Cleaning Your Home's Exterior

We clean the inside of the house, but how often do we think about cleaning the outside of the house? Probably not that much, if at all. It is a very good idea to clean the outside of your home at least once every 4 - 6 months. Here's how:

Step 1: Take a garden hose and use a power nozzle attachment on the end of it.
Step 2: Make sure the nozzle is 'off' and then go turn on the water.
Step 3: Set the nozzle to the highest power setting possible.
Step 4: Wash down your house starting at the top and working your way down to the foundation.
Here's why this is important:

1. Siding is not flat. It has grooves and ridges, and the siding slats overlap each other. These areas collect a lot of dirt, pollen, airborne seeds, bugs, spider eggs...etc. Washing helps to get rid of these items and keep bug infestation to a minimum (sometimes it prevents it all together).
2. Moss, lichen, fungi spores (from mushrooms) and bracket fungi can easily collect on roof tiles. Cleaning these areas with the power nozzle prevents these items from building up and growing on your roof tiles (which weakens and damages them).
3. Rain gutters LOVE to collect anything and everything that can get airborne. This includes various types of birds, who are known to use rain gutters (especially clogged ones) to hide their seeds. Rain gutters, because they are the primary water catchers for your home, are prone to black mold build up. Black mold is hazardous to your health and can cause serious respiratory problems.
4. Foundations are not perfect. They are prone to cracking from pressure put on it by tree and plant roots. This area of the home is also how larger insects and bugs enter into the home (especially giant carpenter ants and termites). Keeping the foundation as clean as possible will help keep the area clean and cut down infestation by at least 50%.
5. Exterior doors and windows. Sometimes, we just can't reach these areas to clean them properly by hand. And, if you have an older home, the windows are solid, and are not going to bend out for easy cleaning access. This is where the power hose comes in handy. Pollens, molds, spores and other airborne particles collect on the exterior weather stripping of the windows and doors, and can cause damage over long periods of time. Therefore, by washing these down, you can help extend the life of your windows and doors.