Routine Retail Strip Power Washing

Managing a retail strip is not easy because you must worry about both tenants and customers. It is worth looking for new ways that you can improve the experience for everyone. An excellent way to make this happen is by investing in routine pressure washing service for the whole strip.

Routine Retail Strip Power Washing

Maximize Property Value

It is important to keep the retail strip looking clean to maintain the property value. Pressure washing has advantages over other cleaning methods due to the immense water pressure. The initial cleaning will remove dirt and grime that has built up over the past months or years.

While cleaning the walkways should be a priority, you can also clean the curb, parking lot, and walls. Keeping up with this service will prevent heavy dirt buildup from happening again. When a tenant leaves and you need to fill the vacancy, a pressure washed retail strip will easily impress.

Satisfy the Tenants

Although you will want to attract new tenants, you cannot forget about your current ones. It is easier to keep the tenants satisfied than to find new occupants with lower standards. Your tenants will be more likely to sign another lease when you commit to routine pressure washing.

Invite Business

The tenants and their businesses will bring customers to your retail strip, but you can also make a considerable impact on how many people come by as well as how often they come back. A clean retail strip is more enticing to visit and shop at compared to one that is even a little dirty.

By bringing in more traffic, you can turn the retail strip into a more valuable and desirable destination for businesses. This will allow you to increase the rent and maintain high occupancy.

Contact us if you have any questions or want to learn more about our cleaning services.

Scheduled Apartment Building Cleanings Are A Must

There is many responsibilities property managers deal with day-to-day. They have to wear many hats. They collect rent, handle maintenance requests, schedule vendors, manage unit turns, and that’s not even all of it. When it comes to scheduling pressure washing, many are thinking where am I going to fit that in? However, this is a very important maintenance item on a property manager’s to do list.

Scheduled Apartment Building Cleanings Are A Must

Curb appeal:

Prospective residents will see the outside of the community and make a split second decision right there if they even want to walk in. If they see a poorly maintained dirty exterior you have just lost a prospect.

Keep your current residents:

You want your current residents to keep renewing their leases each year. If they feel the apartment complex is losing its appeal they will not think twice about moving out. Think about how much this will end up costing you. You have to turn the unit, advertise the home, and you are losing money each day that unit is empty. Keeping up the with the maintenance to keep good residents is much more cost-effective.

Liability protection:

Many apartment communities have underground parking garages some even include a car wash. These areas become very dirty from tires, oil, and any other liquids that can get on there. Keeping these areas clean decreases your liability too by preventing someone from slipping.

Making it easy:

Apartment Pressure washing is an important part of property maintenance. However, property managers do wear many hats so many companies will schedule pressure washing ahead of time and simply confirm it with the manager. That’s a great service to the manager because it is one less thing they have on their plate.

Looking to enhance the curb appeal of your apartment community? Let us help. Whether it’s dirt, rust, oil, or even mold we take care of it quickly and hassle-free. Contact us today.

3 Reasons Why Graffiti Removal is a Must for Business Owners

Graffiti is more than an eye-sore. When you find it on your property, you can’t let it stay there. Here are three reasons why:

3 Reasons Why Graffiti Removal is a Must for Business Owners

1. Graffiti makes your customers feel unsafe.

Even if the graffiti isn’t directly related to a gang or criminal activity, that scrawl tells customers they are not in a safe neighborhood, even if they are. Don’t let a vandal’s spray-painted message get in the way of the message you are trying to send your customers.  

2. Graffiti is contagious. 

Graffiti is like a virus. It spreads. When graffiti goes up and stays up, more graffiti occurs. And to make matters worse, graffiti has been shown to increase littering and crime. The faster you have the graffiti vandalism removed, the less likely you are to have graffiti and other problems on and around your business. Tell the vandals you have zero tolerance for graffiti and crime by getting it removed promptly. 

