Purchasing my first wash

[Mel(NC)]

On the LED lighting, are you referring to in bay or parking lot lightings? Currently there are 3 pole lights and 4 wall packs. I plan to switch the old single pole lights to dual LED to fan both directions and replace the wall packs. Do you have a suggestion on color? Currently they are 2700k (yellow) and I was going to move up to 4000k-5000k (hospital white) but don’t know if that’s too much. Do you recommend LED color lights in the bay also? For cameras is there a brand you recommend to DIY or is that an area to hirer a professional?

All my lights are 5000K. I have experimented with other temperatures but prefer the range you stated. 6500K is super bright but the color is too harsh. I have been happy with the corn-cob LED bulbs if you want to try to keep your existing light fixtures.

 

[DavidM]

How would I go about rehabbing the paystations?

I did our WashSelect 2s. I replaced the decal, the hard part is getting the old one off. You can get a custom one made locally or buy a new one from Unitec. I also replaced all of the white push buttons(these can be purchased on Amazon). If any of the display screens are dim or faded looking, replace them as well. I also spray painted the coin cup. When that is done, the paystation should appear new to the customer. It isn't all that expensive but does take time, set aside a few hours to do it.

David

 

[MEP001]

Do you have a recommendation on interface for the self serve bays?

Stick with rotary switch (Electroswitch brand, not Shallco). Anything else is much more expensive and less reliable. I've been redoing three different washes from GinSan doors to rotary switch because it's cheaper to convert than to replace either of the expensive components as they fail.

 

[MEP001]

All my lights are 5000K. I have experimented with other temperatures but prefer the range you stated. 6500K is super bright but the color is too harsh. I have been happy with the corn-cob LED bulbs if you want to try to keep your existing light fixtures.

Everyone around here is going with 5000K LEDs. I had been using 4100K fluorescent which has good color rendering but it doesn't seem as bright.

Check with your city electric company. Some will subsidize a portion of a lighting upgrade. One guy told me he only had to pay $600 for his upgrade of 30 fixtures from metal halide to LED. That's only about a third of what the fixtures alone would have cost him, and he's saving another $500 a year in electric.

 

[bert79]

We went with Hyperikon 60w LED wallpacks 5000k and 5000 lumens. We have had them installed for about 9 months and are very happy with them. We ordered them on Amazon and got the free shipping with Amazon Prime. It helps that the walls are white with paint and FRP panels because the light reflects very well.

 

[Greg Pack]

I agree with others. Rehabs should be done from the inside out. Everything should work flawlessly before significant cosmetic changes are made. Get a chemical rep in there and get the cars clean. STA Graphics for new custom decals for everything.

 

[cap732000]

I recently went under contract to purchase my first car wash. The owner has owned it a long time but is calling it quits. I am closing on it May 27th. I was looking for input on where to allocate improvements. The wash itself is on a great corner in our college town but has been neglected the past decade. Here are some of the items that I want to tackle first: budget $20,000-$30,000 but can finance more if needed

Paint building, currently an old yellow(don’t know why he picked it). This use to be a very nice red brick building. I don’t think I’ll be able to get that look back. -My thoughts are to paint it gray with a blue stripe wrapping around it and paint the metal roof to blue.
Equipment: two razors new in 2015 with select wash pos. One has 13k and the other has 7k. 4 self bays, 1 hasn’t been operational for sometime and 6 vacuums. All items except vacuums have cryptopay already. -my thoughts new decals on vacuums, change hoses and vacuum toppers to blue and add cryptopay. New signage in the bays.
Front street sign: the sign is the original from 1980 and hasn’t worked in decades. -my thoughts: new panels and change out to an LED kit inside.
Concrete: main area is decent but the left side of the building has large dips and cracks. This side is mostly only usd for the city’s trash truck coming to my dumpster. My thoughts: bid to tear out and replace was $32,000. That’s to much but I can patch the areas with asphalt for the time being for a few hundred.

Items that I have been looking into are new POS that also has an app ability. I think the idea of being able to push coupons, free birthday washes, discount wash pop ups on slow days, etc could increase traffic a lot.
Vending machines. There are some currently but are old, faded and only a few work. There are two large vending machines that are broke down. I will look into cost of repairing. Another item would be a pet washing station. There is room to have it be a building on the side next to the main road or I could put it in the bay that is currently down. Possible glass both sides 3/4 the way up to let the wet dog smell out. Could add decals to the windows advertising pet washing.

Where do you think I should put my dollars for the best return? Thank you in advance.

One of my washes is a gray with blue stripe and just my two cents but I absolutely hate it for whatever reason it just looks dingy to me and am going change soon.