Importance of Good Pressure Washing Before Exterior Painting

Considering painting the exterior of your home in Warsaw or Columbia City, Indiana? You must be wondering if you have to pressure wash your home before re-painting it. If you’re painting your own exterior, this might just be only one of the many questions running in your mind.

It’s common for DIY painters to take a quick look at their house and think that it looks clean enough, and it doesn’t need a full session of pressure washing. Quite honestly, very few exterior painting projects can be completed without pressure washing. Over the years, your house wall gathers all sorts of flying dust, dirt, debris, and stains. These can make your siding look aged and unsightly, and ultimately devalue your property.

Other than dirt and dust, your exterior may also accumulate fine chalk that results from painting chalking. This is essentially the breakdown of paint that often results in paint color fading. Early signs of chalking are often difficult to identify if you’re a novice painter. To find out if your paint is chalking, slightly swipe a damp cloth or wet thumb on your wall –if fine chalky particles stick to it, your paint is chalking. Paint won’t stick in such a chalky surface if you try to paint your house without pressure washing first.

If you live in an area with high levels of humidity, and it has been a while since you painted your home, chances are mold or mildew is already developing. Grey or greenish spores on the surface of your wall might be a sign of mold/mildew invasion. Professional pressure washing chemicals remove these types of organic growth so that your new paint job lasts. If you paint over mildew or mold, it will grow right back and taint your paint job.

Benefits of Professional Pressure Washing

In case it’s not obvious already, here are some of the benefits of having your exterior pressure washed before painting:

• More Powerful Cleaning: sure, you can use your own garden hose or a bucket and brush to clean your siding, but that won’t sufficiently remove all the dirt, and it will take you ages to complete the entire exterior. A pressure washer delivers more power than a regular garden hose and is ideal for dislodging all the dirt from your siding and creating a perfect surface for a flawless paint job.

• Loose Paint Removal: if it has been a while since you re-painted your exterior, chances are the current paint is showing signs of flaking, peeling, or blistering. Professional pressure washing will blow off loose old paint chips leaving you with a relatively smooth surface to paint. Doing so also reduces the effort required to scrap off the old loose paint manually in preparation for re-painting.

• Mold and Mildew Elimination: if your siding has mildew and mold, using a regular garden hose will only serve to spread the spores of the fungus to other areas of your wall that have not yet been infected. During professional pressure washing, the experts will use specialized treatment and cleaning agents to dislodge, eliminate, and prevent further spread of the fungus.

• Proper Paint Adherence: the overall idea of having your home power washed before painting is to create a suitable surface for paint adherence. Paint doesn’t stick well to surfaces that have dust, dirt, and other forms of particles –they cause premature peeling, flaking, and blistering of the paint.

Bottom Line

Whether you’re hiring a pro painter or taking the DIY route, always make sure that your siding is well cleaned and prepped for a flawless and durable paint job. As usual, if you need any professional assistance with your exterior home painting project, Matthews’ Painting can help.

We have completed well over 1,000 homes in the last 20 years of service, and we’re keen to deliver this wealth of experience to your doorstep. We currently serve the areas of Warsaw, Syracuse, Lake Tippecanoe area, Winona Lake area, Columbia City, Indiana, and surrounding Indiana cities. Book a FREE estimate below or give us a call at 574-834-3575, if you need any additional information.