3. Graffiti can leave permanent damage to your property. 

Vandals use a variety of writing tools to leave their mark–spray paint, markers, and household paint are three common examples. The longer the graffiti stays up, the more the paint, ink, and chemicals from these tools seep into the surface. The sun can also “bake” the paint into the surface making it even more difficult to remove. The faster you have the graffiti removed, the less likely there is to be permanent damage to your property.

Need graffiti removed? We can help. No matter what surface it is on, we’ll get rid of it quickly and do it right the first time. Find out more about our graffiti removal services here or contact us today for a free estimate!

When to Choose Hot Water Surface Cleaning

As years of washing dishes has taught us all, when it comes to cleaning, hot water is always better, right? When it comes to pressure washing, this isn’t always so. In some cases, pressure washing with hot water doesn’t add much benefit but uses more energy unnecessarily. However, there are a number of cases where using hot water can get the maximum clean.

When to Choose Hot Water Surface Cleaning

Cleaning Concrete/Pavement

Cleaning concrete with cold water pressure washing can work, but it won’t be as effective. When it comes to cleaning sidewalks, parking lots, or any area that is prone to attracting oil or other vehicle fluids, hot water pressure washing is the right tool for the job. Hot water has the added benefit of being able to penetrate porous surfaces like concrete so that it can efficiently wash away dirt from the pores. Furthermore, hot water is capable of cutting through oil, grease, and tire marks left behind by cars so that your paved surfaces can look like new.

Removing Chewing Gum

Once chewing gum has set on a surface and hardened, there is virtually no getting it off completely. While you will want to ice fresh gum to remove it, it is the opposite with old gum. You need to heat it up with hot water and use a fair amount of force to remove it completely. If you have a number of gum spots on your pavement, pressure washing with hot water is the most efficient way to remove it without damaging the concrete.

Cleaning Commercial Kitchens

Just like when you are doing dishes, you need hot water to cut through all the food grease and grime that gathers in a commercial kitchen. However, the real benefit of the occasional pressure washing of kitchen equipment and surfaces is that the heated water will also work to disinfect the surfaces so that your kitchen can continue to put out quality food.

If you have an oily parking lot, a greasy kitchen, or any other surface that can benefit from a hot water surface cleaning, contact us today.

6 Benefits of Parking Lot Pressure Washing

Do you own a commercial building that has a parking lot? You probably know how important it is to keep your building clean. However, many business owners forget to clean their parking lot. Here are a few reasons why you need a clean parking lot – and why power washing is the best way to do it.

6 Benefits of Parking Lot Pressure Washing

  1. It’s more appealing. You may not notice it, but people visiting your building may very well notice your parking lot and how clean or dirty it is.
  2. If your parking lot is clean and sparkling, people will be less likely to mess it up. If your parking lot is already dirty, people might just throw wrappers and trash on it. 
  3. Help the environment. Getting a professional service to clean up your parking lot will reduce pollution by removing plastic wrappers and oils spills. 
  4. You may have someone sweeping your parking lot, but that is not enough. A sweeper will not be able to remove oil spills, dust, graffiti, gum and other stains. Your parking lot may not have any plastic wrappers, but it won’t appear sparkling and clean. 
  5. Prevent infestation. A clean parking lot, with less litter and food wrappers, will help keep rodents and insects away. This will keep your property cleaner and safer. 
  6. Protect your customers, workers and tenants. A dirty parking lot can have many things that can cause damage to people or cars. Sharp objects can damage tires, and oil spills can cause people to slip. Clean your parking lot to prevent this from happening. 

For help with keeping your parking lot clean, contact us today!

5 Benefits of Power Washing Your Commercial Building

Do you own a commercial building? You should be power washing it as often as you can. Here are a few benefits of power washing your commercial building

5 Benefits of Power Washing Your Commercial Building

Maintain Its Value

If you wash your building consistently, it will look brighter, fresher and cleaner. This will improve its curb appeal and maintain its value. If you ever rent or sell your building, you will be able to earn more. 

