How much more rain can we stand?????

[pgrzes]

how do we deal with this rain. 15 of the last 19 weekends RAIN!!!!!!!! has anyone in the business ever seen this much rain? June 27 days of rain. July not much better. October EVERY weekend it rained!!! past weekend we get a teaser week of nice weather, washed some cars now back to 5 -6 days more of rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!spend on advertising seems to be wasted money, every time an add goes out it is followed by rain.. really frustrated!! anyone looking for a 7 bay ss, with a 50' express let me know.

 

[washman9]

agreed. we are in mid atlantic area. worse fall we have seen in 10 years of business. obviously multifactoral but mainly due to horrible rain patterns. i.e. thr-sundays.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Just when you think it can't get any worse. Jan. - June in Chicago was wettest in the 139 years they have been keeping records.

USA Today reported October was wettest October in USA in history.

It's got to get better... right?

 

[pgrzes]

Well you would think so. BUT it seems like we have been saying that since Oct. 2007. That is when it seems that the bottom dropped. 2 bad winters, any snow was followed by rain, $4 gal gas and a bottomless economy. In S.E. Pa. where we are it is a large contingent of retired fixed income, and starter families. My wash has been here for over 40 yrs, the owner I purchased from says he has never seen things that I am coming across. Past winter had two decent month's, followed by RAIN RAIN RAIN. since last week of March on have really not had any decent stretches of nice weather.
If I think back, Isnt 2007 about the same time that our crackpot weather forecasters decided that they were so good at forecasting the weather, they should forecast out 10 days??????? In a week economy, why wash if I see rain in the forecast????? I hate to have - attitude, but its difficult to remain + with things like this always seeming to be hitting us in the face. I would love to get other thoughts on the 3 factors we in the Bus. are dealing with lately, all at once. HIGH FUEL PRICES, ECONOMY and WEATHER. ALL bad for us ALL hitting us at same time.. FRUSTRATED

 

[captain cw]

It rained like crazy in Sept and then 26 days in Oct in Arkansas. This the fifth wettest year in recorded history, with two months to go, we stand to set the record. I've done a lot of remodeling and repairs, gearing up for sun.

 

[Chiefs]

We've weathered (pardon a bad pun) the same type of weather here in Cleveland both this year and the last crappy winters. We all go through it. The lost days, lack of income, another down year on top of 2-3 down years. It's touch mentally even for a grizzles veteran like me. I've been washing cars for 29 years and the trend lines are disturbing a demoralizing to say the least.

The best thing I recommend is to try to use the time off wisely. Take advantage of the time before winter to get ready for winter. Try ever sop hard not to bring the doom and gloom home with you. Get involved in a "Honey do" list and start doing home projects whether its a big project or several small projects. You have to do things to try to distract your attention for the weather. Do something therapuetic for yourself get involved in the community or your church. Exercise is very important, even if its just walking.

My father always used to say during times like these that "Shorty's in town." We all knew that meant business was bad and it was time to really watch our spending and make diue with less.

To borrow a line from the Godfather, "This is the business we've chosen." Its oh so tough, but you have to find positive and constructive things to do, or it will eat you up inside. Look at every aspect of your operation, where can you cut costs. A few hundred here and a thousand there can really add up.

IF, and that's a big if, we can finally get a good or even excellent winter, we'll all be alright. So go to church and say a few Hail Mary's and Our Father's. Hey, it couldn't hurt to get God working with us on this thing.

Bill

 

[bigleo48]

What I've been noticing for weather patterns is moisture building in the Gulf and making a B-line for the great lakes. Over the last few years this pattern has been very prevalent causing extreme (read record precip) for months. What usually displaces this are cold fronts from the north that pushes it down in the winter and visa-versa in the summer. But the opposite has been happening over the last couple of years.

What's been weird here lately is after a very wet summer we seem to get a week to 10 days or rain, followed by a week to 10 days of sun. The last 2 weeks of Oct very wet, now it hasn't rained in 9 days. So I'm not complaining, but really weird.

Big

 

[pitzerwm]

Look at the ski resorts, they were REALLY weather dependent. Most have added other profit centers, this is something to start looking at, if you have not already.

 

[washnvac]

I have one wash that is flooded. Standing water in 5 bays. There is 3 feet of water at two vac stations. Barracades on both roads servicing of the wash. No way in; ofcourse there is no need. Good news--we now do not have to go down in the storm ditch to retrieve all that trash. It came right up and out to us. Everything cleaned up now; just waiting for the water to receed. Yipee!!!

 

[Reds]

I assume your equipment room is flooded too. I had 5' of water in my bays in June of 2006, and 3' in my equipment room (equip room is 2' higher elevation than bays). What an expensive mess. Mud and debris and stench beyond belief. Federal government no help at all - none. FEMA is a joke unless you are on welfare. Good luck with your cleanup and recovery.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

I assume your equipment room is flooded too. I had 5' of water in my bays in June of 2006, and 3' in my equipment room (equip room is 2' higher elevation than bays). What an expensive mess. Mud and debris and stench beyond belief. Federal government no help at all - none. FEMA is a joke unless you are on welfare. Good luck with your cleanup and recovery.

Don't mean to hijack a thread, but how much damage did 3' of water do in the equipment room. I was thinking about canceling my flood insurance thinking that I would get no damage unless the water got higher than 3' and into the electrical panels.

 

[Reds]

GW- I have JC equipment. So on my IBA pump stand all of my motors and pumps were underwater and covered with a couple inches of muck. I took my 25hp motor out of the room in a canoe - paddled it right into the room and took it off and sent it right to the motor shop. Ditto the other small motors. My RO pumps and motors also went under and had to be disassembled, and cleaned. All electric motors need to be cleaned and baked at a motor shop. Chemical drums that were not full tipped over and contaminated. Any electrical devices that got dunked while on were shorted. All of my solenoids that went under needed to be taken apart and cleaned. Every bill & coin acceptor that went under (6) had to be replaced. Vending motors, circuit board, etc. destroyed. Look around your equipment room and imagine everything below the 3' level being underwater and permeated with flood mud. I didn't have flood insurance because I thought I was safe with my equipment room 1' above the 100 year flood elevation. We had the highest water since NOAA has been recording it, which is 1936. All vacs, bay meters, and Wash Select II underwater. It cost me a little over 40k, incredible amount of work, and I was shut down for 3 weeks. I believe (20/20 hindsight) that if you are anywhere below the 500 year flood level that flood insurance is a necessity. The national guard threatened to arrest me for launching a canoe to get to my building! Needed a front end loader with a rubber blade to push the mud away, and then the fire company to wash down the building and site. It's not pretty and I regret not having insurance. In a way I was fortunate that my electrical panels and IBA control panel were just above the water line. One other thing - power and water off for 10 days so you have to bring in generators and your own water to clean up or have any lighting inside. Every generator, pump, pressure washer, and water tank within 100 miles was sold or rented.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

Reds,

Thanks for the insight. I am within a 100 yr flood but most everything I have is at least 3' off the floor. I need to think some more before terminating my existing policy. The down time and general clean up might be worth it by itself even without any electrical equipment problems.