Pre-Engineering vs. Traditional Quick Lube / Car Wash Construction
With respect to commercial construction framing of quick lube buildings and car washes, the traditional model uses a linear approach. You pour the concrete then you start framing the building. For the typical lube center the framing can often take 4+ weeks.
Consider the traditional construction timeline:
| Site Work | 4 weeks |
| Pour / Cure Concrete | 1 week |
| Framing | 4+ weeks |
Total: 9+ weeks
At Shinn Buildings, we’ve adopted a process commonly known as pre-engineering where we build the building framing offsite in our facility while the site work is going on. Just before the concrete is ready to be poured, we ship the framing to the job site (which takes about a week) and erect the building (takes a couple days).
Consider the pre-engineered construction timeline:
| Site Work / Framing Construction | 4 weeks |
| Pour Concrete / Ship Framing | 1 week |
| Erect building framing | < 1 week |
Total: 5 weeks and a couple of days
5 weeks instead of 9 weeks.
That’s 4 weeks of:
- construction time savings
- less interest to pay
- being opened sooner making money
Also, the banks love the faster construction time because it lowers their risk.
If you have any questions about our pre-engineering model and how it might be right for your project, please give us a call.
