Question for my detailing gurus.

[eder10986]

Hey gang. Looking into getting the boat detailed and ceramic coated in the end of the season. I was quoted 3k out the door from a reputable local detailed including all of the services below.

1 - is it totally worth it?
2 - is the price right for what I’m getting?
3 - is what I’m getting in this package top notch or would you change anything?

Thanks so much!
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[sandm]

where is Larry in 3... 2... 1...

I seriously need that guy to take a week off and fly to vegas on a "vacation" and ceramicoat our camaro. his boat pics are crazy.....

[eder10986]

Ha. Likewise!!!!!


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[larry_arizona]

I will be honest, $3000 is understandably a hard pill to swallow. But it’s the prep/labor that is the majority of the cost, materials are not cheap either. I had 29 hours into mine total plus $450 in materials.

Is it worth it?

1) gloss from polishing, absolutely, much improved over factory new gelcoat.
2) ease of cleaning, it’s much easier to keep a coated boat clean, but it’s not self cleaning.
3) the UV protection is bulletproof, but not something you can quantify until 6/7 years from now.

What it’s not.
1) scratch proof
2) water spot proof although minimal effort
3) algae proof if you wet slip.

I will do it to every vehicle I own, but I am a cheap ass and would struggle paying someone $3000 to do it.

The look is amazing when done right, but it’s only as good as the polishing prior to adding ceramic.

The quote you have is very thorough and comprehensive and the only thing I didn’t do is my vinyl and flooring as I have chill tech.

Actually a pretty good deal.


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[eder10986]

Thanks Man! I’m strongly considering it. I can put a 25% deposit to hold a spot in the fall. Then maybe it won’t be so bad to pay for it then at 75% of the cost after the services (a mental game we all play!).

Thinking sometime in November since we’re in NC.

I don’t slip the boat. I wipe it down with babes spot remover after every outing but it’s getting harder and harder to keep clean. I did power wash and spray wax it a couple of days ago so it’s much better.

Since I do all the wiping and cleaning I would be doing this for myself. And I’m very careful and tedious with the boat so I wouldn’t mind an amazing polishing and gloss that’s for certain.


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[Josh828]

Where at in NC are you? I am having my local shop do mine and I haven't priced anything out yet but he tinted my entire windshield for like $300 and he has a 1 year ceramic coating I'm going to try I think it will be around $1000
Also I'm waiting till spring, figured it can sit dirty all winter because no matter how clean it is I feel like it will need a wipe out come spring haha

[eder10986]

Where at in NC are you? I am having my local shop do mine and I haven't priced anything out yet but he tinted my entire windshield for like $300 and he has a 1 year ceramic coating I'm going to try I think it will be around $1000
Also I'm waiting till spring, figured it can sit dirty all winter because no matter how clean it is I feel like it will need a wipe out come spring haha

Hillsborough. Mother in law lives in Nebo so close to you.

Let me know what you price out. I’ll message you my #.


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[Josh828]

Hillsborough. Mother in law lives in Nebo so close to you.

Let me know what you price out. I’ll message you my #.


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for sure! I don't have any experience with this 1 year ceramic however I have a bad taste in my mouth over my 5 year truck ceramic. Got some bad water spots and to fix them you basically have to start over. So going to do the 1 year route so it can be completely redone yearly. The detailer also thinks it will last longer than a year especially on a boat so we will see.

[larry_arizona]

for sure! I don't have any experience with this 1 year ceramic however I have a bad taste in my mouth over my 5 year truck ceramic. Got some bad water spots and to fix them you basically have to start over. So going to do the 1 year route so it can be completely redone yearly. The detailer also thinks it will last longer than a year especially on a boat so we will see.

Typically water spots in ceramic are from getting water on it before it’s fully cured.


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[Jason1975]

IMO, and only MO, I am not sure i believe in paying these kind of prices for ceramic coating. I have heard the coating lasts about 3 years and i have heard 1 year. Right now its snake oil to me. I have owned boats for 35 years and have always waxed them and took care of my stuff and never had a boat that faded or looked like garbage when i sold it. that proves to me that todays DIY coatings are just as good at protecting my stuff. I wax my boat 3x per year, and use good products in between to remove water spots etc... never had an issue other than a few hours of my time. Not trying to say this stuff doesn't work, but damn, $3k for a wax job seems obsessive when todays sealants, ceramic sprays and waxes protect boats just as good.

