Exterior cleaning isn’t a walk in the park. It’s an overwhelming and time-consuming task that requires proper planning. However, with your busy schedule, you can find yourself rushing the task to finish it as soon as possible.
While you may have the best intentions while cleaning, your efforts might do more harm than good. Therefore, when cleaning your home’s exterior, avoid the following mistakes for flawless cleaning.
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Cleaning Your Exterior Windows On A Sunny Day
Although anyone can clean a window, not everyone can do the job correctly. Homeowners make several mistakes when cleaning exterior windows, including cleaning on a sunny day. While this may sound strange, many experts discourage this as it makes window washing harder.
During a sunny day, lather dries up quickly, thus leaving notorious stains and marks on your windows after you’ve dried your windows. Window cleaning services in LA recommend cleaning your windows on a cloudy day. This gives you enough time to wipe your windows before the lather dries up.
Additionally, avoid using bleach or glass cleaners with ammonia or alcohol as they may leave streaks or form a layer that easily attracts dust and grime. Use a simple solution such as vinegar and water, but wipe it all down, so it doesn’t accumulate on the frames and cause damage.
Housewife standing on a patio washing the windows of her house with a hose attachment as she spring-cleans the exterior at the start of the new spring season
Pressure Washing Your Roof
As a homeowner, you’ve probably used a pressure washer in cleaning your exterior if not you can contact house cleaning Sydney. A pressure washer is beneficial in cleaning stubborn stains on surfaces like stone, brick, or masonry. However, pressure washing isn’t a good option to clean your roof.
Many homeowners who make this mistake end up with a damaged roof, as the pressure washer makes potential holes and cracks in the roof, thus causing water damage. If you have solar panels on your roof, using a pressure washer can also damage the panels. If you need your panels cleaned it’s advisable to invest in solar panel cleaning services to avoid costly damage.
The best way to clean your roof is using a hose pipe sprayer but first remove debris, moss, and algae using a broom. Then apply the right cleaners that won’t damage your roof and rinse the roof with hose pipe water.
However, if you must use a pressure washer, consider reducing the device’s pressure and give yourself some distance from the roof. This can help maintain a clean roof without damaging it.
Not Wearing The Right Attire
Not wearing the right protective gear is the biggest mistake regarding your safety. The right equipment protects you from harsh chemicals and injuries from slips and falls.
Therefore, anytime you’re cleaning your exterior, choose the right outfit. This includes gloves, non-slip boots, a rubber apron, and safety glasses.
If you’re cleaning your roof, avoid wearing loose clothing that could get trapped on the ladder and cause you to fall. For maximum safety when cleaning your roof, observe the following ladder safety tips:
- Place your ladder on firm and even ground
- Wear rubber shoes to increase ladder grip
- Always face the ladder
- Avoiding overarching
- Follow the ‘three-point of contact’ rule —having two feet and one hand or two hands and one foot on the ladder at all times.
Not Having A Cleaning Strategy
Though not detrimental to your property, this mistake can cause significant headaches and time wastage. For instance, if you start pressure washing and cleaning your pathways and driveways and then clean your house walls and roof, all the debris you clean from the roof and your walls will end up on your paths, and you’ll be forced to re-do the cleaning.
Also, imagine spending hours cleaning your windows only to splash dirty water when pressure washing your house walls.
To avoid all this, it’s essential to have an effective cleaning strategy that will give you good results. Professionals recommend starting with your roof, cleaning your walls, pressure washing flat surfaces, and ending with your windows.
Cleaning Water-Sensitive Areas
It’s a no-brainer that water-sensitive areas in your home deserve extra attention when cleaning. However, many homeowners neglect this and end with significant property damage. These areas include door openings and non-water-tight windows.
Door openings are easy to forget when cleaning the exterior of your home. You just spray water to clean around your front door only to finish and find a soaked foyer inside the house.
Moreover, just like door openings, windows also have gaps that can cause serious damage when soaked with water. The water can cause wood rot around your window, which is expensive to repair.
Conclusion
Cleaning your home’s exterior is a daunting and time-consuming task. However, the task can be more manageable if you learn to avoid the above exterior cleaning mistakes. This won’t only simplify the cleaning task but also reduce property damage associated with improper cleaning.
