Pressure Washing Building Exteriors
Building walls will often need pressure washing from time to time. This is especially true for walls that face north, east or are shaded for large portions of the day – which will accumulate mildew over time. Cast stone and other porous masonry materials can also get mildew and absorb pollution. Parking garage walls can accumulate garage soot. In these situations, C & D can pressure wash your building and parking garage walls. Find out more about building exterior pressure washing here.
Over time, the newness wears off of buildings and parking garages due to dust, road grime, engine exhaust, oil stains, gum and more. Power washing is the most effective way to clean your pavement. C & D Commercial Services specializes in power washing services for large commercial properties in the Dallas, Fort Worth area. In fact, this is how our business was started in 1981 under the name “C & D Power Washing.” We wash some of the largest and most prestigious commercial properties in the Metroplex. Over the last three decades, we have washed most of the garages in Downtown Dallas, and countless other properties.
Time is usually of the essence when power washing a large property. Schedules are driven by upcoming ownership visits, large events, tenant and visitor parking demand for parking spaces, and prepping a property for sale.
Our experience has allowed us to become extremely efficient at parking lot cleaning. We are accurate with our time estimates and proficient at working around our customers needs and schedules. We can handle large projects and tight deadlines.
In this video, we are pressure washing a parking garage in Dallas, Texas. You can see from the dark-colored runoff, that we are removing a lot of dirt and mildew from the surface. We are using 4,000 psi pressure and hot water. By removing so much gunk, we were able to lighten the concrete by several shades. This particular project was a 4-story parking garage at a busy retail/commercial development in Uptown, Dallas. This garage was dirty because it had not been washed in several years. This is why we were able to make such a difference with your washing.
Pressure Washing Frequency
Pressure washing frequency depends on how much traffic you have on your property and how important it is to keep your property clean. We recommend a full wash your parking lots and parking garages on at least a yearly basis. We were able to make a big difference on the garage above, but it needs to be on a regular maintenance program to reach its full potential. The first wash in a while make the biggest difference but it takes several washes to really get the concrete looking new.
You will be surprised how good your property will look after we clean it. A clean parking garage leave a good impression with tenants, future tenants, and visitors. It increases the value of your property and increases the amount you can charge for a lease. It is worth the investment.
C & D Commercial Services pressure washes some of the largest and most prestigious commercial properties in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. there is no project too big or too small for us. We have the ability to pick up the water for garages without adequate drains.
In addition to parking lots and parking garages, we also pressure wash the sides of buildings, sidewalks, entryways, loading docks and any other surface that needs a good cleaning. We have been in pressure washing in Dallas since 1981 and have gained a lot of pressure washing expertise over this time period. Let us give you a quote!
High Quality Pressure Washing Equipment
A commercial property requires commercial grade equipment. C & D spares no expense on equipment and uses a fleet of commercial-grade power washing machines with high pressure, hot water (210 degrees) capability with high gallons per minute flow capacity. Our machines much larger than what you can buy at the local home improvement store – they must be either put on a flatbed truck or pulled with a large trailer and attached to 500 gallon water tanks. We have the ability to bring in our own water but we prefer to use water on premises because the cleaning goes much faster when we don’t have to stop washing to fill the tanks up. We have the ability to hook into a fire hydrant when necessary.
Seasoned Pressure Washing Crews
Our field crews are and experienced, giving us the ability to man large projects. Most of our crew members have been with us over 8 years and some have been with us over 25 years. Having a seasoned crew means we will get the job done more quickly and with fewer mistakes. We know all the things to look for, such as making sure water does not go down elevator shafts or short out the electronic gates, being careful around fire sprinkler heads, checking lower levels before the shift ends to ensure water has not collected on a lower floor, being careful around store front areas and more. An experienced crew also allows us to provide you with a more accurate schedule for the project. This is especially useful when washing busier retail and residential garages where certain floors need to be closed to parking each night. Check out this video to see how we power wash can restore an old building with power washing.
Thorough
C & D will thoroughly power wash your property. We will keep water from getting into the building or going down elevator shafts. We will wash stairwells, rinse down walls and even wash the overhead pipes in your garage upon request. Puddled water is picked up either mechanically or manually.
Insurance
Large properties need subcontractors with a lot of insurance. C & D carries large GL, worker’s comp and umbrella policies and we have always been able to meet our customer’s insurance needs and can meet your insurance requirements when other companies cannot.