[larry_arizona]

IMO, and only MO, I am not sure i believe in paying these kind of prices for ceramic coating. I have heard the coating lasts about 3 years and i have heard 1 year. Right now its snake oil to me. I have owned boats for 35 years and have always waxed them and took care of my stuff and never had a boat that faded or looked like garbage when i sold it. that proves to me that todays DIY coatings are just as good at protecting my stuff. I wax my boat 3x per year, and use good products in between to remove water spots etc... never had an issue other than a few hours of my time. Not trying to say this stuff doesn't work, but damn, $3k for a wax job seems obsessive when todays sealants, ceramic sprays and waxes protect boats just as good.

Keep in mind ceramic doesn’t cost $3000.

Machine polishing the boat is about $2200 of that in labor.

If you are happy with factory gelcoat gloss, and traditional wax, I don’t blame you for going that route.

I was after maximum gloss and the factory gelcoat was meh. Machine polishing takes it to next level. I measured factory gloss at 89-92 and after polishing I was at 96-99 on a high end automotive gloss meter. That is a significant difference. That is what you pay for.

But I caution, some detailers will just coat over new gelcoat and still charge high prices and that to me is disingenuous.

Find a detailer that will do it right, have them show you gloss meter reading pre and post.

Ceramic itself isn’t that much. 1-2 year coating, enough to do a 22-23 boat is appx $200 in material and a 3-5 year coating is $400 in material. It took me a solid 8 hours to apply two layers from waterline up, top deck and all interior gel, hardware, speakers and tower. My labor is free, but a pro will likely charge $75-$100 and hour.

But you can DIY applying ceramic. It’s really not harder than waxing.

To really compare wax and ceramics for DIY

Wax is roughly $40 and will be plenty for 5 years, labor probably 1-2 hours per application 3-4 times a season. 20-40 hours labor to apply

Ceramic $200-$400 with 1-3 applications to last 5 years 8-24 hours labor for application.

I bet I gain back significant clean up labor.

Not really that different when you boil it down, time is money.

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[sandm]

Where at in NC are you? I am having my local shop do mine and I haven't priced anything out yet but he tinted my entire windshield for like $300 and he has a 1 year ceramic coating I'm going to try I think it will be around $1000
Also I'm waiting till spring, figured it can sit dirty all winter because no matter how clean it is I feel like it will need a wipe out come spring haha

isn't your boat for sale currently? keeping or selling?

[Josh828]

isn't your boat for sale currently? keeping or selling?

Currently banned on Facebook with no signs of getting out of Facebook jail so I doubt it sells this season. Also finally pulled the trigger on the sewlong today so until someone REALLY wants it it will be at my house haha

[larry_arizona]

Got to ask, who banned you and what for on FB?


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[Josh828]

Got to ask, who banned you and what for on FB?


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I’ve got a rental house and posted it for rent as my current renters are moving, ad blew up, also has just posted the boat. Next day it said my account had been “hacked” I proved it was really me and noticed they deleted everything I had done for the last two weeks. Both ads included. Reposted the house as I had planned on meeting several people at the house in a day or two and it deleted the messages between us and everything.
Next day, “you are not allowed to buy or sale on market place” put in a review request and it said it could take up to 7 days. That was about 13 days ago I think haha

No cool story unfortunately haha
Just the big guys shutting us small opportunity guys down hahaha

[larry_arizona]

I would use onlyinboards to sell your boat anyways.


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[sandm]

I would use onlyinboards to sell your boat anyways.


it's there. that's where I saw it.
I've never had a facebook account so I don't see what happens there.

[Vanfamkaiyen]

FB is a joke! Want some really bad advise? Go ask a question to the group on FB….

[2in2out]

Facebook is the event horizon of the black hole of human stupidity.


Currently boatless

[Josh828]

it's there. that's where I saw it.
I've never had a facebook account so I don't see what happens there.

Ehh its just the free ad not had many hits, not trying super hard to sell either.
The facebook ad was booming quite a lot of interest mostly from people kinda far away however, one guy in Canada I told if he flew in did the paper work I would drive it to the border lol
Back to detailing if it does sell I've already worked in an emergency detail before it goes haha