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Here we go again. More frigid weather in the NE.

I will be closing down today with expected snowfall to be around 6"-10" of snow forecast and temps in the 10-20 deg. range not worth the liability for a car or so to roll thru. am hoping my spot free tank and lines in the attic dont freeze up and will try to keep Automatic open... Rough start to the new year.
 
0° here in Southern Ohio tonight. Got about 5" of snow last night/this morning. Wind blowing snow everywhere. I'm thinking about putting cones up tonight. But weep and floor heat keeps running. Next 10 days don't look much better. This winter sure is being brutal!
 
I'm hoping the same. Only thing is it will come in one end and go out the other in the form of Utility Bills!
 
Sadly, one can never wash enough cars during the big days to make up for all the lost days...or, so it seems.

Now my quandary: I love the Broncos but they've sure killed my Sunday business for the past 3 seasons. Nobody watches next Sunday's game, so at least I have a chance for full bays this weekend.
 
Floor heat off, wash water heater off, weep off, lights off, lines blown out, guns/wands off the hose and in equipment room. Yea--we will call that closing it up. Hope to put them back together on Thursday.

Funny, when I first got into the business (1992) you just let the weep run, leave the floor heat on, left the lights on even when you knew nobody was coming. How the economy has changed things just a bit. The utilitiy costs definitely outweigh the benefit of trying to get a few customers.
 
washnvac said:
Floor heat off, wash water heater off, weep off, lights off, lines blown out, guns/wands off the hose and in equipment room. Yea--we will call that closing it up. Hope to put them back together on Thursday.

Funny, when I first got into the business (1992) you just let the weep run, leave the floor heat on, left the lights on even when you knew nobody was coming. How the economy has changed things just a bit. The utilitiy costs definitely outweigh the benefit of trying to get a few customers.
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"AGREED"
What good can actually be done in 15-20 deg. weather?? Clean out the junk in back of truck?? Wash the salt spreader and plow on the asphalt not in the bay!!!??? Blow 8" off snow off the roof onto the walls and floor???? You sure as hell are not washing the car!! So for the couple goofs that will come in its just not worth the liability.
I was just sitting here watching a cop in one of my bays, he moved the cone to come in and sit there for 90 minutes, you think hes a cop he would put the damn cone back right???????? NO Leaves it off to the side, WTF as much as I like to have the cops around I really get ****ed at that ****!!!!
 
I remember back in the early 80's I was working in a bay with a blow torch at around midnight in the middle of the week. A cop drove by and just waved. Didn't stop. Didn't ask what I was doing. Just waved and drove on by. I guess he was late for his early donut run.
 
pgrzes said:
"AGREED"
What good can actually be done in 15-20 deg. weather?? Clean out the junk in back of truck?? Wash the salt spreader and plow on the asphalt not in the bay!!!??? Blow 8" off snow off the roof onto the walls and floor???? You sure as hell are not washing the car!! So for the couple goofs that will come in its just not worth the liability.
I was just sitting here watching a cop in one of my bays, he moved the cone to come in and sit there for 90 minutes, you think hes a cop he would put the damn cone back right???????? NO Leaves it off to the side, WTF as much as I like to have the cops around I really get ****ed at that ****!!!!
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LOL I can't help it ... I am almost rolling on the floor with laughter. For some of us 15° F to 20° F is a warm spell!!! Gooodie ... goodie ... there won't be any ice on our overhead doors like on below zero & windy days! Seriously, we really do need to get at least 25°F (airport temp) with no wind to so we do not have to use our overhead doors at all:) during the washing & blow drying.

We have a brand new bright LED message board that clearly shows the temperature. So ... now the customers do not have to just take my word for it ... when it is warm enough to wash without the doors down. We do encourage people to dress for the weather. There was a 14 bay competitor totally enclosed ... that made some of our locals temporarily spoiled back in the early '80s. Not sure of all the details but foreclosure occurred with all kinds of public notices about how they defaulted on their SBA loan. A US Marshall was actually required to be called in! I can't imagine what went wrong ... they encouraged credit card use & got it to the max ... if I remember right.:confused:

Mike Walsh www.kingkoin.com
 
-9 degrees right now. This year I started closing my IBA's at night when it goes below 5°. I have a non stop wind that blows right thru my bays and it's not worth having the doors open and close at these temps. The JC equipment keeps my exit door open for 30 seconds after the wash resets, so while the next car is pulling in both doors are open at once. This is my busiest time of the year regardless of temps. Right now one of my bays is at 42° and the other is at 34°. I suspect that my radiant tube heater is not working in that bay. On my way to figure it out or hookup backup bay heater. I have a temperature alarm that calls me when the temp gets down to 34°. High of 5° today so I am not sure if I will open up. People use my SS bays even below zero. The state spreads salt and sprays a salt brine on the roads so vehicles are really dirty looking. Maybe I should post a picture of a typical customer vehicle.
 
