finish restoration

[bronze_10]

So this year my boat is 10 years old. And she is a red boat so she has a few areas where the boat is starting to look dingy. I have used polishers and cleaning wax and the like but time is very harsh on boats. I met a guy at our local boat show a few weeks back who has a professional boat detailing business. I spoke with him for some time and he showed me pictures of his work. A lot of pictures both before and after. I asked him what it would cost to do a boat like mine and showed him pictures of it. He was understandably hesitant about giving me a price without seeing it. He said it could need nothing more than a good polishing or it could need some light wet sanding.... (all of it is over my head).. What i am looking for with this post is someone who has had a 23 or 24 foot boat who has had the gel coat professionally restored. Apparently red boats and black boats fade the fastest. I figure if it wont break the bank having it done at the 10 year mark is a good time. Lets say he has to do some light sanding.... am i looking at 800 bucks or 3800 bucks??

p.s. He told me to call him when i pick it up out of storage and i can take it by his house for an estimate. He also said i need to get some kind of a skirt to put around it while it is in the drive way for the summers to help with fading... what says the forum???

 

[robert843]

Have you tried the multi stage wax kits with a buffer? They usually come with 3 different bottles usually one in a very coarse wax with a very gritty feel almost like sand paper and then the last step would be your traditional boat wax. I have used them before on my older boat with good success but it is a lot of work and depending on how bad the boat is may need to repeat some steps twice to get the desired result. I know Meguiars and 3M and make some of these I have only used the 3M kit but I'm sure either is fine. You will need a good high quality buffer and a fair amount of time I won't sugar coat it this is work.

 

[Neutron]

This was my 98 Sundowner 205. It was heavily oxidized, chauky, and faded.


After just orbital buffing with compound and wool pad, then finish with foam pad and boat cleaner wax,

 

[robert843]

I never tried what @Neutron mentioned but often thought that a good rubbing compound like he probably used would probably even do better then the kits I mentioned as it would basically remove that top oxidized layer and get you down to a fresh layer of gel coat.

 

[Neutron]

I sold this boat after 2 years of owning it for 7 grand more than i paid for her.
It looked like new again

 

[OCMD]

Impressive, @Neutron

 

[zipper]

@bronze_10 I did my own, and it is not over your head. Are the graphics still on your boat? It could make the job more difficult and expensive. I know what it took to remove oxidation from my Orange gelcoat. I hand wet sanded the hull with 1500 and then 2000 grit paper. It took me about 6 hours per side taking time to give my arm a rest. I worked in 2 foot sq. sections. After that, I wished I had first used a wool buffing pad and a rotary buffer but all I had was a D/A and a foam pad it just took longer. I used Marine 31 products and like the results, the wife loves the improvement.

If you do not have the tools/supplies, they can be purchased for a couple hundred dollars and used to maintain that shine, if you have the time, you can save many hundreds. And I would think your lower estimation would cover it if you had it done.

 

[swatski]

View attachment 69550

I sold this boat after 2 years of owning it for 7 grand more than i paid for her.
It looked like new again

I did something like that a couple of times when I was young(er), but it takes a lot of energy.



What @zipper did is great. If you are not too far gone you might be able to get a beautiful finish without sanding, just some good cutting compound like Meguire 105. It does wonders, when combined with an orbital and some elbow grease.

At any rate - @bronze_10 - keep us posted! These are fun threads!

--

 

[newbote]

So this year my boat is 10 years old. And she is a red boat so she has a few areas where the boat is starting to look dingy. I have used polishers and cleaning wax and the like but time is very harsh on boats. I met a guy at our local boat show a few weeks back who has a professional boat detailing business. I spoke with him for some time and he showed me pictures of his work. A lot of pictures both before and after. I asked him what it would cost to do a boat like mine and showed him pictures of it. He was understandably hesitant about giving me a price without seeing it. He said it could need nothing more than a good polishing or it could need some light wet sanding.... (all of it is over my head).. What i am looking for with this post is someone who has had a 23 or 24 foot boat who has had the gel coat professionally restored. Apparently red boats and black boats fade the fastest. I figure if it wont break the bank having it done at the 10 year mark is a good time. Lets say he has to do some light sanding.... am i looking at 800 bucks or 3800 bucks??

p.s. He told me to call him when i pick it up out of storage and i can take it by his house for an estimate. He also said i need to get some kind of a skirt to put around it while it is in the drive way for the summers to help with fading... what says the forum???

I had a full detail (inside and out) on a boat a few yrs ago when I lived in Florida and he did some wetsanding to get rid of some oxidation. He only charged me $20 a foot. If you only asked him to do the outside I would think that is the max he would charge. It was well worth the money.

 

[bronze_10]

I used some cleaning wax last year with the applicator attatchment that goes on the end of a drill.... shouldnt have done that. It put some swirl marks in it that just bug the shit outta me. I wax the boat often but like i said... its 10 years old. It does have the graphics still on it. I would love to take them off but wonder how the shadowing would look and if sanding would remove most of the shadow . effect. It was funny... when i started taking to the guy i was like... oh no my boat isnt bad at all... after looking at some of his pictures of the before and after i went and looked at my boat.... now i am like... dang... this thing is bad! If the weather holds i am gonna get the boat out of storage in the next few weeks and see if i can run it by this guys place. If the boat was only 2 or 3 years old i would likely try to do more myself but i feel like at 10 now is a good time to get it back like new... the guy told me gel coats are only so thick... he said if done right u may only get to do this 3 times over the life of the boat.. makes sense to me.. its really depends on the money.. i am comfortable at the lower end of my estimate... at the top of of my estimate i will have to put some beer cans on some fishing line at the end of my driveway and try to snag a @robert843 to come do the work!

