One of the most common reactions after a power wash is that of surprise. It’s true, many surfaces look bafflingly clean afterward, but that also means it can be difficult to know whether your surfaces are dirty enough to need one in the first place. Here are some of the most easily overlooked surfaces on your house that may be in need of cleaning.

The Driveway

You walk (and drive) over it every day. It looks fine when you compare it to your neighbors’ driveways every time you step outside, but that’s why you may not have realized how much grime has built up over time. Seeing it so often means the gradual change to dirtyis almost unnoticeable as it continues to grow dirtier by the day. Typically, concrete driveways should look like a nice, uniform gray slab: if it looks more like a dark gray-brown shade or there are noticeable marks or light spots where the clean concrete shows through, it may be time to call up a professional to get it looking like new.

The Walls

It’s not very often that the walls of a house are looked at close enough to see how much dirt is on them. Most of the time, guests and passersby see it in all its glory: a house with exterior walls that look old, dark-stained, and “unclean” to put it simply. Of course, this is for the same reason as mentioned above. It’s just difficult to tell, especially if you’ve been spending this past year inside the house most of the time. Up close, you may notice dark mortar between bricks, dirt buildup between boards, or other signs your walls may need a dose of water.

The Roof

Why should you wash the roof when the sky does it for free? Well, though it may seem that way, rain is usually the reason it’s dirty in the first place. It does a good job washing off loose dirt, but the moisture it constantly leaves behind can cause algae and all sorts of things to grow on it. You may be tempted to get the job done yourself, but roofing material brings up a host of other considerations such as pressure, temperature, and even direction of the water flow. It’s best to leave it to the professionals when you start to notice the roof isn’t the same color it was a couple of years ago.

All these surfaces may look somewhat fine now, but with a quick call, we can leave them making your guests impressed and your neighbors jealous! Contact us today to find out how 214 Pressure Washing can make your Dallas/Fort Worth area home look good as new.

Most building surfaces that are found on exteriors can be safely power washed by a professional, but there still can be a few exceptions. It leads people to wonder what is safe to take a power washer to.

Can You Power Wash It?

Vinyl Siding

As a polymer, vinyl siding is resilient and a near perfect candidate for power washing.

Aluminum Siding

You may worry about a material like aluminum denting, and that can be a worry with too high of pressure. However, using the right pressure setting can make aluminum siding just as easy to clean as vinyl.

Concrete

As concrete has pores that can hold dirt, it can be difficult to clean without a power washer. However, too high of water pressure can also mark the concrete. So while water pressure flushes out those pores, the right amount of pressure needs to be used.

Stucco

As a softer exterior building material, stucco needs special care. Soft washing will need to be used, which is a low pressure wash with a cleanser. High pressure will damage stucco quickly.

Brick

Brick is complicated. It is porous like concrete, but high pressure can damage the mortar. As such, soft washing is often recommended for brick to preserve the grout.

Pavers

While you may think lower pressure would be the option on pavers to avoid the sand underlayment coming up through the joints, any pressure will cause that. If you do choose to power wash pavers, the joints will need to be refilled eventually.

Roofing

You should never use high pressure to clean a roof. However, roofing can be cleaned via soft washing that will remove algae streaks.

Windows

While high water pressure on glass should be avoided, windows are a good candidate for soft wash cleaning.

With the use of soft washing, many materials can be cleaned by a power washing company. If you have a dirty home, contact us today to see what 214 Pressure Washing can do to help.

While the Dallas-Fort Worth area isn’t exactly flush with rainfall, knowing your luck, you might schedule a power washing appointment for the one day that the rain does come down. However, unlike many other appointments, a rainy day may not necessarily mean you need to reschedule a power washing session.

Is There a Benefit to Power Washing in the Rain?

While obviously no one likes to work in the rain and technicians won’t work in thunderstorms where it may be dangerous, rain can only help the power washing process.

Reduced Drying Time

On rainy or even just overcast days, the drying time for the detergent-laced water used in power washing is greatly reduced. This means that it has more time to sit on the surface of your home and do its job. This can produce better results and may help the technician complete their work faster as they may need to make less passes.

Better Visibility

The immediate benefit to the power washing technician on rainy days is that there is no sun shining in their eyes and it is a little cooler out. However, overcast days also reduce shadows on the house so they can make sure that they get every last spot clean.

Will Rain Reschedule a Power Washing Appointment?

While a rainy day won’t necessarily stop a technician from doing their job, they may reschedule if the weather is going to be poor for a long period. Moments of scattered thunderstorms or heavy rain may result in the technician waiting in the truck to finish the job. However, if it is planned for multiple hours, they may have to reschedule your appointment.

Do you have a home or business that needs power washing? Contact us today to see what 214 Pressure Washing can do to get your buildings looking beautiful again in rain or shine.

For many homeowners, they don’t much see the point in power washing a home if they are just going to repaint it. However, a good power washing before painting a new layer of paint can be a real boom. Even if power washing isn’t stripping off the old paint, it is giving your a fresh canvas in its own way.

