Would you build another all-glass car wash?

[Alan Bussey]

For you guys that have these, would you do it again? Of course, visibility is a big plus, but what are other positives? What are the negatives?

Thanks!

Alan Bussey

 

[ibspuds]

Excellent question, I am researching this right now. Please give us feedback...

 

[JustClean]

I hate cleaning the windows. I would NOT do it again. But I came up with a better idea and if I had some storage room I would do it straight away: In my warm climate I thought of taking all the windows out! Yep, just no glass at all. Looks clean, always great visibility and the best: No cleaning!
If you are in a tropical climate why bother having windows.

 

[Ric]

I hate cleaning the windows. I would NOT do it again. But I came up with a better idea and if I had some storage room I would do it straight away: In my warm climate I thought of taking all the windows out! Yep, just no glass at all. Looks clean, always great visibility and the best: No cleaning!
If you are in a tropical climate why bother having windows.

I've seen it done in southern FL. Some don't even have a roof! I saw a wash with the sfr storage tank on the roof. I always think to myself how great that would be...no floor heat, no weep, no snow plowing, etc

 

[borumrm]

I've seen it done in southern FL. Some don't even have a roof! I saw a wash with the sfr storage tank on the roof. I always think to myself how great that would be...no floor heat, no weep, no snow plowing, etc

I have a wash that has sfr in a tank on the roof...it feeds to a smaller tank in the equip room. One day noticed not much sfr water in the equip room tank....checked roof tank and it was so clogged up with alage it took the entire weekend to clean it out. Painted the tank black and so far no problem.

 

[JIMT]

Painted the tank black and so far no problem.

What does this have to do witn alge?

JIMT

 

[soapy]

Black paint = no light for the algea so it can't grow. That is a great idea.

 

[rph9168]

Not sure that I would build one. They look great when they are new but require a lot of time and energy to keep them looking that way. I have seen some that look really grungy after a few years. As far as reselling a building I don't think that would work. Usually when a wash needs to be resold it means that it has been neglected. These buildings look terrible if they have not been properly maintained and would probably take a lot of work to restore in a usable condition.

 

[MEP001]

Painting the tank black also protects it from UV light, which will eventually break down the plastic. If you've ever had a Fragramatics standalone shampoo/spot remover unit you know what I mean.

 

[Buzzie8]

If the RBS (plastic walls) in my auto bays are any indication of what type of maintenance glass would be, I would really, really stay away from it. Keeping my walls white and clean is a nightmare!

 

[carnut2]

We have a UPI glass building and keeping windows cleans is a headache. Anyone use a drip system to keep windows clean?

 

[rph9168]

People that I have talked to are not really thrilled with the RO drip system. Still requires almost daily maintenance to keep it looking good.

 

[Alan Bussey]

Guys -

I know of three express washes in Dallas, TX with open-air walls. I've seen others in south Texas and in California. So, with a good compressed-air blowdown system this can be done. But, assuming that the place where this all-glass wash is planned couldn't be open-air... Would one solution be to put the glass walls so far from the conveyor equipment that they are not going to be srayed or splashed be effective to to keep the interior surfaces fairly clean?