7 things graffiti artists don’t want you to know

- is the title of a recent article in the Canadian Real Estate Wealth magazine.

Graffiti (Photo credit: NguyenDai)

It’s not surprising that the article appeared there. It’s been proven that graffiti reduces property values that eventually translate into wealth, which is what their magazine is really about.

Crowd watching graffiti artists, Bucharest, Romania. See Image:Bucharest Graffiti 1.jpg, Image:Bucharest Graffiti 2.jpg, Image:Bucharest Graffiti 3.jpg for pictures of the graffiti artists at work. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They obviously have a graffiti problem in Canada, like we do in the states. It seems to be a worldwide problem – too many young people looking to express themselves without a clue how to do it productively.

The article mentions that graffiti removal can be expensive – which is true. The material and equipment needed to do the job right costs a lot of money.

But its important to remember the cost of not removing the graffiti is even more costly – reduced property values. If you allow your property to look trashy, pretty soon no one will want to live or work there. And your building becomes worthless.

Unless you can come up with a great idea for preventing graffiti in the first place, you need to budget for cleaning it off.

So think of graffiti removal like you do plumbing repairs – just part of building maintenance.

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FedEx Freight called us for special trailer washing service in addition to the regular service we provide.

Hundreds Of Trailers At Denver Location

Once per year they try to get a trailer wash on all the thousands of units they have running around the country. Our regular truck and trailer washing service takes care of the 300 or so trucks and trailers that are based in Denver.

Clean And Dirty Trailers At FedEx Freight

But the OTR (over the road) trailers that aren’t assigned to one location fly under the radar. And at the end of the winter, after they’ve logged a few thousand miles traveling through snow and ice, mud and rain, and some road salt and magnesium chloride thrown in, they can be pretty grimy.

So FedEx tries to wash all the trailers as they travel through all their hubs around the country and get the local truck and trailer washing service to clean them up. This year, they had us wash an extra 100 trailers in addition to the ones we normally wash.

Dirty Trailer Before Washing

There are thousands upon thousand of trailers scattered around the country for all the different freight companies. Trying to schedule them all in for service and cleaning is a huge logistical challenge for every company.

Trailer Washing For Winter Grime

Trying to wash all the trailers around the country during the same few weeks is a good idea. But there will always be those trucks and trailers that are on the road between locations that get missed.

They’ll probably have a few extra trailers to be washed over the next few weeks as the ones that got skipped come through their terminals. So we make ourselves available for extra truck and trailer washing services when they come up.

Taking care of the special needs of our clients – no matter what it takes – is why companies like FedEx call us in the first place. Large corporations have enough things to think about.

Having a truck and trailer washing service they can count on is just one less thing for them to worry about.

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There are many different stains that can happen around buildings.

And the only thing they have in common is how bad they make the place look.

Cleanliness is a subjective concept and everyone has different thresholds for what they find acceptable. Regardless of where that line is, most people can become angry and frustrated by stains on something they consider valuable.  Here’s a brief story about someone particularly unlucky with stains:

Stan’s Tragic Stains

Stan had become moderately successful by purchasing and managing several small commercial properties.  One property had to have a lot of work done to get tenants in.  Stan invested a lot of thought, time and money into the building and landscaping to make it appealing. And he was proud of the end result – both the appearance of the property and the money stream generated by high-end tenants.

Four weeks later, Stan stared despondently at his once-proud property, wondering why the gods had decided to pick on him.

It was such an attractive place, he thinks, people liked working here just so they could have lunch in the courtyard!

It’s late evening in early fall and Stan was just dropped off by a taxi. Stan meant to give the driver his home address, but it had been a long night fueled by anger, frustration, depression and a few too many glasses of Merlot.  Stan didn’t realize till he was there that he’d been driven in entirely the wrong direction from his home.  But since he was at the accursed property and the cabbie was already gone, he fuzzily started to wallow in the problems of the past few months.

