RV - Truck bay addition to SS wash

[Knight01]

I have an open side to my building that for some reason has a big cement slab that has been begging me to use it. (Pics)

I've thought about removing the awning and adding a boom to the top of the building for an RV/Truck wash. There is no slope to the cement and of course no pit for drainage.

Has anyone ever added on an "outside" bay? What did you do, got pics? How much added business did it bring you? This would be the only one in the area, so either there isn't demand or no one else has the space for it. But it could be a differentiator between my wash and the other two SS in town.

Or if that is a bad idea, what would you do with this space to generate revenue?

 

[MEP001]

It's unlikely you'll get permitting to allow rain water to directly enter the sewer through an uncovered bay pit.

Maybe a pet wash? You could fence the area in, put up a fabric awning for shade, all the plumbing and low-voltage electrical can pass through the wall.

 

[Knight01]

I've thought about a dog wash, but there are several in the area, so notnsure about how much value add it would be to the community.

Hadn't thought of the rain issue. But doesn't rain enter all of the pits from run off of the entrance and exits? Maybe it's a volume issue?

 

[HeyVern]

A friend added the same setup to his wash about a year ago. It seems to get some use. Not sure how he got it approved.

 

[Blanco]

Car wash chemicals can not enter the city storm drains so you would have to tear out all that concrete and add a pit. I have a location that has five 14' bays. I only keep 2 of them open to large vehicles because of how much dirt, oil, grease, and garbage those larger vehicles bring (and obviously don't clean up after themselves). It would be an eyesore on your building to see that exterior wall and floor covered in mud and grease. I don't know if you have hand held dryers in your bays but I would add a 3 - 5 stand alone dryer unit with a coin box that customers can pay to drive through when done with self serve bays. I think that will set you apart from the other two washes. It will probably cost alot less than adding a extra bay and will be less messy.

 

[Kevin James]

Outside truck bay, BAD! idea. Been there and done that.

 

[Greg_T]

We have a larger bay that is suited to trucks, RVs etc. and it works really well. But is has sloping concrete floor, central pit, roof over, lighting etc.

For our particular location, we would miss a lot of work without having this larger bay.

 

[Greg_T]

I just had a thought - if the concrete has an existing slope to one corner, you could possibly install a pit in that corner. Obviously this pit would also require connection to your dirty water discharge system.

To keep water from the bay getting away, you could install a rollver bund around the perimiter of the bay. Not sure how viable this might be, but worth a thought?

 

[Knight01]

We have a larger bay that is suited to trucks, RVs etc. and it works really well. But is has sloping concrete floor, central pit, roof over, lighting etc.

For our particular location, we would miss a lot of work without having this larger bay.

View attachment 6180

That is an interesting solution to the rain in the septic sewer system. Maybe install a large awning across the open bay. Just add extensions to the side of the car wash to raise it up high enough for large vehicles and then attach the awning to large posts on the other side of the cement that have bollards around them.

 

[Knight01]

I just had a thought - if the concrete has an existing slope to one corner, you could possibly install a pit in that corner. Obviously this pit would also require connection to your dirty water discharge system.

To keep water from the bay getting away, you could install a rollver bund around the perimiter of the bay. Not sure how viable this might be, but worth a thought?

I think the cement is about the only level part of that parking lot. But I had thought of building a curb like perimeter to contain the water. Cut out an area for a pit and trench the line over to the pit in the bay next to it for run off.

 

[Knight01]

Car wash chemicals can not enter the city storm drains so you would have to tear out all that concrete and add a pit. I have a location that has five 14' bays. I only keep 2 of them open to large vehicles because of how much dirt, oil, grease, and garbage those larger vehicles bring (and obviously don't clean up after themselves). It would be an eyesore on your building to see that exterior wall and floor covered in mud and grease. I don't know if you have hand held dryers in your bays but I would add a 3 - 5 stand alone dryer unit with a coin box that customers can pay to drive through when done with self serve bays. I think that will set you apart from the other two washes. It will probably cost alot less than adding a extra bay and will be less messy.

Stand alone dryer bay is an interesting thought! Does anyone have something like that they could share a pic of to give some inspiration?

 

[MEP001]

Your customers won't want to pull to a different spot to use a standalone dryer. If you want dryers, you really should put them in the existing bays. I have seen a number of people do this and get almost no use of it.

 

[Knight01]

Your customers won't want to pull to a different spot to use a standalone dryer. If you want dryers, you really should put them in the existing bays. I have seen a number of people do this and get almost no use of it.

To be fair, I probably would not do that either. But I'm naturally lazy and others might. It just kills me not to find a unique value add use for that area to help set the wash apart.

 

[Blanco]

I've seen them at two locations owned by the same owner. He told me that it was a learning curve for customers since they've never seen anything like it before. He was a owner operator and was there most of the day, so he did get time to talk to customers and explain how it worked in the beginning. When someone would use it the customers in other bays would watch and pull up right after they were finished washing. He had the coin box mounted similar height to a paystaion so that customers can just pull up and pay without getting out of their vehicles. I can't remember exactly but I think he was charging $2.00 for 90 seconds. Just a thought. I would definitely not do a pet wash. I see how dirty people are cleaning their cars. The last thing I would want is a room to let them clean their dogs. I can smell it right now.

 

[sjb]

Dog washes, food trucks, vending…

my dog washes are just over a month old, and the usage is growing every day… (we have more dogs in the neighborhood than kids so it seems…)

Good luck turning that space into additional profit centers