping you from replanting in the affected areas.
Stripped Sealant
Most wooden structures in your home have a layer of sealant to preserve them, but if you wash them incorrectly, that could come off your decks, fences, outdoor furniture, and other wooden items. They can lose their stain, sealant, or paint, requiring you to refinish. This can be more costly and time-consuming, not to mention the potential permanent damage.
Equipment Misuse
Using the wrong nozzle, overpressuring, or neglecting to maintain the washer can lead to equipment failure or shorten its lifespan. It can be a waste of investment, and power washer equipment isn’t cheap. You can always prevent this by researching the product you bought.
Power Washing for Rental Property FAQs
How much does power washing equipment cost?
- Professional-grade and commercial-level power washers can range between $1,000 and $50,000, depending on the machine. It can be an expensive investment if you choose to conduct DIY pressure washing.
Is it better to hire a professional power washer?
- In many cases, yes. You need the right equipment and expertise to avoid property damage, along with knowledge of cleaning practices and solutions. By hiring a professional pressure washer, you can save on upfront costs and time.
Which surfaces can be pressure-washed?
- Most surfaces are safe for power washing, as long as you know the pressure and cleaning liquids to use. Glass or painted walls are good examples of surfaces you can pressure wash, but require more care than bricks or concrete.
How often should I power wash my rental property?
- It ultimately depends on factors like climate, foot traffic, and your tenants. The rule of thumb is to do it at least once a year. This will help you maintain curb appeal and prevent the damage brought by grime, mold, mildew, and other organic growths.
Ensure Maintenance All-Year Round with Professional Management
For your annual or bi-annual maintenance, always hire someone you can trust to do a job well done. Precision Realty has a trusted network of service providers to achieve that. With power washing and exterior cleaning, for example, we rely on TKF Maintenance Solutions to keep rentals under our watch, spotless.
While power washing can get rid of stubborn dirt build-up, regular maintenance keeps your property clean longer, delaying the need for extensive cleaning. Paired with routine inspections, you can be sure that your rental property will remain in good condition.
With Precision Realty, you can expect this kind of vigilance in property management. Your goal is to keep your rental business profitable, so that’s what we’ll achieve. Between marketing and maintenance, we will always keep our eye on the ball.
Want a more comprehensive outline of our property management service? Call us!
