PressureWashingBossPro Blog — Commercial Accounts

Parking Garage Pressure Washing: Measuring, Quoting and Scheduling Decks and Stairwells

Parking garages are big flat jobs. Oil spots under every space, tire marks on the ramps, and stairwells and elevator lobbies that collect everything people track in. A garage is more work per visit than a storefront, which means more money per visit, but it also means a bid that has to be right and a schedule that works around the people who park there.

What Makes Garages Different

Gas stations, covered in Gas Station Pressure Washing: Pump Islands, Aprons and Overnight Stops, are about working around constant traffic in a small space. Garages are the opposite: lots of space, but layered on several levels with only a few ways in and out.

A garage job usually breaks down into several areas:

• Parking decks: the bulk of the square footage, often cleaned one level at a time.
• Ramps: heavy tire marks, often on a slope.
• Stairwells: tight, dirty and noticed by every pedestrian.
• Elevator lobbies: the most visible area, often the one the manager cares about most.

Many garage owners want stairwells and lobbies more often than full decks. That is easy to handle with separate cycles.

Measuring Before You Bid

Guessing a garage's square footage is a fast way to lose money. In PressureWashingBossPro, the property map can measure square feet from the satellite view. For a garage, measure the roof deck from above, then multiply by the number of levels for the full deck area. Note ramps and stairwells separately.

Estimates can price off a property's measurements, so once the square feet are on the address, the bid can use a per-square-foot rate from your service list. Covered levels cannot be seen from satellite, so a site walk is still worth it to confirm the level count, find the spigots and look for drains. More on measuring for commercial bids is in Measuring Commercial Flatwork From Satellite Before You Bid.

Setting Up the Garage

A garage can be one address with all its details, or you can split it into addresses if different parts run on different cycles. A common setup:

• Address 1, Stairwells and Lobbies: Parking Garage surface, monthly (30 days).
• Address 2, Full Decks and Ramps: Parking Garage surface, quarterly (90 days) or twice a year.

Both sit under the same client, so the monthly statement covers both with each line labeled. On each address, the job details show square feet, the method (hot water and a surface cleaner on decks, pre-treated oil spots following the product manufacturer's guidance), and access notes.

Access, Safety and the Crew

Garages are often gated or coded, and many are washed overnight when they are nearly empty. The access notes need to be complete:

• “Gate code 4471 at the Elm St entrance. Exit by ticket button, press for attendant.”
• “Spigots on levels 1 and 3 by the stairwell. Level 3 spigot needs the long key.”
• “Security guard on site 10pm–6am, check in at the booth.”
• “Do level 1 last, residents start leaving at 5:30.”

Working alone in a garage at 3am is not anyone's favorite job. Crew GPS shows the crew's location on the office map, and the time clock on the same phone records hours as they happen. Both help the office keep an eye on a crew that is out by itself. Keep cones and signs on the rig and follow your own company safety practices.

Scheduling Around Parkers

The schedule depends on who uses the garage. An office garage empties out at night and on weekends. A residential garage is fullest overnight. A hospital or event garage may never be empty. Match the visit to the quiet time and put that in the access notes so it is clear every time.

When the cycle comes due, the garage appears on the Waiting List map with your other commercial work. The office assigns it to the commercial rig and a day. Big garages may need more than one night. In that case, schedule the deck work across two days and use the job notes to record which levels were finished, so the next night starts in the right place.

Photos and Proof

On a garage, before-and-after photos should cover a few fixed spots each visit: the main entrance ramp, a typical deck section, each stairwell and the elevator lobby. Shooting the same spots every time makes it easy for the manager to compare. The photos stay with the visit on the account.

Garages are a step up from storefronts. They pay more per visit and need more planning. To see how garage work fits with the rest of commercial accounts, visit the commercial pressure washing software page.