It started with the fertilizer and that cheap lawn care service.  They fertilized the lawns, but they didn’t clean up all the fertilizer pellets that had scattered across the drive-lanes.  The next night was when the big storm hit the city and the day after the storm thousands of rust colored stains appeared on every concrete surface anywhere near any grass.  All that nice new curb and gutter, most of the driveway entrance and the central entrance to the building was splattered with ugly reddish-brown stains – the evidence of ironite from the fertilizer scattered on the grass and concrete.  Once it got wet it soaked into the grass, where it belonged, but it also soaked into the concrete where it became a bunch of nasty stains.

Leaf Stains On Concrete

And, Oh! That storm!  Stan hadn’t been in town when it hit, but it was massive – as was the damage it caused for many people throughout the city.  Most of that damage was taken care of by insurance – like the new roof.

But other things happened to Stan’s property during and after the repairs that the insurance didn’t have anything to do with.  Like all the leaves on the concrete where the roofers laid a tarp down for several days while they did their work.  Who would have thought that a few days of wet leaves trapped under a tarp would leave permanent leaf-shaped stains in the concrete?

Oil Leak Stains On Concrete

At least the leaf stains had been a total accident.  Stan wasn’t so sure the roofers hadn’t known about the bad oil leak on their truck when they parked it in the drive lane next to the main entrance.  Their truck sat there making oil stains for most of three days!  The big black stains made Stan feel like throwing up!

Tar And Tire Mark Stains on Concrete

The storm had ravaged all his new trees too, tearing several of them right out of the ground and stripping most of the flowers in the big flowerbeds by the entrance.  Stan had to wait for city street crews to finish resurfacing the asphalt before he could start his landscaping repairs.

But that had turned into more ugly stains when the landscaper’s skid-steers had tracked the fresh tar in the asphalt onto his concrete entrance area.  The landscaper had tried to power wash the tire marks but didn’t accomplish much. The landscaper was very sorry when the marks didn’t wash away. The landscaper blamed the city – what could he do?

Stan swayed with the magnitude of his frustration as he remembered the next thing that had gone wrong. It was the final blotch, the worst disfigurement of his poor property, and the only one he actually watched happen.

Stan was standing in the same spot now as he had been that fateful day (was it only yesterday?).  If bad luck came in deals, this was a buy-one get-one-free and no one cared whether the freebie was worth more or less than the paid one.  Stan’s intoxicated mind was vivid with the horrifying images (definitely only yesterday!).

The dump truck drove up the brown-spotted concrete and backed up to a spot of lawn that was in need of repair anyway.  The dump bed lifted up, up, up, then there was a pop, then men were yelling and cursing.  Stan looked around the back of the truck but didn’t see anything.  Then he saw the truck driver get out of the cab and look down, so Stan looked down.

Hydraulic Fluid Stains On Concrete

It was gushing.  Someone later called it a leak, but Stan remembered it more as a torrent; a flood; a shimmering, cascading waterfall of translucent hydraulic fluid.  Stan stood still and watched as the driver and landscaper worked to contain the stains, but he knew his already battered concrete was receiving a fatal wound – a scar that would never heal.  At that point Stan was too overwhelmed by the mounting stains on his property to move.

But that couldn’t be the end of it!  No! Of course not! What good is an accursed property if that’s all it can throw at a man when he’s down!

The dump truck pulled away from the partially unloaded load of top soil, driving around the loop that took it past the blond brick building.  Stan was standing by the main entrance, wind in his face, watching the big truck go by, subconsciously noting the tracks of hydraulic fluid stains its tires were leaving as it rolled past, when it happened.  Stan didn’t know the mechanics of it, but he knew the truck suffered a catastrophic failure when there was an ear-splitting boom and a massive cloud of black smoke billowed out of the stack.  

 Stan had stumbled backward in shock, startled by the loud boom, and fell on his back.  As he turned his head up to follow the cloud of diesel soot, he felt moisture on his face.  He wiped the moisture away with his fingers and looked at the dark liquid.  He sniffed at it.  Oil.  Dirty.  Diesel.  Oil.  Stan remembered the fear and apprehension as he peered through the slowly dissipating smoke at the front of his building.  The wind had carried the mist of oil from the truck’s smokestack to splatter almost the entire front of his building.  His blond brick building.

Stan’s memories were too much for him.  He shouted out his frustration at the top of his lungs.  He swung his arms at imagined enemies.  He cursed the lawn-care guy and the storm, the landscaper and the dump truck manufacturer; he cursed oil and asphalt, leaves and fertilizer.

