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What New Homeowners Needs to Know About Pressure Washing

9/27/2021

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​One of the biggest responsibilities of homeowners is ensuring that their home is well-maintained. This means having an effective maintenance routine that would remove all the dust, grime, dirt, and bacteria present in your home. But when it comes to cleaning up brick, wood, and concrete, these exterior materials need another kind of cleaning — pressure washing. 


Many people think that pressure washing is simple as it only involves water and some detergents. However, there's actually more to consider when it comes to residential pressure washing; that's why it's best to leave it to the experts. 

Pressure washing requires the right machine and equipment, alongside specific detergents meant for certain surfaces. Besides that, you should be aware of certain pressure levels and techniques to ensure that your patio stones, exterior glass, and other fragile surfaces and materials don't get damaged. 

Although you'll be hiring professional pressure washers to clean your home, it pays to know more about pressure washing. Besides, it's always great to learn a thing or two if you need to manage the job yourself. 

Different Power Washing Equipment to Use at Home

When choosing the "best" pressure washer for your home, there really is no "best" one. But instead, the ideal power wash machine will offer you enough strength to rid the grime and dirt on your property while being lightweight, which is most manageable for you. 

Below are some of the professional-approved equipment that works great for homes:

  • Gas-power machines offer significant power, making them an excellent choice for eliminating thick grime and dirt from pitted surfaces like concrete. But the downside about this is that you need to keep fuel and oil on hand, and it may be dangerous to store these at home.


  • If you don't want equipment that produces fumes and emissions, electric power wash equipment is a great lightweight and portable alternative. Although incredibly convenient, it doesn't offer the same pressure as gas-powered machines, which is not a good choice for heavy-duty cleaning. 

What Can I Power Wash?

Your home's exterior surfaces are safe for cleaning with a pressure washer. These include surfaces, such as brick, vinyl siding, concrete, asphalt, aluminum, and more. 

However, some surfaces are best left for professionals to clean with a power washer, such as:

  • Windows and Door Screens: These materials can easily bend and shred if cleaned with the wrong pressure, damaging your aluminum frames;


  • Exterior Glass: Besides breaking glass, the wrong pressure can also smear abrasive grit, sand, silt, and other coarse debris that could damage your glass elements;


  • Patios, Flagstones, and Lightweight Pieces: In some cases, the wrong pressure can displace your patio pavers, damage your flagstones and other lightweight pieces, especially if they're made of thin and brittle stone. 

What Should I Avoid When it Comes to Pressure Washing?

  • Don't start with the highest pressure, instead start with the lowest and hold the want about 18 inches away from the surface;


  • Don't hold the wand stationary in one spot, but instead, move the wand side to side to distribute pressure evenly;


  • Don't pressure wash your windows yourself and leave it to the professionals;


  • Don't forget to rinse your detergent or solvent thoroughly because they can damage your home's exterior surfaces;


  • Don't pressure clean with pets and children around because it can cause unwanted accidents and injuries.

The Bottom Line: It's Always Best to Hire Professionals to Do All Your Pressure Washing Tasks

Although pressure washing seems pretty straightforward to most people, know that you'll be requiring certain equipment, products, and techniques to ensure that you do a great job in cleaning your home's exteriors. With that said, it's best to hire residential power washing services to help bring your home back into its shiny, shimmery state.

How Can We Help You?

Kingwood All-Star Window and Power Washing is the leading pressure washing company in town. We offer residential and commercial pressure washing, soft wash, roof cleaning, window washing, and more. 

Looking for residential power washing services? Reach out to us today!


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How Pressure Washing Can Sanitize and Disinfect Your Home

9/20/2021

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How Pressure Washing Can Sanitize and Disinfect Your Home

It’s one thing to clean your house thoroughly from top to bottom, but it’s another when you want it to be sanitized and free from germs and bacteria. Nowadays, it’s no longer enough to clean the inside and outside of your house. It’s not even the bare minimum. You need to make sure that every surface is disinfected and sanitized to make sure that you won’t catch anything from it.

If you want to sanitize and disinfect your home, it’s recommended to hire a professional to do it. Many power washing companies are capable of cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing your home using special equipment and materials. If you’re wondering how a process like pressure washing can disinfect surfaces, here’s a simple guide to help you understand how it’s possible.