Make Your Business Look Good

As they say, there is only one time to make a good first impression. If you are a business owner, that time is when someone first steps in front of your building, when they first see the outdoor facade of your building. Whether you own an office building, a shopping center, an apartment building, a warehouse or anything else, you should always keep the outdoor facade clean and appealing. 

Protect Your Health

Power washing your building will remove dirt, grime, and germs from the walls. It will also keep mold and mildew from building up. This will keep your workers or tenants safe and healthy. 

Benefits of Washing Regularly

It’s important that you maintain a consistent washing schedule. This way, your building will appear clean and be appealing at all times. You’ll never have to do a last-minute job before someone important shows up. 

Benefits of Hiring Professionals

It’s best to hire professionals to wash your building. They will be able to do it safely and efficiently. You can have them do it on a regular basis, thus taking off another load from your back. 

Contact us today for more information!

Why Removing Bubble Gum from Concrete is Such a Daunting Challenge

While bubble gum may be the bane of the service industry where they have to regularly remove it from the underside of tables, chairs, and the trashcans, it can affect any industry. In fact, these days, it is more common for people to spit their gum out on the sidewalk rather than stick it to the underside of a table. While there is less of a stigma about spitting gum out on the sidewalk, it makes it no less of a menace.

Why Removing Bubble Gum from Concrete is Such a Daunting Challenge

When gum lands on a sidewalk, when it is fresh, it is malleable but sticky. Particularly on warm days, people might step in it and get a little on their shoe, but in many cases, the gum will actually split. Some will leave on the shoe, while the rest is pressed into the concrete. Unfortunately, as gum ages, it absorbs into the pores of the concrete that are meant to make the surface absorb and quickly dry any water like rain. Once this happens and the gum hardens, you can scrape off the top surface with enough elbow grease and a scraper, but discoloration will remain in the concrete’s pores.

One or two bubble gum stains on concrete usually isn’t such a big deal, but the more stains you get, the uglier the walkway will look. For this, power washing is a great removal option. It takes significantly less time than scraping and scrubbing and is much more effective. However, water pressure alone will not remove bubble gum. In fact, using just pressure will more likely damage the concrete, a side effect that no one wants. Instead, hot water should be used as well as proper power washing technique to coax the gum out of the pores of the concrete so it can be dissolved away.

If you have begun to collect an unpleasant amount of black bubble gums stains on your concrete and don’t want to put the time into ineffectually scraping it off, contact us today. At 214 Pressure Washing, making your business look good is our business.

How Often Should Exterior Cleanings Be Done on Apartment Buildings?

Apartments aren’t very different from your standard residential home. The only real difference is that more people live in one concentrated area. However, this does means that apartment buildings endure more wear and tear than your standard residential home because more people are constantly coming and going. While this translates to more maintenance on the interior of the buildings and other pathways like roads, parking lots, and sidewalks, it shouldn’t affect the exterior much, right?

How Often Should Exterior Cleanings Be Done on Apartment Buildings?

Unfortunately, since apartment complexes often pack many different buildings, or at least, taller buildings into an area, this can cause more wear than a singular residential home. In places with high concentrations of buildings, it tends to expose them more to the elements. Nearby buildings can funnel winds with dirt and dust clinging to the exteriors while shade caused by other nearby buildings can cause mold and mildew to form on the exterior surfaces.

While all of this can affect the way an apartment building looks, something that can drive away potential renters, it can also pose a health hazard for current residents. If an apartment complex has residents that have asthma or any other respiratory illness, having the exterior of their building covered in triggers like mold or other contaminants can make something that should be pleasant, like opening their windows on a warm breezy day, dangerous for them. For this reason, property managers should have regularly scheduled power washing for their building exteriors. It not only cares for the health of your residents, but it keeps your buildings looking as appealing as your well-manicured grounds.

