Do you bring your own water?
If the answer is no, they need your tap. In most of San Francisco there is not one.
Ours does not. SF City Wash is fully self-contained — we bring our own water, our own power, our own soap and all the equipment. You do not need a hose, an outdoor tap or an outlet for a standard interior, exterior or full detail.
The one qualification: for all-day work like a ceramic coating or paint correction, access to a power outlet is helpful but not always required, and we confirm that when arranging premium services.
Worth asking any mobile detailer before booking, because plenty of them are not, and in San Francisco that is the difference between a service that works and one that does not.
In a suburb with driveways and outdoor taps, 'self-contained' is a convenience. In San Francisco it is the whole business model.
Most people here park on the street or in a shared building garage. Neither has a tap. Very few flats have an accessible outdoor outlet, and running an extension cable from a third-floor flat down to a kerbside parking space is not a plan.
So a mobile detailer who needs a hookup can only serve the small share of customers with a private driveway and a garden tap. Everyone else — which is most of the city — is left with a fixed shop and half a day of driving.
That is the specific gap we exist to fill. Every one of the 60 jobs in our documented set was completed at the customer's own address, across 28 neighborhoods, including street spots, apartment garages and office lots. None of them required anything from the location.
For a standard interior, exterior or full detail — the overwhelming majority of what we do — there is nothing to discuss. We arrive, we work, we leave.
For all-day premium work, meaning paint correction or a ceramic coating, access to a power outlet is helpful but not always required. A one-step correction is 4 to 6 hours and a two-step 6 to 8 or more; a coating install is 7 to 8 hours or more and becomes a two-day job with correction or on a larger vehicle. That is a long stretch of continuous machine use.
We confirm what a given job needs when arranging premium services, so it is never a surprise on the day. If an outlet is genuinely unavailable, say so when you enquire and we will plan for it rather than discover it.
The far more useful thing you can offer for a coating is covered parking, because the car needs to stay dry for 24 to 48 hours after application. A garage removes the weather risk from that window entirely.
Not just us. These four answers tell you most of what you need to know about whether a mobile service will actually work at your address.
If the answer is no, they need your tap. In most of San Francisco there is not one.
Extraction and polishing both need it. A detailer relying on your outlet cannot work in a street spot.
Some mobile operators need a driveway or a large flat area. In this city that rules out most addresses.
The question your building manager will ask. It should have a clear answer.
Ours is no — key handoff, lockbox, gate code or doorman. If a service requires you present for hours, that is a hidden cost.
Ours: we contact you to reschedule before the appointment, with no penalty. Turning up regardless produces a compromised job.
Street spot, residential garage, apartment lot, office parking structure or driveway. Anywhere in San Francisco or the northern Peninsula with no travel fee, and Marin, the southern Peninsula and the East Bay by quote.
Hand over a key or a gate code and get on with your day.
More short answers live on the FAQ.
The services this guide is about:
Back to the full guide library.
No tap, no outlet, no hose. Just tell us where the car is parked.