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Building a ss wash - I know, crazy

wyatt

Active member
I have a ss wash in a town that has lots of people and relatively no competition. This wash outperforms my other washes in different cities by quite a bit. I wish there was an existing one in this specific city that I could buy but unfortunately there just isn't.

My plan is to put it about 5-7 miles away from my existing location so that I don't compete with myself.

Anyways, has anyone gotten a quote recently for what a 6 bay self serve bay would run me (not including real estate)?

Anyone know who designs them and could give me a quote?

I know its not an ideal situation and I wish there was an existing one there I could buy but it is what it is.
 
New systems can run from $20K and up per bay. Lot depends on how fancy you want to get. Also need to add in support equipment such as air comp, water treatment, changers, etc. watch ebay closely. I see many good used systems from closed washes, some for 10K complete. Most of this stuff is easy to make look new.
 
One of my recent bids...with all new, reliable, top quality stuff came in at $27K/bay.
Installation, Plumbing, Electrical, Freight added another $8K/bay
Probably another $12 - $13K total for sales tax?
And, then there's infrastructure...Architecture/engineering/construction costs, water & sewer tap fees, permits, graft and corruption fees.
 
Since you are an experienced operator I would buy used equipment and rehab it. $20K - 207K per bays yikes! I just rehabbed a 6 bay with used equipment and I am at $30K for everything so far. I say so far because I still need to add a softener and would like a Hamilton DRS changer but probably another $10K and I will be done. Of course my guys and I did all the work so I saved a ton there.
 
Thank you for the replies. I’m looking more at the building cost. Not so much the equipment costs but more of how much a 6 bay brick building would run me.
 
Did you build from the ground up with block or a prefab building? Curious as to the process (time it took, hurdles, etc)?
Any insights you can share as you are the first I have read to build a new IBA or SS from the ground up.
 
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