How Much do you charge to wetsand a vehicle?

Dtrick.22

Dtrick.22

New member
I have very little experience with wetsanding. I've probably done it 3 times to get some scratches out. I understand that wetsanding requires lots of training and practice, is very time consuming, and isnt something you pickup on overnight. At some point down the road I would definitly like to take a class or maybe have one of the DC members from my area teach me more before I would ever consider doing a full car. Just out of curiousity how much would you be charging to wetsand the average size sedan or the average sized SUV? About how much of a profit do you make for yourself after paying materials? Thanks,Erich
 
Wet sanding is an extreme process that I have found very few times where its needed..To want and learn it that's great but its reserved for extreme use IMO.

How much you charge is dependent on the car in questions, its not something that you will do in a few hours, most are projects that take days in most cases and that can run 100's of dollars
 
You don't charge by the job when wetsanding. You charge by the hour, and that rate depends on what you think your experince is worth. Someone may do it for 25 an hour, somebody else may want 75 an hour. I'd say in general though it would take at minimum 3 full days to do it right. So figure 3 10 hour days at say 40 bucks an hour and you're at 1200. Most of that 1200 would be profit. Paper is cheap compared to what you can make off it.

Wetsanding a oem paint job is alot different then a custom job. It can be done though, i've done it several times. I'd suggest though, learning more about wetsanding/polishing in general before thinking about wetsanding an entire care.
 
Listen.......wet sanding is a breeze ! First off make sure you get the right tools to work with. I use a rubber sanding block that is very flexible, for OEM paint never use anything less than 1500 grit paper. you will need either a spray bottle,or a bottle with a flip cap.I prefer a bottle with a flip cap dispenser . mix a small portion of dish soap in the water. the slicker the surface the faster the cut.

I don't know why it takes true detailer to wet sand a car for 3 days, but I can usually do one complete in 2-3 hours for the sanding part.

tips: always open the hood and the trunk and prop it open with a empty can, bucket whatever you have. stay off the edges, and stay 2" off the windshield wiper nozzles as your buffer cannot get that close, unless you remove them.

sand in a back n forth motion, with a 50% overlap with each stroke. let the sandpaper do all the work.
Make sure you keep your hand flat on the paper, otherwise it will cause finger marks in your stroke.

sand the surface where the paint is "dull" looking with no gloss showing through. If you have glossy areas , the paint will not polish out correctly.
after you get all of the area sanded. I like to go back with some 2000 grit paper and in a circular motion with plenty of water re sand what you already sanded. This extra step is the "money" we you polish out the paint.
This extra step allows you just to lay the buffer up on the paint and it will gloss up quickly.

If you do not sand the surface where it feels slick under the paper, it will not be easy to polish out and then you might burn through if you have to re sand. take your time and go slow.

Polishing. Use a yellow foam pad on a speed buffer with the RPM set at 1200.
spread your compound (1000 grit ) on the surface,mist with some water and begin polishing the paint. Do small areas at a time. ie. divide the hood into (4) sections

do one panel at a time, match each panel to the next panel.

Now for what you charge depends on your level of experience. My shop rate is $65.00 per hour. To wet sand and polish a car which takes me about 3-5 hours depending on the car I get $400.00

The secret here is the sanding not the polishing. If you take your time in sanding the paint it takes no time to polish the paint

2-3 hours to sand , 2 hours to polish

Good Luck
 
cartoysautospa said:
I don't know why it takes true detailer to wet sand a car for 3 days, but I can usually do one complete in 2-3 hours for the sanding part.
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Cause i'm not a hack that can wetsand a car in less time that it takes a professional to even prep the car for wetsanding.

You're nothing but a sorry ass excuse of a car washer(hack) if you really think you can wetsand a car from start to finish in half a day.
 
TrueDetailer said:
Cause i'm not a hack that can wetsand a car in less time that it takes a professional to even prep the car for wetsanding.