Stan’s cursing and shouting was so loud it disturbed a flock of pigeons.  The pigeons took to the air.  They circled around and flew right over Stan, who was at that moment in the midst of an alcohol-fueled, wolf-like howl.  One of the pigeons had perfect aim.

Vomit Stain On Concrete

Several minutes later Stan stared at the purplish stains spreading out in front of him.  As though time had been slowed, he could almost see the former contents of his stomach seeping into the pores of the concrete, carrying the diluted color of the evening’s earlier libations deep into the concrete, in the middle of the main entrance of his devastated building, on his horribly afflicted property.

With the clarity that sometimes comes after purging the body of toxins, Stan decided it was time to take action!  The cause of all the blemishes to his property no longer mattered as much as fixing those blemishes.  In the aftermath of his violent reminiscing, cool logic took over and Stan chose to find an expert on stains to help him restore his troubled property to its original splendor.

To remove the stains on your building, call an experienced pressure washing company.

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One of our Denver truck washing clients called for a special interior cleaning of their tractors.

Truck Washing Interiors 40

Our regular truck washing service is for the exteriors of trucks and tractor trailers. But this food service client needs additional services as well.

Truck Washing Interiors 41

They have us do trailer washouts on a regular basis to make sure the inside of the refrigerated trailers they use to deliver food are kept clean.

The floors of refrigerated trailers have deep grooves so the cold air can circulate around the boxes and pallets. Dirt and scraps of  food and can get down into the grooves where it isn’t possible to sweep them out. A good pressure washing is the best way to get them clean.

This time they needed our truck washing service for the interiors of their truck and tractor cabs.

When you run trucks in Colorado‘s winters, it’s impossible to keep all the snow and ice from getting tracked inside. And delivery trucks where the driver is constantly getting in and out of the cab can get pretty filthy.

Truck Washing Interiors 15

The trucks that run up into the Rocky Mountains to deliver food to Colorado’s ski areas get even dirtier. They run through the ice and snow and magnesium chloride on the highways and many times the drivers have to put on tire chains to get through. And then they throw the wet, dirty chains on the floor of the cabs.

Most truck washing services only do exterior cleaning. We do what our clients need us to do. The attitude that our clients can count on us to do what the need done is what separates us from the competition.

Whether you need our truck washing service or our other services, you can count on us to do the job right.

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Sloan’s Lake Medical Center recently decided to give their building a pressure washing facelift.

Pressure Washing Sidewalks 23

They had us pressure wash their main entrance areas and the sidewalks on each side of the building to remove stains, dirt and gum.

Pressure Washing Graffiti Removal 16

We even did pressure washing on the parking area right next to one of the entrances to clean up all the grime that had built up over the winter.

While we were doing general pressure washing on the entrance areas, we also did some graffiti removal near the front doors.

They also had us remove some efflorescence from their brick walls.

Pressure Washing Efflorescence 12

Pressure washing efflorescence can be tricky and time consuming because of the strong materials needed.

Pressure Washing Efflorescence 37

In this particular situation, we discovered some of the white stain on the brick was efflorescence and some of it was calcium buildup from their water sprinklers. Calcium, when it’s allowed to thicken for years, can take a long time to clean – and sometimes won’t come off completely.

We also pressure washed a large rust stain from a concrete loading area.

Pressure Washing Rust Removal 29 - After

Because the rust stain was so dark and our method for removing it was so effective, the visual results were dramatic.

Pressure Washing Rust Removal 4 - Before

The facility engineer for the building was very surprised and happy to see that we got all the rust pressure washed off the concrete pad.

Precautions have to be taken – especially around a medical facility – to make sure any fumes or mist don’t negatively affect any nearby surface or get into the ventilation. Using strong cleaning materials anywhere can be hazardous if not used the right way.

All the cleaning we did at this facility required waste water recovery to keep anything from reaching the storm drains.

The waste water must be collected and disposed of properly. This usually requires filtration and the proper permits.

The regulations for waste water recovery and disposal vary between cities and wastewater districts in the Denver metro area and throughout the state. And the regulations for these local areas are often more restrictive than those of the State of Colorado.

