Boat detailing?

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WRAPT C5Z06

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A buddy of mine wants me to detail his boat. I have never done a boat before. As far as polishing, would I go about it just like polishing car paint? Can I buy any OTC marine specific protection products? Any tips?

:dblthumb2:
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
A buddy of mine wants me to detail his boat. I have never done a boat before. As far as polishing, would I go about it just like polishing paint? Can I buy any OTC marine specific protection products? Any tips?

:dblthumb2:
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Find out how big it is?
Does he want inside or outside detailed or both?
If he wants outside, what is the condition of the finish?
If they want the inside detailed, what condition is it in?

Best thing to do is to go look at it first hand and find out what he wants and what his expectations are and then decide if this is the type of detailing project you want.


:)
 
Boats can really turn into nightmare work. As Mike said, look it over very closely. If you decide to take on the job, buddy or not, hold your price. Much of the time marine specialty products are not needed.

Tons of moldy upholstery or a fishing rig covered with dried fish blood? Might be none of the above but DO look it over.
 
Like Mike said go take a look at it, bring your rotary or flex and do a test spot with a cleaner wax and see how the finish looks. If it's bad 105 or pg will work but marine specific compounds tend to cut faster if he's looking to get the finish back to perfect, personally I wouldn't wax it if the finish is in bad shape, it won't last long at all on a heavily oxidized surface and your buddy will be upset thinking you ripped him off. It will temporarily make the surface look ok but will be gone quick if the oxidation is still on the surface.
 
I've done one boat inside and out and it was a nightmare. I would do a boat again, but only the outside, and only out of water. The inde of boats just have so many nooks and crranies you could spend days cleaning them. The outside is just like doing a giant vehicle, which is fine with me, but the interior/engine is just a nightmare.
 
wool pad if its bad then wet sand it frist with 1000 grit .then go to west marine and get some 800 grit buffing compund can get it in small can for 25.00 also get some pro polish when your there also. 20.00 I charge 20.00 a foot for boats under 30 ft inside and out .15.00 ft for out side only
 
Mark, my friend John (perfections) is dead right as far as his info. He is experiencing a few things he had not planned on w/boats and has figured alot of things out as well. maybe you can contact him via forum or email and I am sure he can save you a few hard lessons learned. He does great work on boats..but it is very time consuming.
 
master detailer said:
wool pad if its bad then wet sand it frist with 1000 grit .then go to west marine and get some 800 grit buffing compund can get it in small can for 25.00 also get some pro polish when your there also. 20.00 I charge 20.00 a foot for boats under 30 ft inside and out .15.00 ft for out side only
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That seems really low, but again I don't have a ton of experience with boats. I know on the one I did I charged $30/ ft for buffing and $20/ft if he just wanted it washed and waxed. Several other people contacted me at that price, but I turned them down since the first one was such a nightmare.
 
Good point Roger,

bimmer325! said:
Mark, my friend John (perfections) is dead right as far as his info. He is experiencing a few things he had not planned on w/boats and has figured alot of things out as well. maybe you can contact him via forum or email and I am sure he can save you a few hard lessons learned. He does great work on boats..but it is very time consuming.
Click to expand...

Here's one of Jon's stories in the below thread starting with post #6

Test Spot - The story behind the story...





:)
 
My friend told me the boat is actually painted fiberglass. However, this was not a project I really wanted to do, even when he first asked me. I didn't look at the boat. I told him I don't have a strong interest in detailing the boat, so it's probably not a good idea that I do it.
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
My friend told me the boat is actually painted fiberglass. However, this was not a project I really wanted to do, even when he first asked me. I didn't look at the boat. I told him I don't have a strong interest in detailing the boat, so it's probably not a good idea that I do it.
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Go with your first insticts.... as I like to say...

"Let someone else have the blessing"


:D
 
I'd pass on it Mark! I hate doing boats! The inside is usual pretty straight forward but buffing gel-coat sucks!

I actually have a client with a brand new Wakesetter 247 LSV which I've been putting off applying Opti-Guard to it for a while now. I know it's brand new, but when they say it's "pretty nice", it always seems to need some amount of correction too. :D
 
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