Give Your House a Facelift—Easy Ways to Spruce Up the Exterior

How to Get Your Home Exterior Clean

It’s spring! And that means backyard parties and barbecues in your (and your home’s) not-so-distant future. Whether you’re having company or not, the warmer, longer days may be just the motivation you need to shake off the winter chill and get your house sparkling with some spring cleaning. Most people are well aware of the importance of keeping their yards clean. It’s important, though, not to neglect the exterior of your home which should be washed about twice a year.

In general, power washing is a fast effective way to clean surfaces, but it can be damaging to brick and painted surfaces as it can cause brick and paint to chip away. It’s best to reserve power washing for vinyl siding, like the exterior at 4365 Newark Road in Cochranville. If you do use power washing on brick and paint, keep the PSI on a low setting to prevent damaging the wall.

Wood exteriors, like this one at 1100 Davis Lane in Chester Springs, are beautiful but they need some attention after being exposed to the elements day in and day out. For general cleaning, mix about a teaspoon of dish detergent in a bucket of water to make a cleaning solution and use a sponge or scrub brush to clean the surface of the house.

Even if you’re power washing, that won’t get rid of mildew. Any spot with mildew should be treated with bleach before power washing or any other method of general cleaning. Mix a ratio of one part household bleach and four parts water in your bucket, you can add 1/3 cup of dish or laundry detergent for extra cleaning, and use a sponge or scrubbing brush on the mildew. After both cleanings, rinse the surface with clean water from a garden hose or with a sponge or rag soaked in clean water and let it air dry or dry with a towel when you’re done.

Since power washing can cause damage to the grout and caulking on brick or stone exteriors like the one at 422 S. Waterloo Road in Devon, it’s best to use water and a brick-cleaning solution that you can find at a home improvement store. For a chemical-free way of cleaning brick and giving it a new darker color, clean it with a half gallon of olive oil and a gallon of water. The olive oil will clean as well as darken the brick.