slo’s FRIDAY 5/17 poll - House Washing (outside) 🏠

[slo]

Spring time is a good time to do Spring cleaning, and one of the areas to clean is the outside of the house. Some people use a cleaner, some people use a presser washer and some people use both. My question today is……..

Do you clean the outside of your house?
Do you use a special cleaner, pressure washer or both?
How often do you clean the outside of your house?
(multiple choice)


For Me……..I’m cleaning the outside of the house this year, which is what inspired this poll. My DH has used a pressure washer in the past, but this year I decided to use a cleaner. Last Saturday I did the front of the house, and I hated every minute of it - LOL! The cleaner I’m using is pictured below, and it burned my eyes and skin - it’s awful. I’m dreading this weekend when I’ll use it again. I can see a difference on the front of the house, so I guess the suffering was worth it. After this year, I probably won’t do it again for a couple of years.

 

[MamaMermaid]

We pressure wash/clean probably 2x a year. Mostly the driveway and walkway. Sometimes the roof.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I’m having this done tomorrow- pressure washer and cleaner - done on as needed basis - some areas I can do myself as needed and this time I hired someone to do whole house

 

[Wood Nymph]

Our house is a one-story brick ranch house. I wash windows and painted surfaces, but not the brick.

 

[jo-jo]

We use a product called Wet and Forget for mildew. We tend to get a few spots here and there. You spray it on and then wait a few weeks for the product to do the job. But we don't spray the whole house.

 

[starry_solo]

Never done it, but I am considering power washing the driveways and backyards.

 

[Kitty 34]

DH sprays parts of the house when needed.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have someone pressure wash the outside every couple of years.

 

[fly girl]

Powerwash deck and concrete usually once a year.

 

[Meriweather]

We don't wash the outside other than windows, patio, walkways.....but not the house itself.
I have never seen anyone do it.

 

[ronandannette]

Nope. We’ve been in condos for 15 years now and the exterior and common areas are taken care of by professionals.

 

[ronandannette]

We pressure wash/clean probably 2x a year. Mostly the driveway and walkway. Sometimes the roof.

Just a tip...if your roofing is asphalt shingles, don’t power-wash them. The force erodes the granules of asphalt and results in premature wear and a shortening of their useful life. Spraying with a non-pressurized hose is fine.

 

[easyas123]

I power wash the porch (wrap around entire house) and the house itself once a year. Will probably be doing it next weekend as it takes me a day or a day & a half. I usually take off the screens from windows on first floor as well, so that takes some time.

 

[Praying Colonel]

We have siding on our house in central FL and it starts growing green stuff if we don't clean it. We have a person who comes by twice/year and uses something that doesn't require pressure washing and doesn't kill our plants.

 

[YachtClubWoman]

I hire someone to pressure wash the siding every other year

 

[LoveDaisy]

We pressure wash the house in the spring. We used to use a cleaner on the back which is shady but we took down a few trees and resided the house so we haven’t had the green growth that would require cleaner, so the last 2 years just pressure washing

 

[MIGrandma]

I don’t think DH has ever cleaned the outside of the house. It used to be ugly yellow brick, in 1987 we had vinyl siding put on when we added our 24x24’ family room and 3-level deck. Rain does its job with the cleaning. He has pressure washed the deck a few times.

 

[hertamaniac]

I pressure wash, without detergent or agent, the outside about every 2-3 years. I have concrete block with stucco and just washed it this past spring. For my windows, I use a couple of tablespoons of dishwashing detergent in a buck with a roller (designed for windows) and its accompanying squeegee. It takes me about 15 minutes a year to clean my outside windows.

 

[lovin'fl]

I put other. In about 28 years of marriage we have moved 10 times so we are rarely in a place long enough to worry with outside cleaning. Except the one home we lived in for 10 years (so 10 places we lived in over the other 18 years averages 1.8 years per place). The 10 year home we did power wash a couple times. Sometimes ourself and sometimes we hired someone. House we are in now is a new build and will be 2 years in July. It is starting to look like it needs a power wash. I have recently been sweeping and hosing off gunk. It's FL so there is bugs and pollen and webs and cocoon things (or mud wasp things). So I can see doing a power wash every 2-2.5 years.

The thing about all the moving is we never could get around to doing things like painting or spring cleaning or much in the way of renovations. Kind of move in and then move out.

 

[mjkacmom]

We have wood cedar shake, over 100 years old, so no.