06 Chaparral SSI 276 Detail

[Shawn F.]

A friend of mine asked me to detail their mountain house/lake house boat for them this coming Friday and Saturday. I believe it is 29 feet and is blue and white in color... The only reason I will touch this boat is because he is a friend and he is willing to pay me whatever I feel is fair. He asked me about price and I told him I`d do some research because I have no clue on how much to charge by the foot and if interior is charged by the foot as well or just typical interior charge like vehicles... I am hoping to get some info and opinions from you guys here. I have done some searching and see all sorts of rates being charge from $12/Ft up to $50/Ft.

Supposedly without seeing it yet he said the inside is slightly dirty and the outside is not oxidized, just some black mold and needs to be washed and waxed... Also asked about doing 2 jet skis as well. My questions to you guys are:

1.) What is typical rate to be charged per foot? (roughly)

2.) Is foot per side such as all the way around the boat or just the length (29 feet)?

3.) What materials should I use to rid of the black mold/streaks and cleaning the inside? (I figured Duragloss Marine Black Streak Eliminator, Megs APC Plus, etc)

4.) Best protectant wax to use? (Collinite Paste Fleetwax)?



The boat is about 3 hours away so of course my travel costs will be covered and meals, etc so that I am not worried about and it`s a mini vacation as well since he said there will be "play" time before and after the cleaning. Thanks a lot in advance for any info here guys! I know a lot of this is in some threads here but I searched some and like I said, I saw a TON of info and I have very little time between now and Thursday to go online and do much research so figured I`d get my specific questions in one thread.

[Shawn F.]

Forgot to mention... The boat is dry docked in his dock and pulled up and out of the water, or will be I should say. I have power and water hook up there as well which makes things a lot easier and it`s his dock behind the house.

[Jpostal]

Thats a big job. I would charge an hourly rate if you havent seen it, but from his description I would guess 15 hours or more for even a basic wash, one step polish, wax, and interior clean up.



For mild water scum lines Muratic acid works pretty good but its expensive. I would clean the interior vinyl with APC and then protect with 303.



Good luck!

[Shawn F.]

Thanks for the info! He isn`t worried about price, he said just come do it and he will pay me for what I believe it`s worth. I still plan to give him an estimated time. I had a guy today contact me about doing a boat (23 footer) and I told him $25 a foot if there is buffing and wax involved which came out to be around $575 if that is not including 23 feet X 2 which is of course 46 feet. He said that my price is way too steep to clean a dirty boat, buff it and wax it inside and out. I didn`t even email him back because truthfully I don`t have the time to mess with it. I wouldn`t mind doing a boat and RV here and there for the experience but not for cheap people who do not want to pay for it...



My biggest thing is learning how to price it... Any help on this is GREATLY appreciated!

[Jpostal]

Keep in mind that a 29 footer is WAY bigger than a 23`. I quote a quick wash, wax, and interior spiff at about $15 per linear foot up to 20ish feet.



Boats can be fun but they can be a nightmare too. I prefer working on boats (over cars) if budget is not a real big deal, but when you have a neglected boat on a small budget boats can really suck...hard.

[AutoDud90]

Thanks for the info! He isn`t worried about price, he said just come do it and he will pay me for what I believe it`s worth. I still plan to give him an estimated time. I had a guy today contact me about doing a boat (23 footer) Car accessories I told him $25 a foot if there is buffing and wax involved which came out to be around $575 if that is not including 23 feet X 2 which is of course 46 feet. He said that my price is way too steep to clean a dirty boat, buff it and wax it inside and out. I didn`t even email him back because truthfully I don`t have the time to mess with it. I wouldn`t mind doing a boat and RV here and there for the experience but not for cheap people who do not want to pay for it...



My biggest thing is learning how to price it... Any help on this is GREATLY appreciated!

Ah, sounds like that dudes an *** because what you`re doing is a huge job. Sadly, I don`t know how you can price it..