Commercial buildings maintain their professional look when kept clean inside and out. And while exterior cleaning can be challenging, it has several advantages. For one, it improves curb appeal and reflects the company’s values. Dirty commercial buildings have turned away investors on several occasions. As such, cleaning and maintaining a commercial building exterior is non-negotiable.
A lot goes into cleaning a commercial building. Several factors, such as the building material, determine the best cleaning method. It doesn’t just include a brush and a vacuum cleaner. For instance, if your building has a wood finish, it’s advisable to use water with minimum mineral concentration. If it’s a high building, cleaners need safety equipment to climb on the walls and do an excellent job.
On the other hand, the use of technology comes in handy. Today, you can hire drone technology companies for a more efficient commercial cleaning solution. This way, you avoid risking a cleaner’s life. Moreover, drones are a suitable cleaning practice with little to no adverse effects on your building. For such reasons, hiring professionals for commercial window cleaning is necessary to help maintain the building’s exterior. They’re better skilled in determining the best cleaning method with fewer damaging effects on the structure.
In addition, below are exterior cleaning best practices for your commercial building.
Soft Washing
As indicated earlier, one factor that determines the cleaning suitable for your commercial building is the cladding material. The soft washing practice includes using low-pressure methods such as drones to facilitate cleaning. It’s commonly used to clean organic matter, and light dirt is stuck to the walls. It’s also good to check this page for commercial landscape maintenance to learn more and to get professional services for your building. This method is effective in cleaning pathways, roofs, and walls.
Soft washing is best for metal panels and steel sidings on office buildings. It’s also suitable for cleaning smooth-surfaced brickwork. These materials may get damaged or broken when subjected to high-pressure water. Furthermore, soft washing requires special equipment and skills not to damage the building. Therefore, when hiring professional cleaners, go for experienced cleaners to avoid further damages, which may introduce extra charges to cater for repairs.
High-Pressure Washing
As the name suggests, this cleaning method uses water under high pressure. Powerful blasts of water are directed at the dirty areas of the building. The flow creates strong kinetic energy to break off dirt and grime from the building’s surface. Before applying this technique, the cleaning company should evaluate if it’s the best strategy to use for the building. Otherwise, if no thorough inspection is done, the pressure could cause some damage to the building’s walls.
Pressure washing is suitable for large buildings and works well on high buildings that are impossible or dangerous to reach. Commercial buildings, like homes, are affected by weather elements such as rain or floods. They attract mold and mildew, which have an ugly effect on the exterior of the building, prematurely aging your building. This cleaning method can get to the hard-to-reach areas of the building and deal with stubborn stains. This impacts the exterior’s aesthetics and can help boost workplace productivity.
Steam Vacuum Cleaning
Instead of pressure washing your building exterior, steam vacuuming could be a viable option. It’s one of the most protective cleaning methods. However, steam cleaning takes longer as it involves cleaning brick after brick to avoid damage.
On the flip side, steam cleaning eliminates chemicals that could be harsh on the surface. With this practice, you won’t have to worry about any effect on the exterior image of the building. Additionally, you can control the steam cleaner to use a lower pressure that doesn’t cause a structural impact on the building’s appearance.
Graffiti Cleaning
Graffiti is an excellent form of art. However, some tenants prefer a more sophisticated-looking exterior. Luckily, some options are suitable for graffiti removal. For instance, you can paint the building with dark colors to cover the graffiti entirely. Another option is to use chemicals. There are some chemicals specifically designed to remove graffiti. However, ensure they’ll not affect your walls, as this could be an eyesore.
The other practical way to remove graffiti is by using the sandblasting technique. It combines the use of pressure and sand to wipe out the graffiti. The beauty of this technique is that it’s chemical-free and non-pollutant.
Gutter Cleaning
Wind can carry leaves and debris to your commercial building roof, compromising drainage. A clogged gutter may lead to rainwater runoff seeping over the walls, which leads to the growth of unsightly mold. Besides damp walls, blocked gutters could damage the foundation as water seeps into it. As such, it’s equally essential to keep up with gutter and roof cleaning. You should hire professional gutter cleaners for the best results.
Conclusion
Exterior cleaning is essential for commercial buildings. It’s one sure way to improve curb appeal. However, it would be best if you were cautious about the techniques you use for the exterior not to cause some damage to the surface and walls. You can hire professional cleaners to work on the exterior. This way, you’ll have eliminated the possibility of accidents and reduced damage potential.