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Parking Garage 101

I have been asked many of times, how many square feet can I clean in an hour?

This question's answer is different among Parking Garage Cleaners. why?

Some of my competitors clean section or what I call "Spot" cleaning. They basically only clean the oil stains and then do a rinse down for the rest of the garage. What I call Foot by Foot cleaning.

Another way is cleaning inch by inch. That means every inch is deep cleaned. Every stain is hand scrubbed and every inch is then rinsed down, then captured and filtered to be discharged correctly into the sanitary sewer system. ( A permit for discharge is usually required ).

If we were to "Rinse Wash" a garage, we can do several of 100's of thousands of square feet in a day with 1 or 2 people. This is not deep cleaning but more of a Pre maintenance cleaning. It is the easiest way to clean and should demand about 3-7 cents a square ft. depending on where you are located.

A "Deep Cleaning" is much more intense. You will need far more people to accomplish this. You will need 2 for hand scrubbing, 2 per surface cleaner, 2 for rinsing with a 1.5 inch fire Hose, one as a gofer ( To check on water, move the truck, reconnect water, etc) and one to check filtration unit and leakage from the garage or containment area. So 8 if you have 1 surface cleaner.... 10 if you have 2 surface cleaners going and 1 for the gum issues and small areas that you may miss. ( 11 for the full deep cleaning crew)

With a " Full Crew" for deep cleaning, you are talking about 250,000 sq ft per 12 to 18 hour day depending on how dirty and oily the garage is.

So this is why some on these boards say, we clean XXX amount in a quarter for 1 cent ( FOR EXAMPLE ) per square foot and others say X amount a month for 20 cents.

How long have I been cleaning parking garage structures.... Since 1989. I only clean parking garages and nothing else. Not KFC, Truck washing, Bus stops etc. Nothing but garages.


Jim Gamble
Crystal Cleaning Company LLC
510-612-0437

www.GarageCleaning.Net
 

Lonnie Greenwood

New member
You dont need that many guys if you know what you are doing Jim ive been cleaning garages and parking decks for awhile you are not the only one that knows how to clean a parking deck and get a good prices. For my set up we have we can clean 10.000 sqft per hour thats cleaning a garage the proper way an that is using two guys every one cleaning method is different and yes we can recover up to 600 ft X2 from our trailer thats runing two surface cleaners at 4000 psi at 8 gallons per min and hot water at 280 degrees and we do no rinsing with the way our system is set up we can use our water over and over.:yes::yes::yes::yes:
 

Carlos Gonzales

New member
Thanks for the post Jim...

Everybody has different approaches to cleaning - the way Jim does it seems to fit his business model and does very well with it.

Lonnie of course is right up there in the "cream of the crop" category and certainly holds my respect and appreciation of his business model as well.

Hey Lonnie...thanks for the call yesterday.

Hey Jim - we got another garage cleaner to join the UAMCC yesterday from out of Chicago!! :yes:
 
You dont need that many guys if you know what you are doing Jim ive been cleaning garages and parking decks for awhile you are not the only one that knows how to clean a parking deck and get a good prices. For my set up we have we can clean 10.000 sqft per hour thats cleaning a garage the proper way an that is using two guys every one cleaning method is different and yes we can recover up to 600 ft X2 from our trailer thats runing two surface cleaners at 4000 psi at 8 gallons per min and hot water at 280 degrees and we do no rinsing with the way our system is set up we can use our water over and over.:yes::yes::yes::yes:


Sounds Great Lonnie! I noticed that you said 280 degrees at 8 GPM in your post. How many BTU's at 8 gallons per minute does your boiler have.

Our sub-contractor has an All American. It too was 8 GPM. Although he set his dial to 302 degrees, according to the IN-LINE thermostat at the wand ( Spray Mart part number 8.904-558.0 449040 Test Set 10,000) (0-5000 PSI systems). According to this gauge, he was only hitting 182 degrees, though his setting at his boiler was at 302 degrees. When his pump went out, he changed it to a 6 GPM in order to increase the heat factor.( Less GPM's to BTU's equal more heat ). He has a 580,000 BTU boiler. He can now reach 220 degrees on most days. Though this is still very effective for most, if not all pressure washing, we found for deep cleaning for oil removal ( As I am sure you did ) that over 265 degrees or hotter for OIL REMOVAL works best.