Removing Dirt and Grime From a Home With Power Washing

The big benefit that you get from power washing a home before you paint it is that you get a freshly clean home to add that paint to. Many homeowners have their homes power washed so they look better, but this time, you are doing it so your new paint job will look better and last longer.

When a home is power washed, you are having your home stripped of dirt, algae and mold growth. Certainly these things can all be painted over, but they can lead to a bad looking paint job. Furthermore, even if you can’t see what was painted over, it compromises the integrity of the paint job right from the root.

Even if you are just painting a portion of your home, like a garage door, you should still consider having it power washed in order to give yourself a clean layer to add beautiful new paint to. It will save you an hour of scrubbing and waiting for the area to dry as well as get the rest of your home clean as well without the need for a new paint job.

Do you have a home that is ready for repainting? Even if you aren’t getting ready to repaint a home, power washing can make your home look like new. Contact us today to see what 214 Pressure Washing can do to get all your exterior surfaces looking like great this year.

If you are considering residential power washing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, it is likely that your company of choice will tap into the outside spigot. While many power washing companies have the capability to power wash from tanks, they are typically not necessary for residential spaces. Yet, water isn’t free either. You may wonder how much is going to go into power washing your home and if you will be seeing a huge jump in your water bill.

While you will obviously see a rise in your water bill after residential power washing, it will actually be a smaller one than you will think. The amount of water used overall depends on the size of your home and how dirty it is, but it is easiest to explain how much water will be used by comparing a power washer to your standard garden hose.

Most garden hoses will expend around 12 gallons per minute compared to a power washer that expends around 8 gallons per minute. That is still a lot of water, but the benefit of a power washer is it works much faster to remove dirt compared to a garden hose. As the water is put under a higher pressure, it becomes more efficient at removing dirt. Not only is a power washer using less water per minute, but it is getting infinitely more done in a single minute compared to a garden hose.

Even if it does take an hour to clean the exterior of your home, that is still a minimal amount of water used with the power washer not in use every minute of that time.

Have you noticed that your home is looking a little lackluster lately? We can help. Contact us today to see what we can do at 214 Pressure Washing to help you get your home and business looking great again.

As an owner of an apartment complex, it is not just about keeping your buildings looking nice to attract new renters, but keeping the building safe for current residents as well. By scheduling regular power washing for the exterior of your buildings as well as the parking and patio areas, it can actually work a long way towards both.

Benefits of Power Washing For Apartment Complex Owners

While setting up power washing schedule for your apartment complex can be an expense, it is one that comes with many benefits.

Increased Property Value

This is obviously the biggest reason most apartment complex owners take advantage of regularly scheduled cleanings. While market conditions aren’t as bad as they perhaps once were for rented properties, keeping your buildings clean and doing so on a regular basis will dramatically increase the property value compared to letting them waiver in between clean and looking neglected.

Protecting Your Tenants

The exterior of your apartment building protects everyone inside from the elements, but those elements don’t always leave without a mark. Mold, algae, and dirt can build up on the roof and siding. The biggest concern is that it negatively affects the appearance, which is true. However, mold growth on the exterior of your building can become a health hazard.

Furthermore, removing dirt build up from sidewalks and parking lots can also help them from becoming a huge slip hazard when wet. While many owners focus on the buildings, the walkable surfaces are also important to keep clean as well.

Prevent Repairs

The most unexpected benefit of power washing for an apartment complex is that is prevents the need for repairs in the future. The dirt, mold, and algae that builds up on an apartment building can cause wood to rot faster and may encourage leaks to form. Having all that regularly removed will keep your buildings much healthier in the long run.

Apartment Pressure Washing Services

Do you own an apartment building or any other commercial space? We can help you keep it clean. Contact us today to see what we can do to help you schedule regular cleanings.

Pressure washing is a fast and efficient way to remove organic growth from the exterior of commercial properties. Mold, moss, and algae are not just unpleasant to look at, they can cause serious problems for a property owner. If you are dealing with excessive organic growth, here are some benefits that pressure washing can provide:

1. Protects the Health of Visitors and Employees

   Mold and mildew are general terms for types of fungi. They can cause serious health problems indoors and outside as well. The CDC states that people who are sensitive to mold may experience mild symptoms that range from stuffy noses to irritated throats. More severe respiratory symptoms can include infections in people with chronic lung disease. Pressure washing your commercial property can help to eliminate allergens and other potential irritants.

2. Protects Your Roofing Investment

   Algae lichen and moss can damage your roofing materials, which is a great reason to get these forms of organic growth off your roof. You can use soft pressure washing to remove algae and moss without causing damage. The right chemical cleaning product will also be necessary. A professional pressure washer will know the right tools and cleaners to use.

3. Prevents Slip and Fall Accidents

   Concrete walkways, driveways, and sidewalks can all become slippery fall hazards due to the growth of mold and algae. Keep in mind that when concrete coated with algae and mold is wet it becomes even more likely to cause slip and fall accidents. For senior citizens, the potential for severe injury will be even greater. A pressure washer with a flat surface cleaner can solve this problem quickly and thoroughly.

