Most of the time we use pressure washers to clean parking garages.

There’s usually not so much sludge build-up that we can’t use pressure washers, squeegees and shovels to get the floor of a parking garage clean.  However, there are some garages that are either big enough or dirty enough to justify using a fire hydrant.

Using a fire hydrant, hose and nozzle to clean a parking garage is very effective –

when there is either a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time or there is very heavy build-up of dirt, sediment and debris.  Using a fire hydrant will move more sludge because it puts out a much greater volume of water than a pressure washer.  Most pressure washers use 4-6 gallons/minute; the nozzle on a fire hydrant allows 150-300 gallons/minute.  The trade-off is that using a fire hydrant is not as detailed as using a pressure washer.  There are usually some missed areas and lines in the concrete.

 

Decide on the level of clean you want.

Using a fire hydrant only gives you one level of clean – a rinse.  With pressure washers there are three levels of clean.

Click on each picture to show the detail on each different type of wash.

The first level of clean is a rinse.

Similar to what you’d get by using a fire hose, but with a little more attention to corners, near doorways, around parking blocks and whatever else might be in the way.  When rinsing, the wand tip is held about 10” above the surface and cleans 10-12” at a time.  A rinse only cleans the loose dirt and debris and sometimes leaves light ‘wand marks’ or lines that will fade after cleaning.

 

The second level of clean is a medium clean.

This usually involves some spot cleaning with degreaser on oil stains and hitting the surface with more pressure.  With a medium clean, the wand tip is held about 4” from the surface and cleans 5-6” at a time.  The difference is more applied pressure to the surface and therefore a better clean.  However, with a medium clean the ‘wand marks’ will be more visible for a longer period of time.

 

 

The third level of clean is a deep clean.

This includes pre-treating oil-stains with degreaser and cleaning the surface as well as it can be.  For deep cleaning, the wand tip is held only 2-3” from the surface and only cleans about 2-3” at a time.  The difference from a rinse to a deep clean is significant in both the final appearance and the final cost, so be sure to know what you want and be prepared to get what you pay for.

 

These are several different ways to approach cleaning a parking garage and there are pros and cons to each one.

Be sure to cover all the details with your pressure washing company to make sure you get the best parking garage cleaning for your money.  Of course, you should always make sure the company has the appropriate permits and meters to use the fire hydrants and all water recovery issues are addressed before starting the project.

Click here to see our Parking Garage Pressure Washing page and video –  or our other Building Pressure Washing Services