Home Selling Tips -- Pressure Washing For Curb Appeal

Home Selling Tips -- Pressure Washing For Curb Appeal
By Brian Perry
Eastside Realtor

What a beautiful weekend we had on the Eastside last weekend!  The sunshine and heat got me motivated to play in the water. Noooo, not taking a swim at a Kirkland beach, or sailing a boat froma Bellevue marina, I'm talking about pressure washing.  What better way to beat the heat than with 750 psi of pure power...cut right into the dirt, shoot the mist and mud into my face fun! 

As Greg mentioned in his article series "the five critical areas to squeeze out the last dollar" and "Stopped at the Street" curb appeal plays a big part of getting potential home buyers into view your home.  He does briefly mention pressure washing in the article, but I thought I'd throw down some more detail.   Pressure washing is a fun, and inexpensive way to really put the "cherry" on top of the curb appeal.  Freshen up your walkways, patios, decking and even siding. (if you are choosing not to paint)...heck you even stay cool doing it!

So here's my experience from this weekend.  I have been neglecting my patio's and walkways for some time now.  The patio was paint splattered and moss ridden, and the step from the back porch was caked with old indoor/outdoor carpeting glue.  The kind of stuff that makes you really come up with creative ways to avoid it.  My neighbor had just purchased a 750psi pressure washer from The Home Depot so I seized the opportunity to borrow it and play. I spent about 4 hours pressure washing the back patio and walkways in the front yard.  Another two hours I spent just finding random things to blast...for no apparent reason other than to blast them.  So here are some before and after shots to show you the extreme improvement in the surfaces around my home.

Back Step:  Full of indoor/outdoor carpet glue

Front Walkway:  Dirt & Moss

Clearly you see the dramatic difference a little effort in pressure washing will make.  And at a cost of only $90 bucks to buy a washer or less than $20 to rent its hard to beat that bang for your buck!

So before you put your house on the market, get out there and blast!