Beyond Cleaning

In recent years, cleaning has evolved beyond just mere dirt removal. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s all the more important that you perform proper sanitization and disinfection in your home. This means that your normal cleaning techniques will no longer be optimal, and it requires processes like pressure washing or the use of chemicals to do that.

How Pressure Washing Works

Pressure washing is the use of high-pressure water to spray and remove layers of dirt, grime, and gunk on almost any surface. It can even utilize specialized cleaners or detergents to remove even the underlying dirt and microorganisms on the targeted surfaces. Using a high-powered engine, pressure washers employ a water pump that draws in detergent attached to the pressure washer’s nozzle and mixes it with the water before spraying. 

A variant of pressure washing called power washing works a bit differently by heating up the water to high temperatures. That, combined with the pressure of the machine, is capable of sanitizing and cleaning effectively. However, power washing can be a little too harsh and could damage certain surfaces like brick, concrete, or masonry.

The Sanitizing and Disinfecting Power of Pressure Washing

Pressures can doubly sanitize and disinfect, depending on the kind of solution used for cleaning. The detergent that mixes with water can be changed to double as a sanitizer. Most laboratories use this cleaning method as it is effective in getting rid of microorganisms like germs, bacteria, and viruses.

Please take note, however, that the cleaning agents used for most pressure washing services are not the same as the cleaning agents you use at home for disinfection. While they may have a similar makeup, professional pressure washers often use industrial-grade cleaners to ensure that surfaces are squeaky clean and germ-free.

In some cases, cleaning professionals use soft cleaning methods first and let the chemical solution soak first to kill the bacteria and viruses on the surface. After letting it soak for some time, pressure washers are then used to completely clean, sanitize, and disinfect the surface.

Conclusion

In this post-pandemic age, you need to step up when it comes to cleaning and making sure your house is free from any infectious residue on the walls and surfaces. With pressure washing services, you’re sure that every surface is clean and safe to use again.

Kingwood All Star Window & Power Washing is at your service when it comes to providing residential and commercial power washing services. Our team of professional cleaners is more than capable of making sure your property is thoroughly cleaned and sanitized from top to bottom. If you need pressure washing services, don’t hesitate to give us a call. Contact us today to request a quote.


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3 Mistakes To Avoid When Power Washing a Brick House

9/13/2021

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Power washing provides homeowners with an efficient way to clean their properties. However, people with brick homes often hesitate to get power washing services. Although brick is one of the strongest materials to build a house, cleaning it can often be a delicate matter.

Since brick is a porous material, there is the risk of retaining water, which could damage the brick over time. So it’s quite understandable that some people may be hesitant to clean their brick homes with a power washer. But as long as you avoid the mistakes we’ve listed below, you can safely power wash your brick home.

  1. High-Pressure Power Washing

High-pressure water can be damaging to brick homes. You may not see the damage immediately, but in a few years, you’ll be able to tell the difference. Although the delamination process is slow, it is irreversible, and you may end up needing to replace the crumbling bricks.

So instead of high-pressure power washing a brick surface, you could go with soft pressure washing. Soft pressure washing uses only water with force from 100 to 1500 psi. In comparison, standard garden hoses have a water pressure of around 40 psi, while commercial power washers can go up to 60,000 psi. Soft pressure washing can give you enough pressure to efficiently clean your brick home without damaging it.

  1. Using Muriatic Acid

People often resort to applying muriatic acid on incredibly dirty surfaces. However, this is a huge mistake when dealing with brick. You see, muriatic acid can dissolve the brick’s outer layer. This can result in a pitted surface that lets the brick absorb more water. If the brick retains a lot of water, it’ll start to crack and crumble, and you may need to replace it altogether.

Aside from muriatic acid, you should also avoid ammonia and toxic chemical cleaners. However, if you really insist on acid-washing brick, it would be best to replace the sealant to prevent the brick from crumbling. You’ll also need to keep it replaced every one to two years.

  1. Using a Wire Brush or Power Tools

Sometimes, there are just some stains that refuse to be removed. And in these cases, people can often be tempted to remove them by using a wire brush or a cleaning disc attached to a power tool. However, this is not a good idea. Although some cleaning disc brands advertise themselves as a safer alternative to wire brushes, they can still strip the brick’s outer layer and cause damage. So it’s best to go with other cleaning methods to remove a tough stain.

