Ron's Painting

RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • INTERIOR • EXTERIOR  • FAUX FINISHING in Southwest Florida.

Serving Sanibel and Captiva Islands, Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero and Cape Coral, FL.

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Should You Pressure Clean Your Home Before You Paint It?

We get this question a lot because when it comes to painting a home, a lot of homeowners don’t like to add more steps than they think necessary.

But when you want the best look for your home’s exterior – and want that look to last as long as possible – then you want to pressure clean your home before you start painting.

Here’s why pressure cleaning is so important. If you paint your home without pressure cleaning the exterior first, mold and mildew that currently lives on your home’s exterior walls will continue to grow, even underneath the new layers of paint that you are about to put on – even if you can’t see the mold or mildew with your naked eye.

This problem is especially crucial for homes in Florida. Our climate helps promote mold and mildew growth, and unless you take extra steps – like pressure cleaning – it’ll continue to grow. Eventually, if you don’t clean before you paint, your paint will begin to peel and flake off.

You don’t want to go through the trouble of painting your house just to have your hard work peel off later, no matter how good a paint job you performed.

Simple Pressure Cleaning Tips

To nip the problem in the bud, we like to dilute bleach and use this mixture to thoroughly attack the exterior of every home we paint. Sometimes, specific areas of your home  have parts that are more vulnerable to mildew growth, especially if a homeowner has not pressure cleaned in a while, so applying the mixture to the home in these areas with a garden sprayer before washing also works.

One part chlorine bleach mixed with three parts of water is a good mixture for pre-application. Once it has been applied or mixed, simply pressure wash as normal, making sure to sweep the jet back and forth steadily without letting it rest too long on one particular area.  Be sure to rinse the vegetation off with clean water before bleach is applied and after the pressure cleaning is completed.  Vegetation and bleach do not get along, so a thorough rinse is needed always.  The more you rinse the better.

Attack the mold and mildew first, then allow your home to dry overnight before prepping your home and applying paint, but paint as soon as the home is clean. You don’t want to wait too long; if you do, the mold will grow back. We never wait more than 1 week before starting the painting process, especially in the summer in Florida.

By Ron Rooker

President Ron's Painting LLC.

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