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The Best House Washing Tips for Different Cladding Types

     

    The Best House Washing Tips for Different Cladding Types

     

    House washing is a task which is important to carry out not only because it helps your house look at its best because it also helps prolong the life of your paintwork. House washing can be a time consuming and tiring task especially if you have large or multi-story homes. It is also hard as cleaning methods do vary between the different types of cladding your home had. This is why it is often best to leave it to the professionals such as Endeavour Property Services who specialise in house washing in Auckland. They have the tools and knowledge to safely clean a range of house finishes without causing damage to the cladding or paintwork.

    Brick

    • Firstly, use a cobweb brush to remove cobwebs and loose dirt from the bricks, it is much easier to do this when the bricks are dry.
    • Low pressure is essential for cleaning natural stone and soft brick surfaces, helped of course by our chemical detergents
    • A pressure washer with about 3 GPM and 3000 psi is ideal for most concrete and brick cleaning jobs. You need to be careful when cleaning brick homes as high pressure can damage the mortar which holds the bricks together.
    • Use a wide-angle nozzle tip on the water blaster so it prevents degradation of the brick and mortar.
    • Brick is porous especially with age, this means it can be harder to remove mould and discoloration, as it can be deep in the brick. This is why it is often good to use chemical treatment and leave it on before starting the house wash process.
    • To remove mould from bricks you can use a 50/50 mix of bleach and water, be sure to allow the solution to sit and react with the bleach for a few minutes or until it begins to dry before washing off.
    • Use a consistent sweeping motion left and right when cleaning your brick home, to be sure to evenly clean the surface without any streaks.
    • Avoid using wire brushes when cleaning brick surfaces as this can cause rust stains on the surface.

    Wood

    • Inspect the house initially to find any areas which are especially dirty, so you know to focus on them. This stage also helps you find any areas of damage on the cladding, so you can repair them before beginning the cleaning process. As if you clean the house with dents and damage to the wood you risk letting water into the core of your cladding.
    • It is always safer to clean the home with manual without than to use pressure washers as if used incorrectly they can actually cause several types of damage, including stripping paint, gouging boards, and loosening your homes caulk.
    • Plus, when pressure washing wood you can easily soak the back of the boards through sending water through the joints of the wood. This can be very hard to dry out and can lead to unhealthy growth of mold.
    • Purchase a good quality house washing brush that attaches to your garden hose. This makes it much easier to reach hard to reach areas and clean surfaces without causing any damage. These brushes come in many shapes and sizes from simple soft brushes to rotating self-foaming cleaning brushes.
    • It is important to consider the type of wood your home is made out of as woods are different textures and softwoods like cypress and cedar can be easily damaged. Especially when you are using a pressure washer to clean your home.

    Although house washing may seem like an easy task, you need to consider the material that your home is made from before undertaking the job. As you can easily cause damage if you are uneducated on how to carry out house washing for your home’s cladding type. This is why sometimes it is easier to call in the professionals as they are trained on the best way to clean all cladding types and guarantee a great result without damage to the surface of your home.

     

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