Update on Detailing boats

L

LDPaul

New member
For some of you that remember me (Details3), I have been detailing boats in the DWF area. While I detail boats - customers have cars also. So here is what I have been doing lately and staying busy.



This first pic is a Sea Ray 280 - 28ft long with cabin. Here is the finished shot. After washing the boat, I use a cleaner wax - either Meguiars, Hammerhead, or 3M what ever is my fancy for the day. Then I apply Meguiars boat polish - I have tried others but none have produced the shine I wanted. Then I use Meguiars Marine grade wax on both exterior and interior. Since I started doing boats in March I have done over 100 boats in various sizes from 19ft - 48ft.
 

Attachments

  • sr280.jpg
    sr280.jpg
    27.4 KB · Views: 207
While many have complained about the durrmaid, I have had very few problems with mine. In fact the water line by the handle gets so hot I have to wrap it with a towel or I will burn my arm. It is the same with water coming out of the sprayer. I will admit that I have never put soap in the extractor. I have a sprayer with carpet soap that I spray on the carpet and then use a carpet brush to scrub the carpet. If there is stains I use spotshot and scrub the stain out. Then I use the extractor to pickup the soap and finish the carpet. Here is the before shot.
 

Attachments

  • carpetbf.jpg
    carpetbf.jpg
    16.8 KB · Views: 203
These next two pics are boat dash shots. Before I started cleaning the cockpit of this boat there was 8 mud dobber nests (bees). This boat had been sitting for 4 years.
 

Attachments

  • dashbefore.jpg
    dashbefore.jpg
    27 KB · Views: 186
Cleaning the cockpit of this boat I went through 22 buckets of water. The mud on the floors, and seats were about 1/4" thick. Yes there was carpet below the mud. I broke up what mud I could and vaccum it up. Then I pulled the carpets and started cleaning rest of the mud out. After getting about 90% of the mud I then used degreaser to remove all the stubborn areas.
 

Attachments

  • dashafter.jpg
    dashafter.jpg
    33.8 KB · Views: 177
Here is one of my boat customer's cars. He has a three story house with the bottom floor just for parking his 4 corvettes. This day I detailed two of his vets. Here is his collector Indy pace vet.
 

Attachments

  • indyvet.jpg
    indyvet.jpg
    34.3 KB · Views: 172
Here is a 44ft that we detailed about two weeks ago. The bow of the boat was the hard part to wax since it was almost 5ft out of the water.
 

Attachments

  • sub.jpg
    sub.jpg
    29.6 KB · Views: 175
Yes that is me waxing this boat by hand. I also polish/wax the whole top of the boat by hand. It takes awhile, but customers sure like the results.
 

Attachments

  • subwax.jpg
    subwax.jpg
    22.5 KB · Views: 172
I'll bet working from that little inflatable presents some challenges exerting pressure while you are doing the polishing step :eek:



Wouldn't it be nice if they would have you perform the work while in dry dock. Needless to say, you're earning your fees :up
 
This one is a Sea Ray 410 42ft. I currently contract out to 4 marina's and the Sea Ray dealer in the DFW area. Next week I will be heading to Lake Texoma to work on a 48 ft yacht and meeting with the marina to discuss contract work. I contract out even during the winter months - customers want their boat cleaned even during the winter.
 

Attachments

  • searay410.jpg
    searay410.jpg
    29.9 KB · Views: 158
You sure are right Mr. Clean. I have dropped the cord and polisher in the water when I have had to use a light compound on the bottom of the boat. But I have learned a new trick today that will help in keeping the cord out of the water. Now if I can only keep the polisher out of the water.



I may not have posted a lot in the past since I have been working all summer from dawn to dusk one can only do so much.
 
If anyone in the DFW area is interested - I am looking to hire some help. It is hard work, but for the right person there will be room for advancement. If everything goes as planned, I hope to be running at least two crews by next spring (March in Texas). So shoot me an email.



On another note about polishing the chrome: I currently using Mothers as I have found none that produce the shine I like. I have not tried others, but not the new stuff from Meguiars.
 
have you thought about using a pneumatic polisher so wether you drop it or not, it wont matter??





Very nice work btw. How did you start with boats at the marina?
 
I had one customer ask me to do his boat at the marina. When I got there, the boat was in dry dock being worked on at Sea Ray. They let me detail the boat and was shocked at the final results. Then it has just expanded from there. I have learned a lot of information dealing with marinas and working things out. I actually have other boat washers finding me work. I make an agreement with them that I won't wash the boats on monthly contracts if they give me all the waxing and detailing work.
 
tpgsr said:
have you thought about using a pneumatic polisher so wether you drop it or not, it wont matter??





Very nice work btw. How did you start with boats at the marina?
Click to expand...



To use a pneumatic polisher - I would have to have an air compressor to use in the dock. I do have a small one, but never had thought about it or tried it. "something to think about"



Thanks
 
Wow! And I though waxing a 44' coach a couple times a year was a lot of work!



Those boats really turned out great, very wet looking gelcoats! I've done a few bass boats and several ski boats and one huge cigarette style racing boat, but nothing like those yatchs you are working on. How much time do you put into them?
 
Hey Scott,



Generally on a boat 32ft, it takes me about a day and a half. When my wife helps me, she does the cabin and cockpit with me doing everything outside, then it takes us about seven hours.



I can do 19ft -26ft in a day easy unless it needs heavy compounding or extra cleaning on the interior. The big yachts above 38ft takes me at least two/three days if it is real bad.



The pay is good as if I did three cars in a day or I can do one boat 28 ft or bigger. Two cars a day would equal 19ft boat.



From the rub rail down I use 3m light compound to remove water marks and light oxidation. Then I use Megs boat polish with the pc on 5. After that I apply the wax.



I am still experimenting with different polishes and compounds to get the altimate shine.



I saw a post awhile ago on some people and you mentioned using or wanting to try collinite wax (870) on autos. If you are interested, I have a few bottles of both the cleaner and the wax. I have not tried it on cars, but I will say it sure is runny. Nothing like I have used before. Let me know and maybe we can trade. Are you going to the big car show at Texas Motorspeedway next month?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top