Environmentally Friendly
C & D can provide environmentally-friendly power washing when requested by our customers at the time of the the bid. We have the ability to reclaim water on properties with inadequate drainage or for properties that must meet LEED requirements. We can also use environmentally-friendly soap to insure LEED requirements are met.
Many parking garages do not have drains or may have clogged drains or may only have a drain on the bottom floor. In these situations, it is necessary to recover the water to keep from flooding the parking garage and office building. We have special equipment designed for this purpose. We utilize water dams to keep water out of your building, maintenance closets and other sensitive areas and have a machine that puts the water in a large storage tank. Your parking garage will be clean and water free when we complete the pressure wash.
Through the years, we have washed many different types of properties. Our current portfolio includes many monthly repetitive properties as well as one-time or yearly projects including the following:
We sometimes have requests from property owners and property managers to scrub a parking lot or garage instead of power washing it. So what is the difference?
Scrubbing
Scrubbing is usually performed with a specialized machine that uses water, soap, a brush (scrubber) and a vacuum to clean a surface. These scrubbers work great in interior applications and on polished concrete and in areas that are sensitive to water because the water is immediately vacuumed up after it is put down. Below is an example of a floor scrubber.
Power Washing
Power washing involves cleaning pavement with high pressure water. This is usually done with a hand-held wand or a walk behind surface cleaner. Our power washing units also have a hot water feature that make the cleaning more effective. With power washing, the area washed must either have good drainage or we must corral the water and vacuum it with with specialize machinery. Below are examples of power washing methods.
So Which Method is More Effective?
Of course the answer is “it depends.” Floor scrubbing is great for cleaning interior floors and polished concrete and areas where there is equipment or drywall walls that are sensitive to standing water. We have been cleaning parking lots and garages since 1981 and have gone through many power washing units and scrubbers over the decades and we have found that for parking lots and parking garages, power washing is much more effective at cleaning the concrete. The floor scrubbers tend to leave a trail of dirt and mud behind them on an unfinished surface. They also will only remove loose debris that is stuck to the surface and won’t clean into the pore spaces and won’t lighten up the color of the concrete.
Power washing gets down into the pore spaces of the concrete and lifts the dirt, oil and debris out. So while we get requests to have a parking garage scrubbed, we usually recommend power washing.
A Company Power Washed My Garage and it Doesn’t Look Good
There are a lot of power washing companies out there because anyone can go to Home Depot, buy a small power washing machine and put up a website. A quick internet search will pull up dozens in your area. However, not all power washing companies are the same. First, there is some skill involved in effectively power washing a garage. Each stroke of the power washing wand lightens the concrete so if the washer is not careful or experienced they will not cover the surface evenly, resulting in wand marks or swirl marks if a surface cleaner is used. We see these all the time when properties hire a cheap power washer or try to do the work in house. The power washing nozzle size and type must also be matched up correctly with the PSI and GPM of the machine and have the correct spray angle for the particular application. There are charts for this that must be adhered to.
Second, not all power washing units are made the same. Most of these small and cheap power washing companies you find on the internet are using machines from their local hardware store. These machines are designed for residential use and will not be effectively on a parking lot or garage. Even if they have sufficiently high water pressure, they don’t have enough volume to effectively remove dirt and push it off the pavement surface.
Commercial power washing units have pressure as high as 4,000 psi and a volume up to 7 gallons per minute or more. When cleaning a parking lot or parking garage, the volume of the power washing unit is the most important factor in cleaning effectively. It’s like washing dishes in the sink, it take a lot longer to wash when you have the faucet turned halfway on vs all the way on. Likewise with a pressure washer, it takes much longer and is much more difficult when there is a low volume of water going through the machine. Many companies may say they can wash at 3,000 psi or more (you can get these machines at Home Depot) but their volume will be 3 gallons per minute or less. These machines will not clean a 300,000 sq. ft. parking area.
You will pay only a little more to hire a company who is experienced in power washing a parking lot or garage and has the high pressure/high volume equipment to get the job done effectively the small premium is worth a job well done.
The Pressure Washing Quote Process
You can request a quote by calling us at 972.475.2271 or emailing us. We will promptly set up a time to meet with you, walk the property and provide you with a bid and any other recommendations. GET A QUOTE
