Jeff Frederick is one of the few people who took about a week of the holidays off without meaning to — he was forced to shutter his Ile-Perrot car wash because of the intense cold snap that gripped the Montreal area.
“I basically had a week off,” he said.
For most car washes, the boom time is winter. But intense cold of the kind the Montreal area experienced can freeze the industry in its tracks.
The chemicals freeze and even the garage doors can fail, meaning past a certain temperature around -25 C, many car washes simply close shop.
Corporate outfits — the kind found in gas stations — don’t have it any easier, either. They use the same chemicals, the same sort of garage doors and end up closing too.
Fortunately for Frederick, he budgets for yearly cold snaps. On a good day, he and a partner can get through 30 cars.
Now that the cold has subsided, he’s getting back to work but he’s got his eye on the forecast.
“You’re always worried about that. I’m literally a part-time weather man.”