Sales folks love to entice homeowners with the good ole’ “maintenance free” line.   They draw it out faster than Johnny Ringo pills his six shooter.  Is it true?  Kinda but not at all ☺.

1. Gutters, even if you have those gutter guard thingys.  Sold as the panacea of leaf defeating wizardry, they tend to not live up to expectations.

Granted some type of gutter screens can reduce the amount of debris getting inside the gutter, but if the debris just sits on top, it is really no different than a clogged gutter.  I take that back – it’s worse.  It causes debris to stack up and sit on the roof faster, and that leads to plywood rotting.
Best case, it saves time by reducing the frequency of cleanings.  But, you lose that time by having a more complicated clean-out process.  You have to remove the screens to clean the gutter!  Then…..reinstall.   My opinion is, there is no miracle product for this.  If you live under a bunch of trees, then you need to clean out the gutters twice a year.

2.  Composite decking.  Some people love it, some people hate it.  The biggest problem with composite decking material is it’s hard to get clean.  It’s rough porous surface is the perfect place for dirt and moisture to settle, causing mold growth.  We can clean them, but it’s harder to clean a composite deck than a pine deck, especially if it has been neglected too long.  I’ve written more about it here.

3. Vinyl siding.  They say “vinyl is final”.  That depends on how one defines “final”.  Vinyl siding will need to be cleaned regularly.  Probably more frequently than, say, a house with painted siding or brick.  Also, vinyl siding will oxidize and fade from the sun.  I see it everywhere. You can literally rub the siding with your finger and the see the powdery residue.

And, with the new trend of darker colors being used, don’t be suprised to see 10 year old vinyl siding that looks 30.

This makes it very important to have the right company pressure wash your house. Actually pressure washing isn’t even the right term, it’s just the one that we’re used to.  Vinyl siding doesn’t need to be pressure washed – it needs to be soft washed.

Let us know if you need help with any of this!

Heritage Pressure Washing is an exterior cleaning company that provides pressure washing services to the Jacksonville NC area.