SUN CITY WEST, Ariz. — Making upgrades to your laundromat can be simultaneously exciting and scary.
Not as scary as buying or building a new mat, mind you, because you’re simply upgrading your existing business, but there’s still an element of risk. Naturally, you want everything to go smoothly from start to finish.
Some of my mat friends are extremely skilled. They know how to do upgrades themselves very well, and often have their own construction crews. This column is for mat owners who are semi-handy but may lack the special tools, manpower, experience and expertise to do the job right.
In Part 1, I wrote about providing good value through upgrades, project planning, comparing/contrasting equipment and vendors, and project financing. Let me conclude:
COMPARE AND CONTRAST (CONTINUED)
If you’ll be hiring a general contractor, make sure they are licensed, bonded and, more importantly, understand the laundromat business. And this also goes for anyone your contractor subcontracts out to, especially if dealing with HVAC, electrical and plumbing work. (I once had a brand-new boiler piped backward.)
Ask your distributor who they recommend. Find out how many stores the contractor has built and see if you can speak to one or two of their owners. You are spending a lot of money, so you want somebody who has a great reputation.
If your contractor is indeed great, his services will be in high demand. He’ll be juggling other jobs that could easily cause delays for you, and holdups can be quite costly. So see that he puts a finish date in the contract that you are comfortable with.
PROJECT APPROVAL AND COMPLIANCE
Make sure you get project approval from your local building department, and permits if required.
Zoning rules and laws can vary depending on where your mat is located. A project that is no big deal in one locale may require a building permit and even an architect in another. Nowadays, there are environmental impacts to be considered as well.
So, always check with the building department first. If you have a good distributor, they can help guide you.
As a general rule of thumb, replacing equipment as an even swap from old machines to new shouldn’t be an issue in most locales as long as there aren’t changes to plumbing, electric service, or the floor plan. So if you’re just swapping out some old machines for new and not much else, your distributor should be able to handle that for you.
Simple remodels such as new flooring, new folding tables, painting, paneling, and light carpentry are usually OK in most locales. Even so, it doesn’t hurt to check before you begin. You can sometimes access the existing floor plan at your local building department.
But if you will be doing things like changing plumbing (especially gas lines), electrical service or the floor plan, you’ll almost surely need new plans drawn up by an architect in order to be approved for a new permit.
If you choose to make those changes on the sly, your decision could come back to bite you. Local building officials can halt your project, fine you, and even shut you down completely in some cases. And don’t think the regulators won’t find out — your competitors will be happy to rat you out.
Local zoning laws are there to ensure that everything is built safely and according to the approved plans. Remember, your mat will be used by the general public.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that people who are disabled can access your facility. This means that even if your mat’s non-compliant restroom has been grandfathered in, you may be required in some locales to upgrade it if/when you apply for a permit for something else.
CLASS UP YOUR PLACE
Advertise before you start to create some excitement and to prepare your customers for any inconvenience.
I expanded one mat when the store next to mine became vacant. This was the easiest way to expand. I expanded another by building a new, bigger mat in the same shopping strip. In both cases, I was able to operate pretty much as usual until a day or two before.
At a third mat, I added a second storefront in the back from the parking lot. It made the back and front look nearly identical, and I ended up having 90% of my customers entering from the back after the upgrade.
Whatever your project, after the work is done, test all the equipment with sample loads. Today’s laundry equipment is quite complex, so you want to verify everything works properly before you open your doors.
When upgrading, you have an opportunity to give your customers new and unique things in your mat that maybe they can’t afford in their own homes. Coming to your mat could give them a little boost in their lives, so whatever you choose to do, make it a little classy.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