If your building needs a facelift, be sure you hire a pressure washing company who will make sure the job is done right – and done safely.

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We recently did some graffiti removal on some playground equipment.

Playground Graffiti Removal 1

We posted on our blog last week about removing the graffiti. But at that time we thought the pictures of the actual work being done had been deleted. Fortunately, one of my managers had already saved the pictures from that camera. Here’s the link to the article with the pictures before cleaning.

And there were a few special procedures we had to follow. We first closed off the whole area so no one tried to use the equipment. We didn’t want some little kid thinking it would be alright to play on the equipment we weren’t cleaning.

Playground Graffiti Removal 8

You might think it would be common sense – but we’ve had people walk right through the cones we set up when washing the front of a store so they wouldn’t have to walk an extra few yards to the other door!

There were two reasons we blocked the whole area off. The first being so no one got sprayed when we were doing the graffiti removal.

Playground Graffiti Removal 10

The second reason is so we could make sure we had a chance to neutralize the materials we used and rinse all the equipment off a few times. We made certain that there was no residue remaining for any of the children to come in contact with.

While the materials we use for graffiti removal are biodegradable, they’re not meant to be anywhere near children’s hands and faces. Graffiti removal is usually needed only on walls and other surfaces where no small children would be playing.

Since the lady who runs this crew for us has children of her own, we knew she would make sure it was safe before she left. We have two women working for us as team leaders. Not surprisingly, they’re usually better at the detail type cleaning we sometimes do than the men.

So if you have some graffiti removal you need done, we’ll make sure it’s done right.

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When we get calls for pressure washing the “white stains” on buildings, it’s important to know what they really are.

Pressure Washing Calcium From Brick House 1

There are different kinds of white stains and they take different procedures to clean. Trying the wrong procedure will not only waste time and money, but it can make things worse.

Pressure Washing Calcium From Brick House 2

Efflorescence is one of the causes of white stains on brick and concrete.

Wikipedia says, “Efflorescence can often be removed using phosphoric acid.” The operative statement in that sentence is “can often” – it doesn’t say “will always”.

Pressure Washing Calcium From Brick House 3

And it doesn’t mention that using the wrong materials or procedures can damage the appearance of the surface.

Pressure Washing Calcium From Brick House 4

You need to be extra careful on colored brick or concrete so you don’t permanently lighten the color and end up with a bigger problem than you had.

One client called us to clean what they thought was efflorescence on the brick of their house. When our manager arrived to give them a free estimate, he knew immediately it wasn’t efflorescence.

Pressure Washing Calcium From Brick House 5

The house was in a rural area by Chatfield Reservoir and they watered their lawn with well water. Their sprinklers sprayed the house and the calcium in their water remained after the water dried.

Pressure Washing Calcium From Brick House 6

It takes completely different materials and procedures to remove calcium than it does for efflorescence.

And its the knowledge gained from 26 years experience that allows us to determine the right way to clean each unique situation.

Pressure Washing Calcium From Brick House 7

Sometimes pressure washing is all that’s needed. But we’ve seen instances where someone used too much pressure trying to blast things off and damaged the surface.

Pressure washers can cut concrete if you’re not careful!

Make sure you’re using the right materials and procedures for the stain you have.

Call a pressure washing company with the stain removal experience to know the difference.

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We got a call from large grocery store chain for a grease spill cleanup at one of their stores.

Pressure Washing Grease Spill 1

Their grease trap had backed up and overflowed down the alley. They put some kitty litter down to contain the grease spill so it didn’t get too far. Unfortunately, a food grease spill does not have a pleasant odor and the residents around the store quickly complained.

Pressure Washing Grease Spill 2

We pressure wash a lot of food grease spills for Denver area grocery stores and restaurants. They happen, no matter how careful you are. Someone will spill some fryer grease on the way to the container or a grease trap will back up and overflow.

And this kind of grease spill can quickly grow into a huge problem if it isn’t caught soon.

Pressure Washing Grease Spill 3

There’s always a lot of traffic at these locations and cars driving through the mess will track it all over the parking lot in minutes.

We cleaned a grease spill for a restaurant once where someone had already driven through it. The grease splattered inside the wheel wells of their car and made the whole car stink.