You're nothing but a sorry ass excuse of a car washer(hack) if you really think you can wetsand a car from start to finish in half a day.
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You tell em True. I totally agree with you:rockon
 
well beemer boy and 9d4e420, FYI I work on Porsche , Mercedes , Lexus yada yada, you merly prop the hood open so the edges of the hood do not touch the front fenders. so it proves evident that you have never wet sanded a entire car before.
Oh and I don't think I can wet sand a car in half a day .........bring your self on down and I will show you Mr. Man..........................I perhaps have forgotten more than you will ever know about this detailing biz. I can only figure oyu guys must just do one detail a week so you have longer to work on it.
Remember Time is Money
 
:rofl
cartoysautospa said:
well beemer boy and 9d4e420, FYI I work on Porsche , Mercedes , Lexus yada yada, you merly prop the hood open so the edges of the hood do not touch the front fenders. so it proves evident that you have never wet sanded a entire car before.
Oh and I don't think I can wet sand a car in half a day .........bring your self on down and I will show you Mr. Man..........................I perhaps have forgotten more than you will ever know about this detailing biz. I can only figure oyu guys must just do one detail a week so you have longer to work on it.
Remember Time is Money
Click to expand...
 
Wow, someone is real chippy today. :)

You can wetsand an entire car, by hand, in 2-3 hours? Does it take you around 5 minutes to do a wash, by chance?
 
cartoysautospa said:
well beemer boy and 9d4e420, FYI I work on Porsche , Mercedes , Lexus yada yada, you merly prop the hood open so the edges of the hood do not touch the front fenders. so it proves evident that you have never wet sanded a entire car before.
Oh and I don't think I can wet sand a car in half a day .........bring your self on down and I will show you Mr. Man..........................I perhaps have forgotten more than you will ever know about this detailing biz. I can only figure oyu guys must just do one detail a week so you have longer to work on it.
Remember Time is Money
Click to expand...

This is just to funny. You're trying to school me? I can't even reply to that cause its just to damn funny.

Face it, you're a hack. Don't come in here trying to defend yourself with the old, oh i work on high dollar cars and you can come watch if you want excuse.

Just FYI what your doing is called a scuff job, a typical dealership job to doll up a car full of scratches. Can be done in half a day easily. There is a difference between this and actually "wetsanding" a car. There's more to it then just running around the car with a da or a block real quick and speed buffing it out. Best know your stuff before you come in here and try to school people. :kick:




Oh one more thing. You don't need to use a can or bucket to prop the hood open. If you knew anything about this business at all. You would know you could just pull the hood latch and it would open just enough. And why are you going all the way to the edges like that on a factory car anyways, if you knew anything about wetsanding you would know why i ask that.
 
cartoysautospa said:
well beemer boy and 9d4e420, FYI I work on Porsche , Mercedes , Lexus yada yada, you merly prop the hood open so the edges of the hood do not touch the front fenders. so it proves evident that you have never wet sanded a entire car before.
Oh and I don't think I can wet sand a car in half a day .........bring your self on down and I will show you Mr. Man..........................I perhaps have forgotten more than you will ever know about this detailing biz. I can only figure oyu guys must just do one detail a week so you have longer to work on it.
Remember Time is Money
Click to expand...

please stop embarrassing yourself, no wait!

Its cold this time of year and most are not detailing as a result, continue this is just good entertainment
 
well Beemer Boy......it's cold, well I see now your a wanna be detailer. My shop has heat. Oh and I see your from Cali.......................Isn't that the Land of FRUIT and NUTS?
 
My main concern here is for you guys ......................wet sanding is not the answer for making a car show quality. I reserve wet sanding in only extreme measures, or you have a stubborn scratch that polishing won't remove.

If you work on your buffing technique,speed ,pressure and pattern and compound variations is all you need to get a true show car look. wet sanding is "NOT" for the novice !
 
To ease your concerns (haha) - I'll go out and say that I only really wetsand when I do something like paint touch ups. I've never really wetsanded an entire car, but I know folks who have and it takes a lot longer than a couple of hours to get it done (right). In all fairness, while you can be a great polisher jockey, there's just some things you need to use the paper for if you're going to be a serious detailer I think. That's just my opinion, so take it for what it's worth. :)
 
you guys.................... it takes me 2 -3 hours to wet sand a car , sorry ! I have been wet sanding cars since I was 14 I am now 52, sorry it takes you longer. how ever it takes me any where from 3- 6 hours to do the polishing and sometimes longer, but not 3 days as the other dude says it takes him to do the "JOB RIGHT "
 
oh and by the way to all you folks on here ...................This is my profession of 20 years , so I have been there done that. I got on here to give some of my knowledge to you wanna be good detail people. I could just keep all of this knowledge as I have in the past. So go to all those seminars and pay big bucks , and I am sure you want learn from them what you might learn from me.
 
With that kind of turn around on sanding, it's a shame you're not in the auto body/painting world. You've really missed your calling.

EDIT: After reading your second post there, it seems like you have some sort of chip or better than you attitude... What's that all about?
 
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