All You Need to Know About Hiring Exterior House Cleaners

Admit it, few of us enjoy cleaning. Most of the time, cleaning is taxing, but necessary chore. No matter the task, it can be difficult and time-consuming, but this is especially true when talking about the exterior of your home. Exterior cleaning is not just tough, but dangerous as well since it often involves working at dangerous heights. If you lack the required equipment, DIY exterior cleaning becomes all the more difficult and can often be risky. Just imagine trying to clean out your gutters when your garden hose doesn’t even reach the full length of your gutters. 

Hiring exterior house cleaners can therefore be a pretty smart choice in a lot of cases. You can get your home's exterior cleaned safely and correctly the first time around by professional exterior house cleaning experts who have all the safety gear and equipment required.  

It can be easy to just let the outside of your house go as it’s not as in-your-face and the accumulation of dirt is not obtrusive. However, a neglected home exterior is not good for your home’s long-term health, or yours. Very dirty windows reduce the amount of natural light that can come into your house, and a dirty exterior can even conceal damage to your home. Plus, your home is always circulating air from the outside, so you can imagine that a lot of dirt on the exterior of your home will eventually be carried inside, to the detriment of your interior air quality. 

Benefits of Hiring An Exterior House Cleaner

Professionals know best when it comes to the best cleaning methods for each material.

For those of us that aren’t skilled at working on houses, hiring a professional outside house cleaning service comes with a lot of considerable benefits. For one, a crew that specializes in exterior cleaning is of course going to be trained in this trade. In most cases, they will know better than you how to get the job done and are more likely to have the right tools to do so. Cleaning tasks such as wiping off second-story windows or cleaning moss off a rooftop are inherently dangerous, so it’s best to leave such jobs to those with experience and safety measures in place. 

Also, it goes without saying that a properly cleaned home exterior is going to give a healthy boost to your home’s curb appeal. You also may not know which cleaning tools or products are best, but the experts will know and have everything they need on hand. Having the right products for the job is about convenience, but also about keeping your home free of damage. Exterior cleaning is something that must be done with care to avoid damaging your home with chemicals, and naturally, exterior house cleaners are going to know just how to do that.  

As such, exterior house cleaners are an excellent choice for those planning to sell their home. After all, a potential buyer is going to be far more excited about buying your home if the outside is spotless, rather than overcome with mold, dust, and lichen. 

What Outside Cleaning Options Are Available?

To better understand your options, it's good to know what kind of professional outside house cleaning services are on offer. Happily, there are plenty of tedious jobs that you can hire a professional to handle for you while you sit back and relax. 

Window Cleaning

Expert window cleaners have the equipment to safely and thoroughly clean your windows so that hard water stains don’t come back as quickly.

Window cleaning professionals adopt a range of different window cleaning methods to do the best job possible. Using modern tools such as water-fed poles, abseil ropes, and cleaning platforms, cleaning pros can reach your windows no matter how high they are. Window cleaners can also make your window screens look good as new, a hugely beneficial service given how difficult it can be to clean window screens. 

Hard water stains are another difficult thing to remove from windows - even if you regularly wipe down your windows. Window cleaning pros offer high-grade products that will remove these stains and prevent them from coming back as quickly. 

Gutter Cleaning 

Gutters are a very important part of any home. By giving the water a place to go they prevent it from pooling in areas of your roof, which can lead to structural stress and damage. However, gutters require regular cleaning and maintenance in order to function as designed. Because gutters are typically open, they will also collect lots of debris such as twigs, leaves, and other plant waste. This is especially true if you live in an area with a temperate climate.

Gutter cleaning is crucial for keeping your gutters working properly and preventing roof leaks.

All this gunk makes your gutters less efficient and can even cause them to get clogged up, resulting in excess strain for your gutters and your roof. Although some gutters are designed for easy cleaning, most gutter cleaning is a hazardous and difficult job, especially if your home is two stories or higher. We’ve all seen a sitcom or two where a Mr. Do-It-Myself falls off his ladder trying to rid the gutters of stubborn leaf build-up.

Thanks to their training and expertise, cleaners outside the house will know how to get the job done safely and in a timely manner. Plus, you will have an entire team working on your gutters who can work a lot faster than one DIYer alone. Gutter cleaning costs around $160 on average, but this is well worth it when you consider how difficult it can be to do this job yourself. 

Siding 

Power washing may not be the best solution for dirty siding, so hire a pro for the best job.

Siding is crucial for keeping your home’s insulation in good shape and increasing your curb appeal. However, cobwebs, lichen, mold, and algae all have a way of making a home on your siding. The sides of your home that face the prevailing wind bear the brunt of this contamination. 

To stay in good shape, your siding should be cleaned at least once a year. This can be done with a pressure washer, but this isn’t always the best solution for all materials. This is why it might be good to have a trained expert on the job as they will know what is best - and you can avoid damaging your home’s exterior even more. 

Roof Cleaning

Roof cleaning is inherently dangerous due to the heights and angles involved, so getting a professional for the job is your best bet.

Aside from your gutters, your roof shingles will also need regular cleaning attention. Roof tiles are directly exposed to moisture and wind, causing algae, fungus, and mold formation that can cause tiles to shift and even fall out. 

A roof that is neglected for years can even be structurally compromised by the weather, so it’s smart to have the roof cleaned once a year by a professional so you don’t have to fork over big money for a major repair. As with floor cleaning, going long stretches without maintenance or cleaning is never a good idea. 

What To Look For When Hiring An Exterior Cleaning Company

When you're going to hire outside cleaners, it’s important to ask a few pertinent questions. This will help you to make the best choice for your cleaning needs and for a job well done. 

Safety

When we’re talking about exterior cleaning, that often means working at heights or in other potentially risky situations. Ladder accidents are one of the main causes of injury for exterior house cleaners, especially for window cleaning jobs. It is therefore smart to ask your exterior cleaners if they provide any safety education for their employees. Proper safety training is essential for ensuring that each job is completed successfully. Eco-conscious companies may even have some natural cleaning hacks that are worth asking about.

Safety should always be number one for a cleaning company.

References

While you can always look for reviews online for the company you are considering, it is still a good idea to hear directly from prior customers. The best way to do this is just to ask for references from the cleaning company. Talking to previous clients is the best way to determine if an exterior cleaning company is best for your needs. 

Doing Your Homework

No matter who you hire, be sure to check references. Interview and be familiar with anyone that will be working on your home, especially if they're working around your family.

Also, be sure everything about the job is put in writing. This means any of the outside structures that are included, such as garages or sheds, as well as the windows of the home.