However, if someone would like to hit those higher temps with a smaller boiler, PLEASE give me a call and I will explain over the phone to you on how to accomplish it temporarily.
 
Here are some photo's of us cleaning a garage at 310 degrees. Notice the oily sludge. we have as much as 200 gallons of this stuff per garage. We have a DOT approved carrier to haul it away for us, or sometimes we dry it out for transport.

This is some photos of the oil and sludge we accumulate in a 25-30,000 sq. ft area on the 3rd floor of this garage. If we was cleaning on the first floor, the sludge would be as much as 10 times in volume.

For this reason, we cannot "reuse the water".

As you know, our filter can filter up to 40 GPM's. The unit takes 15,000 watts to run it. It weighs empty with trailer about 9,000 lbs. Our active carbon is 1,000 lbs alone.
 

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Ron Musgraves

Past President
Staff member
Great photo's on how I would never allow my customers properties to get like this.
Here are some photo's of us cleaning a garage at 310 degrees. Notice the oily sludge. we have as much as 200 gallons of this stuff per garage. We have a DOT approved carrier to haul it away for us, or sometimes we dry it out for transport.

This is some photos of the oil and sludge we accumulate in a 25-30,000 sq. ft area on the 3rd floor of this garage. If we was cleaning on the first floor, the sludge would be as much as 10 times in volume.

For this reason, we cannot "reuse the water".

As you know, our filter can filter up to 40 GPM's. The unit takes 15,000 watts to run it. It weighs empty with trailer about 9,000 lbs. Our active carbon is 1,000 lbs alone.
 

Ron Musgraves

Past President
Staff member
Great photo's on how I would never allow my customers properties to get like this.
Here are some photo's of us cleaning a garage at 310 degrees. Notice the oily sludge. we have as much as 200 gallons of this stuff per garage. We have a DOT approved carrier to haul it away for us, or sometimes we dry it out for transport.

This is some photos of the oil and sludge we accumulate in a 25-30,000 sq. ft area on the 3rd floor of this garage. If we was cleaning on the first floor, the sludge would be as much as 10 times in volume.

For this reason, we cannot "reuse the water".

As you know, our filter can filter up to 40 GPM's. The unit takes 15,000 watts to run it. It weighs empty with trailer about 9,000 lbs. Our active carbon is 1,000 lbs alone.
 

Ron Musgraves

Past President
Staff member
This is the type of Powerwashing that started Houston. The story is recorded on tape. It's just a matter of time, these photo in Houston would be investigative evidence used agaist you.

I can see those in ct next month.


Ron Musgraves text me for questions 480-522-5227 Pressure Washing Institute
 

Tony Shelton

Environmental Consultant / Past Director
I didn't remember any mention of a DOT approved carrier to remove the sludge. I wish I had known that when I was in the Bay area. I'm glad I got the contact numbers and emails for the people I spoke with.
 

Tony Shelton

Environmental Consultant / Past Director
Here are some photo's of us cleaning a garage at 310 degrees. Notice the oily sludge. we have as much as 200 gallons of this stuff per garage. We have a DOT approved carrier to haul it away for us, or sometimes we dry it out for transport.

This is some photos of the oil and sludge we accumulate in a 25-30,000 sq. ft area on the 3rd floor of this garage. If we was cleaning on the first floor, the sludge would be as much as 10 times in volume.

For this reason, we cannot "reuse the water".

As you know, our filter can filter up to 40 GPM's. The unit takes 15,000 watts to run it. It weighs empty with trailer about 9,000 lbs. Our active carbon is 1,000 lbs alone.


I would be curious to see some of the manifests from this DOT carrier.
 
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