The making of another rug plant...

[Chris A]

What do you guys think of this as a shop layout? Room to the left would be drying, white objects are equipment from left to right spinner, wash tub, and duster. Dotted lines in middle would be the wash floor. The walls are existing and block so I can't do much with them but the two small dotted areas towards the middle are rooms I may get rid of. Thoughts?

 

[J Scott W]

When you move rugs out of the centrifuge, where would they go to finish drying or wait for customer pick-up or delviery? I t loks like moving across the wash floor could be problematic.

 

[Chris A]

The room to the left would be the dry room, and the area towards the bottom right would have tubes for finished rugs. The bottom"wall" isn't a wall, just the edge of the area I have for rug cleaning, there's more open shop space below that

 

[Ron K]

Chris where are the doors in and out or is the "more open space your entrance exit? Any garage doors? Is that all the space you have dedicated for washing? Do you have a garage/covered parking to tumble and dust rugs outside or can you build an out building just for tumbling?also how high are your ceilings? Can you get a long rug in to spin? What side will you load from? Pictures?

 

[Nate The Great]

Chris where are the doors in and out or is the "more open space your entrance exit? Any garage doors? Is that all the space you have dedicated for washing? Do you have a garage/covered parking to tumble and dust rugs outside or can you build an out building just for tumbling?also how high are your ceilings? Can you get a long rug in to spin? What side will you load from? Pictures?

Nosey fella aren't you......!

 

[Brian H]

Chris,

Think about production by walking some large rugs through the layout you have diagrammed. If you don't have large rugs, use some poles or 2 x 4s or anything to duplicate the maximum lengths of rugs you expect to clean. Lay some tape out on the floor to give you an visual of the machinery, etc. Here is some of what I would be looking for:

• Where are rugs stored before being washed?
• Do you have a staging area for rugs in process?
  
• Is it easy to move them from one area to the next?
• Do you have enough room to load/unload the spinner?
• Will there be any possibility of splashing onto completed rugs?
• Will you be crossing a wet floor with dry rugs?
  
• Does your drying area allow for post cleaning inspection/detail work?

Just some thoughts I had off the top of my head.

 

[Chris A]

Dry room area

Area next to dry room with partition walls leading to wash floor

Main area of shop. The rug area extends to the left of the van, the dry room would be to the left of my toolbox.

 

[Brian H]

Chris,

Based on your photos, it looks like a steel frame building. If that is the case, the block wall is not load bearing, meaning you could take out some of the block walls.

Would your layout improve if you got rid of a few walls?

Oh and consult an engineer before removing any block, just to be sure.

 

[Chris A]

It would definitely help to have those small partition walls gone... I need to get a structural engineer out there anyway to look at a beam that I don't think needs to be there

 

[cleanking]

Think about not doing perimeter drains and pouring a slanted wash floor with one drain along the low end. Keeps the water from pooling up and may be less expensive than doing perimeter drains all around.

What's the LxW of the wash floor?

Also is there enough space there to get a rug in the centrifuge? You'll need a straight shot, bending a fully wet rug and getting it to go in correctly is not an easy task.

 

[Ron K]

Chris that back space where the van is parked looks ideal for a Tumble duster and work floor,checking in rugs,pre-dust inspection,tac-out area ,post wash final prep and wrap.IF you can afford the space. If you slide your wash floor down into that corner towards "rotate floor" and get the duster into the garage area I think you'll be happier. I Like Brians idea of walking around with 2x4x10's. Also remember rug carts are a god send, the chemicals and stuff in the garage area can be placed some where else to free up space maybe some of the rooms that can't be moved or wall shelving up high so carts can be placed below. Where were you going to do your final prep, pile lift, touch up and post/pre wash. Are you going to have clients drop off rugs to your shop? Where would that be? Also Power, and water access? Lot's to think about. I started with 20'x50'-20x30 of that was dust/wash dry combo room..ufda! Now in 40'x50' still not uber efficient but making it work. Hope this helps.

 

[Chris A]

Think about not doing perimeter drains and pouring a slanted wash floor with one drain along the low end. Keeps the water from pooling up and may be less expensive than doing perimeter drains all around.

What's the LxW of the wash floor?

Also is there enough space there to get a rug in the centrifuge? You'll need a straight shot, bending a fully wet rug and getting it to go in correctly is not an easy task.

I'll have to double check I think the dimensions were 18x30 or so. That's an interesting idea about the floor I was getting a bit of sticker shock looking at the prices of the trench drains. I should be ok beside the centrifuge I can always stuff it up in that top left corner to get better access

 

[Chris A]

Chris that back space where the van is parked looks ideal for a Tumble duster and work floor,checking in rugs,pre-dust inspection,tac-out area ,post wash final prep and wrap.IF you can afford the space. If you slide your wash floor down into that corner towards "rotate floor" and get the duster into the garage area I think you'll be happier. I Like Brians idea of walking around with 2x4x10's. Also remember rug carts are a god send, the chemicals and stuff in the garage area can be placed some where else to free up space maybe some of the rooms that can't be moved or wall shelving up high so carts can be placed below. Where were you going to do your final prep, pile lift, touch up and post/pre wash. Are you going to have clients drop off rugs to your shop? Where would that be? Also Power, and water access? Lot's to think about. I started with 20'x50'-20x30 of that was dust/wash dry combo room..ufda! Now in 40'x50' still not uber efficient but making it work. Hope this helps.

The dry room is really big I may end up sectioning it off and using the front half for a finishing area. I wasn't thinking of doing a permanent tack out area since I'm in the Midwest I'm mostly cleaning well behaved karastans, it's a lot more space than I had but you fill it quick! I was thinking of doing the tumbler along the back (right) wall of the building so they could be pulled right onto the wash floor. Thanks for all the input guys!

 

[Chris A]

I'll do a layout of the whole building so there a clearer picture of what I'm dealing with, I have to find the dimensions

 

[Ron K]

I was thinking of doing the tumbler along the back (right) wall of the building so they could be pulled right onto the wash floor.

Don't forget one of the best thing of a Tumbler is the after dry tumble..Karastans soften up amazingly after a 15-30 minute post wash tumble. Just as an idea think wet side-dry side a lot of shops I've been at have that in place. Robert Manns shop had both tumblers on the other side of the building from his wash floor. I have an 15x18 wash pit for sale if you want flexibility.

 

[Chris A]

Ok here's a layout of the whole building. Showing our 3 trucks inside (I usually drive mine home anyway) there's still a lot of room in the back that could be utilized

 

[Chris A]

Nother idea... This l shaped office is right between the main entrance and the dry room. I'm thinking of making this the pick up area by opening the wall between these two rooms. There's also room behind the back of this office to make that room larger