RV Parks!!!

[Troy@Protekt]

Want to keep busy without having to schedule multiple clients per day?

Get some business in a RV park.

We have been grabbing a lot of business at Sun-n-Fun RV park here in Sarasota. We came in to do one and after a week we have done 5 because of the people in there seeing our work and asking us to do theirs.:rockon

Here's a couple we did.

I forgot to do a before pic of this one :wall
It's a shame to because it would have made an excellent before and after

 

[Poorboy]

good idea:bigups it works especially in your area with all the snowbirds & vacationers:rockon

 

[Poorboy]

ps are you charging by the foot? and how much per foot

 

[carmaids]

Great job Troy, I just did my first RV today it was my Lt. at work I charged him 7 dollars per foot for exterior wash and wax. After doing it I feel like I should charge more. It was 34' with mold all over the side and roof. I did have a problem with my wax being very difficult. I used mothers cleaner wax applied with a rotary polisher after doing the first half everything looked great......then the second half it started to look spotty some places there was a shine and some places there wasn't. I anyone has any tips for me let me know I have to go back and fix it Friday.

 

[budman3]

Looks great Troy!

Saturday afternoon Randy Lowe is doing a seminar on RV detailing... that should give a few good tips. My family has always been into motorhomes and I just got back from the RV show in Tampa... lots of nice rigs with stunning paint but plenty buffer holograms...

At $10-12 a foot, some long staging or something and you could reel in some big money, especially on the newer and bigger ones with full body paint...

Do you need to get permission from the park to work in there? Any regulations on powerwashing, etc? A lot of parks don't like people to wash their coaches but if you bring your own water, that may be different?

Here's some pics of the good and ugly from today:

There was a surprising amount with buffer swirls... disappointing!

 

[Reddwarf]

I hope you have a good ladder! That is a great idea as I bet most RV folks don't want to clean their RV themselves. But dang, that is a lot of work!

 

[Stephan]

$10 - $12 may seem like alot but when you look at the surface area you are working with then it really seems like a good price.

Nice job.:bigups

 

[Troy@Protekt]

ps are you charging by the foot? and how much per foot

- To wash we charge $5 per foot ($4 minus the roof). 40' coach takes us about 2 hours
- To wash and hand apply a sealant $10 per foot. 40' coach takes us about $4 hours
- To Wash and machine polish it ranges from $12-$20. per foot depending on how bad the gel coat is. I purposely quote high on weathered RVs because I really don't want to do them. I go after the ones that are in good condition and the customer wants to stay on top of it.

I always have a higher labor rate in mind when I quote RVs, boats, planes ... Their is more risk involved and, in a lot of cases, the work is a bit harder.

If anyone has any tips for me let me know I have to go back and fix it Friday.

Sounds like you will need to 2-step this RV and that isn't what you charged for. Your probably gonna have to hit it with a compound first to restore the gel coat and that can be very time consuming.

Do you need to get permission from the park to work in there? Any regulations on powerwashing, etc? A lot of parks don't like people to wash their coaches but if you bring your own water, that may be different?

The park will not let people wash their own but will let outside companies come in with their own water and clean them. If there are regulations then they aren't enforced. They will also require you to have the proper insurance in most cases.

 

[CharlesW]

Just a thought.
Protect-All's Quick & Easy Wash, (QEW) is a product that is intended for RV park use.
Wouldn't Poorboy's Spray & Wipe be a good product for RV's? I don't think you will have the salt and mud accumulation as a general rule.
It seems like a waterless wash like S&W or a rinseless wash like DP 4 in 1 would work for many of the units and just use your water as needed.
The runoff water could be a lot less than if you do the whole thing with a pressure washer or hose. I have been in very few RV parks, but I don't think they were setup to have a lot of water running off the units being washed.

 

[Poorboy]

Just a thought.
Protect-All's Quick & Easy Wash, (QEW) is a product that is intended for RV park use.
Wouldn't Poorboy's Spray & Wipe be a good product for RV's? I don't think you will have the salt and mud accumulation as a general rule.
It seems like a waterless wash like S&W or a rinseless wash like DP 4 in 1 would work for many of the units and just use your water as needed.
The runoff water could be a lot less than if you do the whole thing with a pressure washer or hose. I have been in very few RV parks, but I don't think they were setup to have a lot of water running off the units being washed.

Charles we do sell quite a bit of Spray and Wipe to RV and boat owners for the exact reasons you mentioned...Bug Squash is also used quite a bit as the front of those big monsters are magnets

Troy it looks like like you could easily fill a niche that needs filling, but as you said it can be risky because of the height of them and for the older finishes that were poorly sprayed and non-cleared.
I used to run into a few at shows were the slightest abrasive would go right through. At least today's finishes are much more advanced :rockon

 

[CoatingsDr]

Troy, I know my friend would salute you for your marketing spirit. For a different perspective on how he achieves the best result when restoring faded fiberglass gelcoat to like new color, shine and luster, he has an excellent intro article and pictures on his website. Also, the same fiberglass gelcoat restoration procedure on al kinds of boats. He gets $25-$30 a linear foot because his way lasts 3-5 years, not 3-6 months.

IMHO, you may find it informative, even if you don't want to do restoration his way. Here it is:

Restore Like New Color & Shine to Faded Fiberglas Gelcoat

Good luck!