detailing boats

Has anybody out there detail boats before. I've started to have alot of people ask me to detail there boat. If you have done this please tell me what you charge them and if you used any speacial products.

meguires makes a boat/rv polish that works pretty good, and I used to charge about 6/7 for detail with wax and if it needed more like a polish then it was around 9/10 bucks I allways charged more for boats than cars.
I took care of this 28 footer and allways charged him around 200 the thing was clean as could be kept in a warehouse and cleaned by him weekly all I had to do was put on the wax polish some top areas and dress the tires.
on another one it had two superchargers and was all alluminum the enging and he wanted it all polished out plus waxing the boat I think we charged around 500 for that one.

what do you mean by 9/10???

how long did that big job take you?

also whats a good way to bring these type of people who own boats to try your detailing service. This market seems to be different then vehicles.

9 to 10 dollars or more on the condition of the boat.

the 28 footer I would do in 2 to 2.5 hours.

the other boat I had a helper and it took us no more than 4 hours so that would be 8 man hours.

when we were done with the boat he wanted us to do his 32 highboy which had brass all over it the window the bells the engine that one took us 7 hours he did'nt even ask the price before we started he just said do your thing and bring me the bill I think we charged around 575.00.
I asked him why he did'nt want to know how much it was before we started and he said you've been doing bobbys stuff for 2 years and mine for a year and I know what kind of top notch work you do and that the price would be right on that your very fair on your pricing.

I was doing a leasing guys cars mostly his personal stuff and he recomended me to this guy bobby. well bobby had a lowered dually that I started to do and then his boat then his pontoon boat then his dads boat and trucks and 5th wheel and the grand pa's 5th wheel then the brothers truck and the brother in laws truck and car then tinting on both cars and then every 4 months it would start all over again,
I even was doing his quads and jet skis his ex-wifes car the family was loving it. I was invited over to do some detailing and ended up being invited for a barbaque and swim right after meeting the brother in-law, they would give me the keys to the house and say the vehical are in the garage have at it while they were still at work, it was awsome!!

to get this kind of work put an add in the boat tradder or hang out at the enterance of the lake and hand out flyers to the boat owners you'd be suprised at how much responce you will get!

go by some boat shops and see if they need any detailing done on the boat or the customers boats, I have a friend who use to take care of the sleekcraft boats out on mc dowel rd near 52 st he does'nt do it any more if you want call him and ask him who to talk to.

his name is Ken and he's with Advanced auto detail 623-776-2070

you can allways call people in the boat tradder and see if they need any detailing you never know what keeping them from selling there boats!

GOOD IDEAS, THESE ARE THE BEST TIPS I'VE GOTTON SO FAR. YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!

You dont think people will get mad with me if i'm cold calling them, because i hate when people do that to me. Are they more willing to talk since you have an idea that could sell there boat faster. Could i do this with the auto trader too.

you could try!

true it dosent hurt to try. If i get turned down then i could move to the next one.

I was wondering if you got alot of tips on boat detailing? If so, what did you find out. Because I going threw the same thing. Thanks.

what r you wondering about.. where are the areas that you r having trouble finding out about?

I charge around $10/ Ft..
To clean and polish.
Teak is extra, I/O cleaning inside engine compartment also extra.
Sanding and treating the wood is time consuming.

I use steel wool (SOS Pads) on the metal railing and Ttop rails etc., also works well for rust stains on stern from swim platforms and the like.

Bar Keepers Friend or Ajax on the inner gel coated floors, but don't get it on fabric, i.e. canvas tops and things with dye in them.

A pressure washer helps also.

Wet sand and polish witness marks after removing any lettering, if needed.

Don't forget to clean inside and under everthing you can get to,
the underside of seats, etc. normally accumulate mold and mildew
under them.

Clean and wash out the bilge from front to back with bow tipped up.

Do several walk arounds when you think you're done, you will always find something you missed.


Don't do them cheap, you will wish you hadn't.
Boats are a lot of work.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the information it really helps.Im trying to learn all I can about it.These boats that I might be doing are mainly fresh water boats.I've done 2-3 boats, but I want to get better at what I am doing. I'm interested in talking to you more about it.

PM me, I'll help any way I can.

I've tryed to get away from detailing, cause my other services overloadus as it is.

Been doin' them for around 12-15 years. I prefer boats to cars... less bending involed, although that dam buffer gets heavy after a while.
Still alot to pay attention to, nooks, crannies and compartments everywhere.

All salt water boats here on the coast, I imagine fresh water vessels
are much less corroded with salt spray and rust.
Probably a lot easier to clean too!

I can't PM you because I don't have 100 post. I am a NEWBIE.

Email me at:
TheLeakDetective1@msn.com

Just thought I'd say we charge 12.50+ per foot depending on condition

Includes Acid wash,Polish,wax,and the complete interior detail with steam cleaning
I work in a resort town and that could affect what people are willing to pay but if your price's are to low you'll be getting some really boats

I research the competition and talk to them about pricing whenever I can.
Charge what your local market will bear.
If you all stay around the same price everyone gets work.
If you under cut, you can screw up the market price and that is detrimental to all in your biz.
Keep a good price and eveyone is satisfied.
The lowest price is not always the best, we have all seen that, I'm sure.

I have been charging 10 for friends, 12 to dealerships n 15 to everyone else. no complaints yet!

Thanks for the advice I will practice those .

Do all the boats you do need full details or do you just wash them put a seallent on them?

I've been doing boats for years (I own a marina). General rule of thumb is to observe how oxidized the gel coat is, and judge your pricing then. Depending on the size of the vessel and how neglected it has been always allows you to justify a higher price. I generally charge $12-$16 a foot, depending again on the size of boat and condition. I generally charge an additional flat rate to clean interiors and cabins... again depending on the size of boat. The average 25-32 foot cabin cruiser style I charge around $150 or so to do carpetting and seating areas. On vinyl seats I always use a degreaser, as they are usually coated in hawaiian tropic. Different makes of boats can pose challenges too...gel coat finishes are like foregn car paint to domestic...and be careful with a wheel...gelcoat burns a lot easier... not to mention if you are working on something with a lot of pin-striping. I'm in a freshwater area which makes things a bit easier, however the effects of acid rain and sun exposure are detrimental to any finish. In most cases it is a client who is a once a year do-er...at the beginning of every season (our season only runs from May to the end of Oct.). It usually entails washing the boat, believe it or not I have found the best results out of a box of tide and a medium coarse brush (gets all black marks out from streaking of chrome moldings and rubber). A little bit of bleach will never hurt a white deck either...just make sure ALL hatches are buckled down and don't leak! I then let it completely dry and buff it out with a finishing compound. If there is heavy oxidization present you obviously have to use a coarser product, and in some cases even wet-sand (Sea Ray had some bad years with gel coat and they can be a real B*&^%). Then basically treat it the same as a car, polish and wax. Chrome railings I always use nevrdull.