Conclusion

While brick may be considered one of the strongest building materials, it can easily be damaged if you don’t clean it correctly. The porous nature of brick puts it at risk of absorbing and retaining water, making it crumble over time. So, when power washing a brick home, it’s best to be careful not to strip away its outer layer. Some things you need to avoid include high-pressure power washing, acid-washing, and wire brushes and power tools. 

Clean your brick home efficiently and safely with the help of Kingwood All Star Window & Power Washing. We provide window washing, roof cleaning, pressure washing, and power washing services in Kingwood, TX. You can depend on us for results steeped in expertise, including a clear understanding of our customers’ special cleaning requests. Get a free quote now!

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Home Cleaning - Prevention and Remedies for Hard Water Stains

9/3/2021

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Water containing high levels of dissolved minerals such as magnesium and calcium is considered “hard water.” These common minerals can be acquired by groundwater as it passes around soil and rocks.

If your household uses hard water, you will likely need house washing services because of the many noticeable stains and cloudy film on surfaces such as porcelain, china, enamel, stainless steel, fiberglass chrome, and tiles.

There is a lot more to dealing with hard water, so keep reading to discover more about it and how to prevent it.

The Unfavorable Effects of Hard Water

Hard water isn’t a critical health concern; however, the mineral buildup can significantly reduce the quality of water pipes and cause more household distress and skin irritation.

  • Clothes wear out quickly - Hard water isn’t the best for clothes as it shortens its lifespan by around 40 percent. Washing any kind of fabric in hard water makes it scratchy, shabby, and damages the fibers.

  • Hard water leads to clogged pipes and showerheads - Limescale made of magnesium and calcium deposits causes mineral buildup in the plumbing system and around showerhead openings, leading to reduced water pressure. While copper and PVC pipes are safe, steel pipes are prone to clogging due to hard water, and they will eventually need to be replaced.

  • Soap scum on bathroom surfaces - Since hard water is rich with minerals, they bind with soap particles to form a curd or scum that sticks to everything.

  • Makes cleaning more frustrating - Lime scales or the deposits that the water leaves behind is a pain to remove and may even cause chemical reactions that make even the most potent cleaning products less effective.

  • Causes permanent damage to dinnerware - Mineral deposits cause spots, streaks, and films to develop in any type of glass and dish. While it doesn’t lead to any serious health risks, it makes them look unsanitary.

  • Dull hair and skin irritation - The minerals in hard water are too strong for one’s hair and skin. Washing hair with hard water can cause dryness, and it can develop a film on the skin that prevents complete dirt removal and may cause irritation.

Effective Cleaning Products for Hard Water Stains
Cleaning hard water stains regularly is better than letting them damage surfaces at home. The most effective cleaning products to use that can be seen in the pantry, including vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, and white wine. 

Here are more cleaners for different mineral stains:

  • Red or reddish-brown (rust or iron) - Apply cream of tartar and water paste on the surface and let dry. Rinse thoroughly.

  • Green or blue-green stains (copper or acid water) - Apply soap suds and ammonia and rinse.

  • Brown, black, and other stains (manganese or other minerals) - Apply cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide paste; let it sit for a couple of minutes, then rinse.

  • Hard-water stains and soap scum - Apply white vinegar and baking soda paste; let it penetrate the surface, then rinse.

Chemical cleaning products that contain sequestrants such as phosphoric, hydroxy acetic, and hydrochloric acids do well with deactivating minerals in hard water. However, using them carelessly can be too abrasive with surfaces and cause scratches. Make sure to follow the instructions carefully.

Keeping Hard Water Stains Away

There are some ways to prevent mineral deposits and buildup from hard water. Here are some of them:

  • Never allow water to dry on surfaces
  • Maintain shower doors with a spray cleaner
  • Install water softening equipment

Conclusion

Water is an essential part of everyday life. While hard water can seem unnoticeable at first, it may cause permanent damage to surfaces and even household items. Learning how to spot signs and prevent effects is key to keeping your belongings safe and sound.

If you are looking for commercial power washing services, reach out to Kingwood All Start Window and Power Washing to experience the best! We offer window washing, residential pressure washing, roof cleaning, and more. Contact us today (360-1997) and get a free quote!
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  • Home
  • Services
    • ​Residential Pressure Washing
    • ​Commercial Pressure Washing
    • Soft Wash
    • ​​Roof Cleaning
    • ​Concrete, Brick & Masonry, Pool Tile Cleaning, Calcium Removal
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