PDA

View Full Version : detailing costs



mikev
04-06-2003, 09:50 PM
Hey guys I have a question after 2 months of looking for an IT job with no luck money is running tight. I was thinking about detailing some boats to earn a little extra cash since I used to make pretty good mony at it back in college. the question is how much do they get now to detail a boat?

MOP
04-06-2003, 10:10 PM
I have a friend that has a yacht keep up Biz, he charges $500 a month with a 9 month contract. Spring cleanup and wax, weekly wash, mid season touch up for wax and in the fall he coats all the metal work and varnish with a good smear of wax which stays on till spring. He takes care of about 50 boats with latin helpers, he says he keeps about 100k for himself alot of which is cash and some tips.

pmreed
04-06-2003, 10:33 PM
For small boats (the kind we run), the local price seems to be $7-$10/foot.

Phil

Stix Magill
04-06-2003, 11:38 PM
What all does a detailing include?

How much should a pro wet-sand cost?

The local car detailers are afraid to touch my boat.... and I am afraid to let them.

Scott Smith

MOP
04-07-2003, 08:02 AM
I would say the boat should look like a dealer prep job, no dirt anywhere and a very good wax job.

Stix if I were you I would do my own wet sanding/corse compounding, people make to much of it. It is really easy and depending on just how bad not as time consuming as many would think. Many times you can get away with corse compound, I have gotten to like the new orbitals instead of my wheel buffers, have three gathering dust(Oops "two" gave one away). I have brought back a lot of boats that looked DEAD, you can when done wax, but I much prefer clear Awlgrip or the like. Gel coat is far more porous when its surface is broken by sanding, I like to seal them back up. Plus if you have a color gel coat boat it will stop the oxidation and keep the color bright for a hell of a lot less than a full paint job.

Fish boy
04-07-2003, 08:17 AM
Dave,
Phil is right on for our area at 7-10/ft.

Stix, M.O.P., as usual, is giving good advice. It i snot hard to wet sand. My Brother and I bought an 18 testarosa tha sat in a repo lot for 2 years. The gellcoat was white/pink instead of red.

Wetsanded and buffed it. Ended up looking like wet nail polish. By the way, this was my first try wetsanding, and did not find it too challenging.

Good luck

mikev
04-07-2003, 09:31 AM
thanks guys i agree wet sanding is not hard to do at all especialy on gelcoat it is very thick compared to paint. I have never burned through gelcoat but have on paint when i was learning haow to compaund with a wheel.

DonzigoJR
04-07-2003, 12:15 PM
I worked for one and ran my own detail company for roughly 2 years. The way we priced boats was $10ft for compound and wax. If you wanted the inside cleaned it was $2 per ft extra. In so far as bigger boats it costs $15 per ft. These boats are those like Sea-Ray's, Regals, Etc. Boats with a large cabin area. I was doing very well with the business. I also have several friends that make over 100k a year. The only thing about the business that you really need to be ready for,is the hard work. :D :D

HyperDonzi
04-07-2003, 02:42 PM
That sounds like a good idea to make some money, I should look into that more in the summer. MikeV, How did the 4.3 project go?

Tommy

Sam
04-07-2003, 04:12 PM
Not to rain on your parade but you might want to think about being insured and bonded. Unless you plan on doing this for friends only I would look into it. I know in most marinas you must be insured in order to perform any work there. I know I have used a couple of detail companies from time to time and that's the first question I ask. Good Luck !

Sam

mikev
04-07-2003, 09:49 PM
the 4.3 got a 4 barrel and intake upgrade. got me 400 rpms and the throttle response is great you can realy feel the extra 2 barrels kick in. no money for anything else yet though. I am seriosly considering going to the trouble for a 350 transplant because i realy want to see at least 60-65. no money right now though so thw 4.3 will be in for atleast another year.

mikev
04-07-2003, 10:06 PM
didnt think about bonded and insured i need to check into that thanks.