01 / Parking
Parking lot and garage washing
Oil drips, tire marks and grime washed from surface lots, garage decks and stairwells.
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Guide
What to expect from a parking garage wash, from the first notice to reopening.
Most garage washes take one well-staged night, and larger structures are split across a few. Here’s what to tell parkers, how the crew works through the levels and how the decks reopen.
Tell parkers before the night.
Send the notice early: it is the easiest part of a garage wash to leave too late. Monthly parkers, hotel guests, residents and night-shift staff all need to know which levels close and when, ideally a week or more ahead, with a reminder posted at the elevators and pay stations a day or two before.
Keep it short: the date, the hours, the order the levels close in and where people can leave their cars while their level is washed. Say what happens to a car left in a closed section, so nobody comes back to a surprise. The timing in your written quote gives you everything the notice needs.
Planning the night.
Garage washing happens when the decks are as close to empty as they get, usually overnight or early on a weekend. During the walkthrough we look at how the garage fills and empties, which levels clear out first and where the crew can stage. That shapes the order of work and the timing written into your quote.
On the night itself the crew needs a spot to stage near the entry, a way through any gates or arms, and someone on your side who can open stairwell and storage doors. Agree ahead of time which entrance and exit stay open, so the garage keeps working while the closed levels rotate.
Level by level.
The crew closes one level or section at a time with cones and signs, so the rest of the garage stays open. Loose debris and litter are swept up first. Then the deck is washed toward its drains, with oil spots at the most used stalls getting extra passes. Ramps are cleaned along their full length, including the curbs and walls where tire marks gather. Corners, column bases and the edges along walls, where grime collects out of reach of tires, get the same care as the open deck.
When a section is finished and checked, it reopens before the next one closes. That rolling approach is what lets a busy garage stay in service while it gets washed.
Late arrivals and the way out.
However good the notice, someone arrives late or forgets the date. Cones and signs at each ramp steer drivers to an open level, so nobody drives onto a deck that is closed and wet. If the garage has an attendant or a gate booth, the person on duty can send arrivals to the open levels too.
Plan with us which stairwell and elevator stay in use while each level is washed, so the walk from an open level to the street is never blocked. Stairwells and lobbies are washed in their own turn, when the level they serve is quiet.
Rooftop and surface levels.
Open rooftop decks and surface lots wear differently from covered levels. Sun bakes oil stains in, trees drop leaves and sap, and the first rains of fall leave muddy streaks along the drains. They’re washed in the same visit, with the same section-by-section approach, starting with the stalls closest to the building so the walk from car to door is finished first.
If your property has both a garage and a surface lot, the two can share one calendar. Our parking lot and garage washing page covers both.
The morning after.
By the time the first commuters arrive, the decks are clean and drying, the cones are gone and the stairwells smell fresh. Oil spots at the busiest stalls come up noticeably lighter, ramps lose their worst tire marks, and lobbies look ready for visitors.
To keep the garage from sliding back, set different schedules for stairwells, lobbies and decks. Our guide on washing frequency explains what drives each one, and getting ready for an overnight wash covers the prep.
A few useful answers
Quick answers.
Will the whole garage close while it's washed?
Only the section being washed closes, and it reopens before the next one is coned off, so parking stays available all night.
What happens to cars left on a level that's due to be washed?
The crew washes around them and comes back to those stalls once they’re clear, or that section moves to a later night.
Can stairwells be washed on their own between full garage visits?
Yes. Stairwells and elevator lobbies often get their own visits, since foot traffic wears them faster than the decks.
Services
Services this guide covers
A garage night often adds the sidewalks and walkways around the structure.
02 / Concrete
Concrete, sidewalk and plaza cleaning
Sidewalks, walkways, plazas and courtyards brought back to an even, bright finish.
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