Can Pressure Washing Damage Your Home?

Many people like to pressure wash their homes to get rid of  dirt and grime. While it’s easy to purchase or rent a power washer, you may want to think twice about doing the job yourself. Pressure washing presents some dangers to your house and must be done correctly to avoid or minimize potential problems. Here are a few things that can go wrong when inexperienced people attempt to pressure wash their house by themselves.

#1 Get Water in Your House or Attic

While it’s easy to think that your house can handle some water, the reality is that the exterior of your home is not made to withstand the kind of pressure that is used with a high-pressure washer. Using a powerful pressure washer on your home can force water through window and door seals. Water can end up soaking hardwood floors, carpet or furniture. It can also end up in your attic.

#2 Water in Your Walls

Getting water into the walls is one of the worst possible outcomes if a house is pressure washed incorrectly. Many commercial pressure washers launch water at pressures beginning around 1500 psi and ranging up to 3300 psi. Launching water with that much pressure can power through asphalt, solid wood, and even concrete.

If your house is made from a wood frame with any type of wood siding, there is definitely a chance that pressure washing your house will launch water into the siding which can soak through wall cavities, flooring, wiring, insulation, and plaster. Don’t underestimate the power of these pressure washers.

#3 Siding Damaged or Knocked Loose

Powerful pressure washers can damage siding. It is very easy to damage vinyl siding or to knock it loose leading to costly repairs on your house.

#4 Window Damage

As you can imagine, windows don’t hold up very well under the kind of pressure from powerful water. Not only can the seals around the windows leak, leading to potential rot problems, but screens can possibly be shredded and destroyed. The powerful blasts of water can also break the double pane on windows which leads to fogging between the two layers of glass.

#5 Remove Paint

Pressure washing is often one of the first things that many people do before they begin to repaint a house. However, removing the paint it is not beneficial to you if you are just planning on cleaning your house and weren’t planning on repainting.

On top of that, pressure washing a house that was potentially painted with lead paint is a concern to you and your loved ones. Lead paint chips can potentially be blasted around the yard and end up being mixed into the soil where children can ingest it. Even if you don’t have children, this can still pose a risk to neighbors and anyone who lives in your house after you because they can seem into the ground and taint your water supply.

Have you heard of Soft Washing? Soft washing is an incredibly effective way to clean your house. It is safe for your home, you and the environment.

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