Pressure washing is an effective way to remove the mold, mildew, and other forms of organic growth that may build up over time on various exterior surfaces. Removing it will help to make a property safer in addition to enhancing its appearance. Contact us today at 214 Pressure Washing to help make your property safe and attractive.

 

If you manage a retail property, it is pretty easy to view pressure washing as a “once every few years” or even an “only when it is dirty” sort of affair. However, setting up a routine pressure washing schedule can be a major boon, and not just because you don’t need to remember to make the appointment. If you are only occasionally scheduling a pressure wash of your retail space, you are missing out. Drawbacks of not having routine retail strip cleaning:

Loss of Curb Appeal

The most obvious drawback of not having a routine pressure washing schedule for your retail strip is that your buildings will start to look bad. Likely by the time you notice, tons of customers already have. Your retail space suddenly becomes known by words like “run down” or “old” without being either because people are judging it by the exterior looks.

Decreased Property Value

What goes down right alongside curb appeal? Property value. If you wait until buildings look dirty to have them cleaned, there are still those days where people see the dirty buildings in your retail space. Businesses may not want to rent space and it could start to damage your property value more quickly than you think.

Longer Wash Times

The biggest benefit to scheduled routine pressure washing for your retail strip is that the job will get done pretty quickly. The initial cleaning the first time you do it will take some time, but that is because so much dirt and other grime has had time to build up. Routine schedules are just upkeep, often taking only half the time of an initial visit. Pressure washing your retail space will only take longer the more time you let pass.

Do you have a retail space that could benefit from routine retail strip cleaning? We can help. Contact us today to see what 214 Pressure Washing can do to help you get any of your commercial spaces looking picture perfect.

Scheduling a washing for your roof can make your home look like a whole new building. While roofing isn’t “pressure” washed so much as it is cleaned through a soft washing procedure, it can still have just as dramatic an effect. This soft washing process uses non-toxic detergent to gently clean the shingles without any risk of damage to them. Yet, while the results are pretty dramatic, they do no last. Over time, your roof will be continuously exposed to the elements and will grow dirty again. So how often do you need to have your roof cleaned to maintain these great results?

While pressure washing your roof can have longevity benefits, it is typically done just for the cosmetic appearance of your home. As such, there is no real schedule for it. On average, many choose to have their home cleaned every three years in order to maintain a beautiful appearance, but this is ultimately something for each homeowner to decide.

What is more important than the amount of time is how your roof looks. Is it manifesting black or green spots that are tainting its otherwise perfect appearance? Well, these spots will only grow. A cleaning can take care of them quickly and if done when they are small enough, will likely slow them from coming back. This could mean you need a roof pressure washing appointment every year for a few years, then you may notice a slow in the need to have your roof cleaned.

Typically, you may see an increase in need to have your roof cleaned during particularly wet years. During particularly stormy years, roofing will have more water exposure and manifest black spots more quickly.

Do you have a roof that needs cleaned? We can help. Contact us today to see what 214 Pressure Washing can do to help get your home and business looking beautiful again.

Whether it’s stuck in hair or on a wall, bubble gum is one of those substances that’s a nightmare to remove. Even when you’ve spent a lot of time removing it, and you think you’ve gotten all of it, there’s still a sticky residue left behind! From ice and vinegar scrubs, DIY methods of bubble gum removal are, at best, painstaking. Check-out the complications that can occur with common DIY bubble gum removal methods.

Whether you should heat or freeze the stuck-on bubble gum from a surface depends on the surface, where the bubble gum is located, the time of year, and the climate. If the bubble gum is stuck to an outside surface, and it’s warm outside, use ice. Unless, of course, it’s too warm outside. If the bubble gum is stuck to an interior surface, use heat, but only if the heat won’t damage the surface you’re heating.

Heat & Ice

 

There are many questions that make it unclear which method to use, and perhaps the best decision on whether to heat it or freeze it would better start with a college course in physics. Even if you luck-up and make the best decision, it may take you several tries, plus other steps to completely remove the bubble gum.

Scraping & Scrubbing

Scraping works to remove bubble gum, especially if you scrape while freezing and heating, but most surfaces will be damaged in some way after scraping them. Ceramics will become more porous and less resistant to stains, and surfaces like wood will leave scratch marks unless you’re very gentle. Yet, if you’re too gentle, the bubble gum won’t even come off!

If you get to the point where you’ve scraped most of the bubble gum off, but there’s still a few specks hanging-on for dear life, as well as that sticky residue and unsightly stain, you can finally move on to the scrubbing process.

Scrubbing an already raw surface area, however, is also likely to lead to damaging the surface. Vinegar is a great way to help with the scrubbing of the residue, but you might think the residue is all gone before it actually is because your fingers or gloves have so much bubble gum residue on them that you can’t even tell.

Any combination of these DIY methods might remove some bubble gum at first, but complications will most likely lead to at least three battles with the stuck bubble gum! If you don’t want to deal with all that, contact a professional today. Professional pressure washing works great for exterior bubble gum removal: the first time!