Restaurants, Bars & Food Service
Grease on the walkway, the dumpster pad, the patio and the drive-thru lane.
Food service produces a specific and aggressive kind of soil, and it produces it constantly. Grease-laden vapour condenses out of the exhaust and settles on the roof and the wall downwind of it. Grease gets walked out of the kitchen door and along the service walkway. Waste generates leachate on the pad in volumes an office never will. And unlike most commercial property, some of it is a compliance matter and a pest matter rather than an appearance one.
The dumpster pad is the priority, not the front
For most restaurants the pad and enclosure are the highest-value cleaning on the property. It is what generates the pest problem, the neighbour complaint and the thing an inspector notices, and it is the part that gets cleaned least because it is behind the building. On a heavy producer through a Michigan summer this is a monthly or quarterly item, not an annual one.
Grease behaves differently from dirt
Petroleum and cooking grease have to be lifted with a degreaser given proper dwell time. Pressure and water alone spread them into a wider, fainter stain and drive them further into the pore structure of the concrete, which is why a walkway that has been rinsed repeatedly ends up uniformly darker rather than clean. This is the single most common thing done wrong on restaurant flatwork.
Patios, and the health of what people sit on
An outdoor dining area is a food surface by proximity. The decking or concrete, the railings, the umbrella bases, the perimeter and the area under the tables all collect spill residue, and in shade they grow organic film that is slippery when wet. Michigan's patio season is short enough that a pre-season clean and a mid-season touch is usually the whole programme.
A note on what this does not cover
Kitchen exhaust hood and duct cleaning is a separate, certified trade with its own fire-code standard, and it is not what this is. This is the exterior: the wall, the roof surface downwind of the exhaust fan, the walkway, the pad, the patio and the drive-thru lane. If someone quotes you exterior washing and hood cleaning as the same service, that is a reason to ask more questions.
Text a photo, get a straight answer
The fastest way to get a useful answer on a commercial property is a photograph of the problem. Send one and Chris can usually tell you what it is, whether it needs pressure or chemistry, and whether it is worth doing before anybody visits.
Typical scope
- Dumpster pad, enclosure walls, gates and approach apron
- Kitchen door service walkway and grease trail
- Front entrance, walkway and glass surrounds
- Patio decking or concrete, railings and perimeter
- Drive-thru lane, order point and window approach
- Exterior wall and roof area downwind of the exhaust
- Grease interceptor surround
Sensible interval. Pad quarterly, monthly through summer on a heavy producer. Patio before the season and once mid-season. Front entrance twice a year.
The services this usually involves
Dumpster Pad & Enclosure Cleaning
The pad, the corral walls and the approach — the worst-smelling square footage on the property.
Read moreCommercial Concrete & Sidewalk Cleaning
Walkways, entrances, loading aprons and flatwork — including the winter salt residue that grey concrete hides.
Read moreStorefront & Retail Plaza Cleaning
Entrances, walkways, glass surrounds and the concrete customers actually walk on, cleaned before you open.
Read moreCommercial Building Washing
Soft washing and pressure washing for building elevations — painted block, brick, metal panel, EIFS and vinyl.
Read moreQuestions
Do you clean kitchen exhaust hoods?
No. Hood and duct cleaning is a separate certified trade with a fire-code standard behind it. This is exterior work — including the wall and roof area the exhaust discharges over, which does need cleaning and is often neglected because it falls between the two trades.
When can you work around service hours?
Most restaurant exterior work fits between close and open, or in a mid-afternoon lull. The pad is the flexible piece; the front entrance and patio want to be dry before service.
Will the pad stop smelling?
Substantially, and completely on a pad that is not badly saturated. On an old unsealed slab with years of leachate soaked in, expect a large improvement and a conversation about sealing it afterwards so the next clean holds.
Other property types
Property Managers & Commercial Landlords
One contractor, several properties, a scope you can put in a budget and hand to a board.
What we cleanRetail, Strip Plazas & Shopping Centers
The walkway, the entrances and the glass every customer of every tenant walks past.
What we cleanOffices, Medical & Professional Buildings
Entrance approach, elevations and walkways for buildings where the client walks in the front door.
What we cleanGet a quote for your restaurants & bar
Call or text (734) 883-0972. Quoted off a walk of the property, with a written scope.
(734) 883-0972