Did not "Close" Jan 6-7. Will not close now. Asked my mgr about headache of resolving freeze issues vs. removing and reinstalling 16 Hoses. Since it's headache I left it to him He said he'd rather resolve freeze issues than remove and replace 16 Hoses. I think one poly line had to be repaired.

3 of 4 Tunnels could not stay open when high was -12. All 4 open when high was -4.
 
I too am amused by all the hand wring due to the brief cold spell in the east and mid west,weather like that is the norm in the Dakotas and Montana this time of year. Thanks for keeping MJWALSH and I amused.
 
Thats alright..You guys have your fun! I wouldn't even consider living where your at! :p

It hasn't been this cold in Southern Ohio for 18 years...So why would we have entry/exit doors and all the other stuff to fight 0° and below? Yea we're wining right now. But we also have 70-80° temps in January and Febuary....Just not this winter....I'll take that any day over having it this cold every winter...You can have it...
 
-2° yesterday when I was at the wash. There was a middle aged woman washing her car in the SS and a guy spent a lot of time washing his pickup in the next SS bay. They're nuts in my opinion, but they still do it. If I am going to run floor heat and weep heat in the extreme cold I may as well stay open and generate some income (not much).
 
Reds, Do you have any issues with your grates freezing over even though you have floor heat running? My grates are 1/4" plate steel 16" wide x 8' long with 1" holes drilled in them. With Floor Heat AND when its this cold, my grates will freeze over with ice even though the bay floors are ice free. So I have to close down because of that. And then you occasionally have the person who only hangs the gun up half way in the holder and it freezes solid. It didn't take me long to figure out the little money I get off a few customers it's just not worth the trouble. When I redo my weep plumbing, It will have provisions for blowout! It has to get above freezing before I can make the change! It looks like its going to be awhile.
 
Opened the touchfree today at 11 degrees. Overhead door on exit side was frozen and tore the sheet metal screws out of the angle iron that the 'J" hook attaches to to open door. Re-engineered with SS carriage bolts/lock washers/locking nuts and opened the bay. No choice; customers want to wash.
 
I’m sure glad I don’t live anywhere near the Midwest or the East coast. I think winter is over for us here in the Pacific Northwest. When we were at the car wash this morning at 04:30 it was 40 deg.
 
2Biz said:
Reds, Do you have any issues with your grates freezing over even though you have floor heat running? My grates are 1/4" plate steel 16" wide x 8' long with 1" holes drilled in them. With Floor Heat AND when its this cold, my grates will freeze over with ice even though the bay floors are ice free. So I have to close down because of that. And then you occasionally have the person who only hangs the gun up half way in the holder and it freezes solid. It didn't take me long to figure out the little money I get off a few customers it's just not worth the trouble. When I redo my weep plumbing, It will have provisions for blowout! It has to get above freezing before I can make the change! It looks like its going to be awhile.
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2Biz,

Before our Airlift Alaskan Polycarbonate Strapeze Overhead Doors we had some old style fiberglass overhead doors. Those old doors were not sealed very good at all. The point I want to make is that on the north doors ... the north cold wind blew in really bad ... I improvised with some ... low cost ... but pretty strong tarp material from our local Menards store. They come pre-sized with grommets already done & you can add more grommets to get a tighter fit against the door opening flat surface.. It was a pretty quick process to fasten & unfasten once the permanent fasteners were in place along our prevailing wind door openings. It is possible ... this type of improvising would give you enough heat loss protection so your grates would no longer freeze & you would also save some on your deicer heat loss. On the down side, you would have to roll the tarp(s) up to store when not used. For a really severe winter, where you need to close for more than a few days at a time ... it could possibly be practical. It certainly would be way less expense than overhead doors.

Not sure on yours & others "no overhead doors ingress & eqress" but a temporary car washing routing to the uncovered door side away from the prevailing winds & subsequent temporary backing out ... from experience ... could potentially work during those specific days that tend to have less business anyway ... than the more calm days.

I hope this is not too hard of a read & makes some potential sense!

Mike Walsh http://kingkoin.com/USA_Deficit_Reduction.html
 
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