Pressure Washing Grease Spill 4

The restaurant manager told their customer to get it cleaned and he would happily pay the bill. But the place she took her car to didn’t get all the splatter from the grease spill and the car still smelled terrible.

The restaurant manager called us for help removing this headache from his plate.

Pressure Washing Grease Spill 5

We had their customer bring her car to our shop so one of our managers could take care of it. We got underneath the car and did an intensive pressure washing of the undercarriage. The problem went away – and the restaurant manager sent us a nice endorsement letter thanking us.

Pressure Washing Grease Spill 6

A food grease spill should be cleaned as quickly as possible to prevent the mess – and smell – from spreading. Using a degreaser specially designed for food is much more effective on this kind of grease spill.

And waste water recovery is critical. You have to capture the dirty water before it runs off site or into an onsite storm drain. And you need the permits and procedures to dispose of it properly.

Calling a professional pressure washing company to get your food grease spill cleaned the right way will save you a ton of time, money – and headaches.

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FedEx Freight called us to schedule the pressure washing of the winter’s accumulation of dirt and grime around their building north of Denver.

Pressure Washing Patio Area

They wanted us to deep clean the patio, dock ramp and entrance area. This included treating any stains from food and grease spills. They had us rinse the 24 exterior doors at the truck shop. And they wanted us to pressure wash all 247 dock doors on their warehouse.

Pressure Washing Dock Doors 6

While the other areas only took a few hours to pressure wash, the 247 dock doors took a couple of days. We had to work out a rotation so they could use different doors to load and unload the trucks while we were pressure washing. The freight doesn’t stand still while the building is being cleaned.

Since they wouldn’t be able to use the dock doors while we were pressure washing, we needed to move quickly to keep the disruptions to a minimum. We dispatched two three-man pressure washing crews to get the work done as efficiently as possible.

Pressure Washing Dock Doors 1

We specialize in scheduling large jobs -

- that need to be done in a way that doesn’t disrupt the people who live and work in the buildings. We have the manpower to send five or six trucks to one location if we need.

Since we have two hot water machines on each truck, we can get a lot of work done in a short time. We get in and out with as little disruption as possible. This can be critical for commercial buildings like freight warehouses so they can keep the business in operation.

And while cleaning residential buildings  – parking garages, sidewalks, trash chutes, etc. – doesn’t involve keeping a business open, our ability to get in and out quickly can save major headaches for the property managers and HOA (home owners association).

The less disturbance to the residents’ lives, the better it is for all concerned. We’ve done thousands of building pressure washing jobs in the last 26 years and we know how to keep everyone as happy as possible.

So if you have a large pressure washing job you need to schedule in the most efficient way possible, give us a call at 303-937-7181 or email us at info@washonwheels.net.

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Two recent deaths at pressure washing companies show a need for better safety procedures.

Oxygen Mask And Safety Harness Needed For Confined Space

They were in two different cities and both accidents could have been prevented with correct safety procedures. One man was pressure washing the roof of a warehouse and fell 60 feet through a panel not designed to be walked on. He should have been wearing a safety harness with a rope tied to something secure.

It isn’t quite as clear whether the second death was due to missing safety procedures. A cinder block fell off the roof onto the man pressure washing below. The story doesn’t say if he was working on that building.

Both instances show the need to check the area you intend to work in to make sure it’s safe before getting started.

It’s easy to become complacent with safety procedures when nothing has happened in a long time. That’s when people need to start worrying. Accidents happen when people start to think nothing will happen and get sloppy.

Pressure washing companies like ours work in many different types of environments -

- and the surfaces our crews work on can change many times throughout the day. Its common for our crews to start pressure washing sidewalks or restaurants early in the morning, then move on to cleaning parking garages, cleaning heavy equipment, or removing graffiti. During the week, they might go to wash cars for an auto dealer or wash trucks if it’s a weekend.

And all those different jobs are done with water on the ground – so its easy to slip if you’re not careful.

Safety procedures need to be constantly reinforced or they are forgotten, no matter what kind of company. Safety meetings need to be done on a regular basis to keep employees thinking about safety – before an accident happens.

If you need pressure washing, call a company that makes safety a priority.

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