Parking garage cleaning 101

Kris Caswell

Kris Caswell

New member
Hi guys,

Been pressure washing now for 3 years but just finally breaking into some garage cleanings and it feels like i'm in a whole new ball game :) Trying to gather info on procedures / tips and stuff for parking garage cleanings. Was wondering if ya'll had any tips for a newbie doing some parking garage cleaning?

I cleaned over 750,000 sqft worth of garage so far and got a bunch coming up. Anything that helps with efficiency would be extremely appreciated. Below is what we normally would do. Once we start washing we are cleaning up around 8,100 sft an hour. Hoping to get that number up somehow (adding equipment, technique, etc).

Here's our typical task we do for our cleanings.

Sweep and & blow surfaces the night before
2 guys pressure washing - 1 8gpm machine on a sc, 1 5gpm machine rinsing/power washing
1 guy on the squeegee and recovery unit
 
I think you are on the right track. Your productivity is pretty good. With a little more equipment it could be a lot better. Typically, with three guys, we can clean a 150,000 ft garage top to bottom in about 8 hours. Sophisticated customers love that you get in and out in a timely manner.
Don't underestimate the importance of proper chemicals. Not only do they allow the grease to release, but it also encapsulates the dirt making it easier to rinse. Dont forget teh safety aspects as well. Make sure that if you are doing a live garage, that you are very careful to be seen. Not many do them live, but I have found great success doing them that way.
 
Ron thanks for the referrals.


Scott,

Thanks for the insight. We haven't had any request yet to pull out chems. 1 job was a post construction clean up and the other they just wanted a straight powerwash. Are you saying in both situations that a chemical would of helped? I do have a degreasing job lined up next and plan on downstreaming a degreaser.

Any specific equipment you recommend on adding other then another pressure washer? something to help rinsing or sweeping maybe?
 
Kris,
John Tornabene should pitch in here soon. I believe he is starting a parking garage cleaning institute you should look into it. He is one of the top garage cleaners in the country and you can learn how to clean garages the correct way. Coming soon!!!
 
Both the PWRA & PWNA has been after john for years to teach a parking garage class and he finally agreed to teach it at the PWNA Convention in Nov. He cleans some of the biggest garages on the east coast and his company is really good & efficient at cleaning these giants.
You can also find him on the PWNA FB pages(admin of both) and the PWRA Parking garage FB page for which he's also the admin of but you won't find him here on PWI because Musgraves has him banned for life.

My opinion here is John shouldn't teach a parking garage class & I told him so last year at the PWRA convention. Guys love seeing his work that he post on FB all the time because he loves helping others but he's also going to teach his competition and mine as well and I still don't think he should do this. Since he's committed to teaching this class I will say this about John. I can't think of a better person to teach this then him.
 
mistersqueegee said:
Scott Stone would be the best to learn from. He's forgotten more about garage cleaning than anyone else knows. He did a class at the Power Wash Store training event in May and it was awesome. True educator and industry icon.

Tony Evans
Call or Text 319-325-9475
tony@anewviewia.com
www.anewviewia.com
Click to expand...

Why would you post Scott's forgetting things. If thats true I'm sorry to hear that.
 
AspenPW said:
Both the PWRA & PWNA has been after john for years to teach a parking garage class and he finally agreed to teach it at the PWNA Convention in Nov. He cleans some of the biggest garages on the east coast and his company is really good & efficient at cleaning these giants.
You can also find him on the PWNA FB pages(admin of both) and the PWRA Parking garage FB page for which he's also the admin of but you won't find him here on PWI because Musgraves has him banned for life.

My opinion here is John shouldn't teach a parking garage class & I told him so last year at the PWRA convention. Guys love seeing his work that he post on FB all the time because he loves helping others but he's also going to teach his competition and mine as well and I still don't think he should do this. Since he's committed to teaching this class I will say this about John. I can't think of a better person to teach this then him.
Click to expand...
I will agree with you on that one Rob. John T knows his stuff.
 
AspenPW said:
Both the PWRA & PWNA has been after john for years to teach a parking garage class and he finally agreed to teach it at the PWNA Convention in Nov. He cleans some of the biggest garages on the east coast and his company is really good & efficient at cleaning these giants.
You can also find him on the PWNA FB pages(admin of both) and the PWRA Parking garage FB page for which he's also the admin of but you won't find him here on PWI because Musgraves has him banned for life.

My opinion here is John shouldn't teach a parking garage class & I told him so last year at the PWRA convention. Guys love seeing his work that he post on FB all the time because he loves helping others but he's also going to teach his competition and mine as well and I still don't think he should do this. Since he's committed to teaching this class I will say this about John. I can't think of a better person to teach this then him.
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Musgraves didn't ban him....Scott Stone did...
 
Oh, I didn't know he was banned.
 
Kris,
You can give me a call if you wish. Best to reach me mid day.
 
innovativewash said:
Oh, I didn't know he was banned.
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John actually asked to be Banned on many occasions himself. Scott just finally did the favor after he was trusted not to delete as he had admin powers because he was a trusted person. Well long story short he was deleting people content, not just his own.

Hey Johns is absolutely one of the most successful part time guys around. I recently know he has retired from his job, I wonder if he ever took it to the next level. I would think he might be a good instructor.

Have a good day guys
 
Ron Musgraves said:
John actually asked to be Banned on many occasions himself. Scott just finally did the favor after he was trusted not to delete as he had admin powers because he was a trusted person. Well long story short he was deleting people content, not just his own.

Hey Johns is absolutely one of the most successful part time guys around. I recently know he has retired from his job, I wonder if he ever took it to the next level. I would think he might be a good instructor.

Have a good day guys
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John Has been full time for a while now. I know he has quite a few guys working full time doing town home communities, parking garages and all kind of special fun projects. Yes Ron I agree 100% he would be a great teacher.
 
innovativewash said:
John Has been full time for a while now. I know he has quite a few guys working full time doing town home communities, parking garages and all kind of special fun projects. Yes Ron I agree 100% he would be a great teacher.
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I just bust Johns Balls every now and then. I just message him telling him I taught you everything you know. LOL

Its good entertainment talking with John
 
There are a lot of people that have cleaned garages. The biggest hazard is going in with the wrong equipment thinking you are doing what everyone else is doing. If you don't have a minimum of a 5.5@3000 psi HOT machine, you will end up frustrated, and your customer will not be satisfied. I go in with equipment that puts out 11 gpm at 3500 psi hot, and have full recovery equipment. It makes the job much faster and easier, and makes my customer happy, which is always the final goal.
And yes, even my wife says I forget things. That is why every time I teach a garage class, I make sure that there is very little lecture and lots of question and answer time. I guess I assume that nearly everyone has a basic knowledge of pressure washing, but the questions they might have are something I would not have thought of putting in a presentation. I think next time I will take notes of the questions so I can include them in a presentation.
 
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