As business owners, you hope and trust that you’ve made your property safe and secure. You assume that your wash will remain in good working condition if maintained well. But as Xtreme Kleen (Mount Morris, MI), and others know, sometimes disaster strikes. Suddenly, you’re facing repairs, renovations, or even rebuilding from the ground up.
Whether your wash finds itself in the path of a natural disaster, collision or fire, the journey back isn’t easy. For our friend and customer Andrew Ashbaker, the renovations road has been a bit longer and bumpier.
Bringing Life Back to the Community
Andrew bought his 6-bay self-serve wash just a few short years ago. The older original proprietor could no longer maintain the business. After weeks of preparation and renovations to improve the site, he celebrated the grand opening in August of 2023. In a short amount of time, the wash was running strong and profitable. Locals were embracing the upgrades and improvements made and the excellent results they were seeing when they left the bays. The wash looked so good that Andrew’s rock musician friend from Florida even used the site for a music video!
A Dream Incinerated
The wash got off to a great start! But sadly less than a year after its debut, Andrew’s wash was ravaged by fire. The fire originated in the control room, ignited by a Dewalt lithium battery that was on a charger there. “No one was there at the time of the fire,” he said. “I was alerted by a friend of mine that lives down the road who called me. Fortunately, this friend happened to have a key to the building.” The firefighters were unable to break the door down. Without that friend’s assistance, the whole building would have been a loss
“Obviously the fire was devastating,” he said, continuing, “The wash was beautiful, but the fire spread into the attic above and ruined everything. It amazed me the amount of stuff that melted from the heat and the amount of damage caused by the water sitting in the room from the fire fighters.” Andrew couldn’t enter the premises for a week after the blaze. By then, everything corrosion caused just as much damage as the fire.
Rising From Ashes
Ashbaker said the process of working with insurance was absolutely miserable. “They really ran me through the ringer on [the claim]”, he said. “But in the end, we ended up getting on the same page and [the agent] apologized. Still, it was not a great feeling.”
Despite the setback, Andrew did get some money and started engaging with contractors shortly after to assess the damage and plan a full rehab of the wash. Plans included a new roof and new equipment in the control room, of course. “The payout wasn’t enough to cover the amount of work we have going on, underinsured is the word. Not a lot of people realize the numbers of small fittings and little parts that add up,” he lamented.
The original plan was to be back up and running in October 2024. But, as anyone who has been through a similar process knows, there have been complications here and there.
“The contractors are working hard to keep us on schedule. We’re getting closer to opening back up each day!” Andrew continued, “Everything has been replaced top to bottom with the finest equipment from Kleen-Rite. They have gone above and beyond to help solve issues and tech questions. Co-owner Keith Lutz even reached out to me to talk about the pros and cons of his new pump stand install kit they provided. Kleen-Rite has been amazing through all of this.” Andrew bought the new pump stand and all necessary equipment for his new set up. “Obviously we have had some snags, but even when wrong supporting equipment was sent, they over-nighted me new stuff. They gave me the knowledge to help our team accomplish this full rebuild.”
Wishing Xtreme Kleen Well
We’re so glad Xtreme Kleen is almost back up and running, and we’re happy we could play a part in Andrew’s journey back as a valued business in his community. He said, “At the end of the day I could have taken the money and run, but our community is already barely making it. I couldn’t live with myself if I left another empty building. So that’s what helps me breathe through all this.” We wish you the best, Andrew, and we can’t wait to hear you’ve opened your bays again!
This article originally appeared in Kleen-Scene Issue 44. Read more about Kleen-Rite Equipment here.