However, how often should property managers be scheduling these cleanings? The answer can vary. If your grounds have a large amount of tree cover or you live in a particularly humid or dusty environment, property managers should schedule multiple cleanings per year. However, in most cases, one round of pressure washing per year is enough to keep dust, dirt, mold, mildew, and algae at bay, particularly if they choose the disinfecting soft wash option.

If you are the property manager of an apartment building or complex in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and find that your buildings are looking a little less beautiful than they used to, contact us today to talk about your pressure washing options with us.

The Benefits of Soft Washing a Business Exterior

Over time, the exterior of your business is exposed to the elements. It is pelted with rain, baked in the sun, and under constant barrage by air contaminants. While it doesn’t happen immediately, your building will eventually begin to look a little different. In areas under constant shade, you may begin to notice moldy spots, and even in areas of all sun, they will show discoloration. Needless to say, after a few years of weather, your business exterior won’t look like the same building, but you can get that look back.

The Benefits of Soft Washing a Business Exterior

Pressure washing is the obvious choice to clean a building and return it to looking sharp. However, even though high-pressure washing can be effective in many cases, sometimes just plain old water, even when shot at a high pressure, can’t remove all stains. Yet, you are not out of options. For this, you can choose to soft wash your building.

Whereas high-pressure washing uses just high pressured water to remove contaminants and discoloration, soft pressure washing uses a lower PSI but uses water that is treated with bleach and a foaming agent. The bleach, found in just a slightly higher concentration than your average swimming pool, clings to the building through the foaming agent, dissolving away dirt, mold, mildew, algae, and even spider webs. After it has been applied, it is then rinsed off to reveal the beautiful-looking building underneath.

Aside from being more effective at removing stains, soft washing also has the added benefit of being more affordable, especially if you have a two-story building. The major downside of high-pressure washing is that the technician needs to be relatively close to the surface. This means that if you have a second story, scaffolding may need to be involved which can raise the time and labor it takes to complete your building. However, with soft pressure washing, the technician has the tools at hand to shoot the bleaching foam up to 50 feet high, eliminating the need for scaffolding in many cases.

As soft pressure washing uses bleach, your building is left completely disinfected after the process is done, meaning that it stays clean for longer. As a process that is cheaper and more effective, it is only natural to feel that soft washing is the right choice for you. If your business exterior is looking a little less than stellar in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, contact us today to see what 214 Pressure Washing can do to make it beautiful again.

The Most Effective Way of Removing Graffiti from Brick

If you run a brick and mortar business, and you chose a beautiful building made of literal brick and mortar, there is no doubt that you are proud of the building. These days there are so many sleek and modern exteriors for stores and other businesses, but the brick is a classic look that not only adds strength to the exterior but radiates strength. Unfortunately, having any sort of physical building makes you a target for tagging and graffiti artists, none more so than brick though.

The Most Effective Way of Removing Graffiti from Brick

When a vandals look at the bare side of your building, they see a blank canvas just ripe for their controversial form of artistry. However, while there are some nice pieces of spray paint art out there, very few business owners want them on their buildings. Unfortunately for everyone involved, brick can make removing graffiti especially difficult. Brick is a surface that is lightly porous as well as textured from the wear and tear of time. This means if you are scrubbing it down, you are more likely to wear down a scrub brush before you remove every trace of graffiti.

What is the best option to remove graffiti from brick? Well, the answer is simple, pressure wash it. Unfortunately, even that isn’t a spray and done sort of job. You need to first loosen the paint with a chemical paint remover so that the pressure washer can spray it away. However, it is usually a most of the day job, and you have a business to run. Instead of spending the money on a high-grade pressure washer and the chemicals to remove graffiti, why not leave it to the professionals? By hiring a commercial pressure washer, not only do you save yourself time but the faster you remove that graffiti, the less likely the vandals are to notice that you are trying and come back for a re-tagging.

If your business has been hit with graffiti in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, whether it be brick, stucco, or any other surface, contact us today. 214 Pressure Washing is dedicated to providing the best quality service and work as we make your business look its best.