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TXDOT is applying salty brine to some roads in Texas in preparation for the cold weather and it has me thinking of an idea I had years back... Why not install nozzles in the driveway to wash the underside of your car, rather than struggle with hose attachments etc? They can either be regularly spaced and spray straight up, or they can pop up like sprinklers and rotate to get good coverage of the underbody.
OK they wouldn't work when frozen, but as soon as you get a warm day, park in the driveway and turn on the water, and within minutes the winter salt is washed off your car, or mud from offroading, or salt from the beach, or whatever.
I've googled and found zero examples. Either no one has thought of it or it's a bad idea
I also live in TX. A driveway is a segmented slab of cement. It's segmented, because the slab expands and contracts due to fluctuations in heat/cold, and even then, driveways still crack all the time. That's going to crack or burst any water line you have running to a sprinkler head set into the concrete, and then you're going to have a water leak under your driveway that would be insanely expensive to fix, since you'd have to bust up the whole driveway to do it.
A better idea would be to install a drain in the garage, and install a lift you can park on. Raise the car up when you want to wash the underside, and the water will all drain out of the garage.
Still doesn't make sense to do in TX, considering the amount of days per year that we get our roads salted, unless you're a car guy and would like to have a lift for also doing your own work.
Most car washes, like the small ones you see at gas stations, spray the underbody of the car as you drive in. I don't think you need an elaborate system in your driveway when you can go somewhere and have the same thing done for a few bucks.
What, and put all the drive-thru car washes out of business ?
If you really want to do your own, consider getting a length of pipe a little wider than the car, have holes drilled in a line an inch or two apart, attach a garden hose, set it across the drive, and run car back and forth across. May need to add some 1x4 with clamps to stabilize the pipe.
Go ahead and price out the cost and maintenance of a system that can be flexible enough to work on various types of vehicles one may own over the life of that home. Next figure out how many car washes with under-carriage washing you can get for the same money. Lastly, how often do you think you will actually use it as intended and not have it become the neighborhood splash pond in the summer.
TXDOT is applying salty brine to some roads in Texas in preparation for the cold weather and it has me thinking of an idea I had years back... Why not install nozzles in the driveway to wash the underside of your car, rather than struggle with hose attachments etc? They can either be regularly spaced and spray straight up, or they can pop up like sprinklers and rotate to get good coverage of the underbody.
OK they wouldn't work when frozen, but as soon as you get a warm day, park in the driveway and turn on the water, and within minutes the winter salt is washed off your car, or mud from offroading, or salt from the beach, or whatever.
I've googled and found zero examples. Either no one has thought of it or it's a bad idea
Just not very practical. Seems like a lot of money for a solution where much cheaper alternatives are available (local car wash). This is essentially a sprinkler system underneath your driveway. Freezing pipes and potential damage to the driveway seems like big risks.
If you have a truck sprinklers aren't really a bad idea. Some use them around here to rinse the sand/salt off the undercarriage after driving on the beach. If a lower car (where a sprinkler would not fit) how about what someone else mentioned, like a tube (PVC perhaps) with a lot of holes drilled in it, or a cheapy walmart special hose with a lot of holes in it that you attach your regular hose to.
TXDOT is applying salty brine to some roads in Texas in preparation for the cold weather and it has me thinking of an idea I had years back... Why not install nozzles in the driveway to wash the underside of your car, rather than struggle with hose attachments etc? They can either be regularly spaced and spray straight up, or they can pop up like sprinklers and rotate to get good coverage of the underbody.
OK they wouldn't work when frozen, but as soon as you get a warm day, park in the driveway and turn on the water, and within minutes the winter salt is washed off your car, or mud from offroading, or salt from the beach, or whatever.
I've googled and found zero examples. Either no one has thought of it or it's a bad idea
Wouldn't work where I live. It's 15 degrees outside right now...warmest day all week! Car washes here close down for a good part of the winter. It has to be warm enough out for you NOT to be frozen in the vehicle.
I can't even imagine the cost of what you're talking about. You know you could just take your garden hose and do this right? Or go to a car wash. Both options are far cheaper and easier.
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