When it comes down to the cleanliness of your home, it is quite easy to forget and neglect the outside of your home.
This is due to the fact that you may not observe how clean the outside of your home is, as you spend more time inside. This can cause a build-up of moss and algae on your roof, in your gutters, and on the surface of your house’s walls.
It is recommended, due to working at greater heights, that you look into having exterior cleaning services done by a trained professional. However, this can be costly.
This article will provide you with a few simple ways in which you can ensure that the exterior of your home remains to look clean and well-maintained.
DIY Roof Cleaning
If you are looking at cleaning roof tiles you want to ensure that you are being gentle. This means you should avoid using equipment such as a pressure washer as this can loosen the shingles of your roof.
How to clean roof tiles without causing damage:
- Use a garden hose attachment new use a retractable hose reel with a garden hose attachment that has a spraying setting with a mixture of chlorine bleach and water.
Spray this solution on the tiles of your roof and allow it to sit. You can then use the same attachment to rinse the solution with clean water.
- Use a trowel or a stiff brush to remove any moss, growths, or algae. Follow this with the above solution to prevent these from regrowing straight away.
You want to ensure that you clean your roof on the right day. Trying to clean your roof on a sunny day is going to cause any chemicals you are using to evaporate prematurely.
This can prevent the chemicals from working to stop any regrowth. You can face the same issue if you decide to clean your roof on a day when rain is expected, as the chemicals will just wash away. Due to this reason you want to make sure that you are cleaning your roof on a day that is cloudy and overcast.
DIY Front Door Makeover
When someone approaches your home and goes to knock on your front door you want to ensure that your door looks nice and clean.
Your front door may be a factor in someone’s first impressions of your home before they see the inside, however getting a new front door can be very expensive, especially if you want something which is not basic. Some simple ways to give your front door a makeover include:
- A fresh coat of paint, whether this is freshening up the paint color which is already there or changing the color completely, is one way to give the appearance of having a new door, without splashing out for a new door.
- Changing the decoration such as the door handle, letterbox, and any knockers or doorbells.
- You can also adapt the way in which your door looks through lighting. If you have a lightbulb that is very yellow, this can be translated into the color your door is painted.
You should go for a bright white light which is going to brighten the appearance of your home making it look more welcoming.
DIY Driveway Cleaning
It is very easy for your driveway to get a build-up of dirt and stains. This can affect how your home looks on the outside to anyone who is approaching your home.
Just like other exterior cleaning services, having your driveway cleaned professionally can be quite expensive. When cleaning your driveway, you want to:
- Cover any grease or oil spills with an absorbent material such as sawdust overnight.
- The next day takes a brush or broom and along with the material laid the night before sweep off any dirt, dust, or leaves.
- Remove any surface stains using any concrete cleaner, or even a homemade method of using baking soda and rising this away with a hosepipe.
- From here you can take a pressure washer and a gentle detergent and work on the surface of the driveway. This will help loosen any cracked or dried mud that has embedded itself in the cracks of the driveway.
DIY Window Cleaning Without a Ladder
Not everyone is physically able or feels safe enough to go up a ladder to clean the windows above the ground floor of their home.
As well as this, hiring a window cleaner seems like a costly and unnecessary expense for something which you could do yourself/ If you are planning on cleaning your windows yourself you should:
- Pick a sunny day. This will ensure that the windows dry quickly and are streak-free.
- Start with the outside pane outside. You can use a hoover and an outdoor-appropriate extension lead for the lower windows of your home. When it comes to reaching higher up you can use a broom with a long handle. This will remove any cobwebs or debris.
- Once you have removed any unwanted debris from the windows, you can use an extended pole with a mixture of hot water and white vinegar as a cleaning solution.
With this, you want to scrub the surface of the window well and ensure you get in all the corners so you do not miss any dirt.
- When the window has been cleaned and is saturated in the solution, you should leave this for a couple of minutes before using a squeegee attachment on the extended pole to remove any excess water or suds.
When you are satisfied with the outside of your windows you can then move on the inside. This is a lot easier as you can simply use a standard window cleaner or the same solution with a cloth.
To Conclude
Having the exterior of your home look clean and fresh is just as important as ensuring that the inside of your home is nice and clean.
This is due to the fact that visitors are going to see the exterior of your home before they see the inside. This means their first impressions of your home are going to come from what they see on the outside.
These few simple DIY methods are more cost-effective methods of ensuring that the outside of your home looks well-maintained and not neglected.
