We do paint the cleanest homes in Omaha because we clean them! I am amazed by the lack of prep given to homes by many paint contractors. Prep would be the scraping , sanding, caulking, priming and of course washing.
Washing a house before painting it is so important. If not done correctly it can spell disaster. You will be sealing dirt, mold, mildew under your new paint job. Besides getting poor adhesion, the mold and mildew will take off and grow under the new film of paint. Unless a mildewcide has been added to the new paint.
There really isn’t a “typical” home in Omaha but on average we spend about 5 hours power washing a home. Sometimes much longer if the home is in a tree line or has been neglected.
When power washing it is important to wash all surfaces from a relatively close distance. Close enough to blast off the dirt but not so close as to cause damage. Chemicals are a must!!! We use our own concoction (we make) that will kill mold/mildew, etc.
This stuff gets pretty slippery so we try to avoid going up ladders or walk on roofs as much as possible. We have a rather long spray pole that enables us to spray very high up at a close distance. It’s very hard to hold onto because of the leverage working against the user but it works great and is much safer. It’s the long yellow pole in the photo.
Sometime actual scrubbing with a brush is necessary but worth it. A very clean surface is the best way to start prepping out a home for a new paint job. We really do paint the cleanest homes in omaha.