 

[bronze_10]

The other part to this... the boat cleaner wax i used last year was impressive. I thought i was done.. but after about a month i could see the same oxidation spots coming back. Now it looks like it did before the cleaner wax..

 

[zipper]

The other part to this... the boat cleaner wax i used last year was impressive. I thought i was done.. but after about a month i could see the same oxidation spots coming back. Now it looks like it did before the cleaner wax..

The oxidation will need to be removed before any wax is put on. For moderate to heavy oxidation, like mine, I found it necessary to wet sand it off. @Neutron used a wool pad, which will cut quickly and you have to keep it moving or too much will be removed. Looks great BTW. And a D/A is less agressive than a rotary polisher. I found the marine 31 Heavy cut oxidation cleaner to be more abrasive than Turtle wax rubbing compound, you can feel it between your fingers. Removing 10 YO graphics is easy with a heat gun and then you or the detailer can remove the oxidation evenly across the topsides. And then buff it out to a high lustre that will last years with the reapplication of a quality wax periodically. After I did mine, I just used a pump spray and micro fiber towel to maintain it last year. Good luck i am sure it will look better when done.

 

[Brandon_SC]

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1360887O/professional-sop.pdf

This has been helpful to me in trying to understand the refinishing process of gelcoat. Not all of these steps are required according to 3M... it just depends on the level of oxidation your boat currently has. This link contains the steps as well as the 3M products required to complete each step. I'm not a rep for 3M, but their products are far superior in my line of work (cabinetry, wood sanding and finishing).
Edit: There is also a video on YouTube by 3M showing a person doing these individual steps. Very enlightening

 

[swatski]

The other part to this... the boat cleaner wax i used last year was impressive. I thought i was done.. but after about a month i could see the same oxidation spots coming back. Now it looks like it did before the cleaner wax..

That's why you will need something like the Meg 105.
Or one of the 3M products, but it needs to be able to cut. Sanding is the last option, believe me. At least on the entire hull.

--

 

[Impelled]

I used the 3M 2-step process. Used the light orange (calamine lotion like) #1 & #3. Yeah, I skipped #2 cause my old ass wanted too. Buffing it in and rubbing where you have to...is a lot of grunt work. Buff in #1, and rub it out. Sounds straightforward. Repeat with step #2 (I skip), and finish with #3. Or the other way around? Can't remember..I was so so tired when I left my buddy's house, it was all I could do was turn the Tundra's power steering wheel. Then next day put 2 coats (at least) of good marine wax. Spend next 4 days admiring the gloss from a reclined soft chair that's never comfortable. I'd pay 3-4 hundred $ and think it was worth it. But the wife won't spend money on grunt work, she does alot, if not most, of the waxing. If you do it, and do it right, you have the peace of mind knowing it was done right!

 

[Impelled]

I used the 3M 2-step process. Used the light orange (calamine lotion like) #1 & #3. Yeah, I skipped #2 cause my old ass wanted too. Buffing it in and rubbing where you have to...is a lot of grunt work. Buff in #1, and rub it out. Sounds straightforward. Repeat with step #2 (I skip), and finish with #3. Or the other way around? Can't remember..I was so so tired when I left my buddy's house, it was all I could do was turn the Tundra's power steering wheel. Then next day put 2 coats (at least) of good marine wax. Spend next 4 days admiring the gloss from a reclined soft chair that's never comfortable. I'd pay 3-4 hundred $ and think it was worth it. But the wife won't spend money on grunt work, she does alot, if not most, of the waxing. If you do it, and do it right, you have the peace of mind knowing it was done right!

I might add, rubbing it out like this is the only surefire way I know of removing that haze that forms under the wax. My old red 1989 FourWinns almost had a chalky pink dull finish to it. 3M rubbing compound brought the gelcote back to glossy red and had some people confused when I told them it was 14-15yrs old.

 

[robert843]

i am comfortable at the lower end of my estimate... at the top of of my estimate i will have to put some beer cans on some fishing line at the end of my driveway and try to snag a @robert843 to come do the work!

Not gonna lie you don't have enough beer lol this is not a fun project (like pulling off hydro turf I don't care what the cost is I'm not doing it again) to do correctly but a worthwhile one. Gel coats is something like 10 times thinker than a cars finish paint but your guy is probably right and could only do it a few times in a boats life. You really do have to take off the top layer to get the shine back and to get it to stay lots of products will bring it back immediately but you will find yourself doing the same next year. I don't know what your budget is on this but if your guy will do it and do it correctly and guarantee his work in other words if oxidization comes back out next spring he will do it again I would say its easily worth $400-500 to have him do it more them that I would probably have to dive in and do it my self.

 

[REM835]

I would be curious what price your guy gives you. I personally think $800 is way high. Used to do cars for under $150. @robert843 is correct, it is a lot of work and if not done properly, oxidation will come right back. I doubt it actually needs wet sanded. I was able to restore a 99 Seadoo Challenger 1800 that was left to die uncovered in someone’s back yard. You would need a good high speed rotary buffer with wool pads. I have always had good luck with 3M super duty compound and 3M finesse-it II followed up with polish and then wax. There are a bunch of good videos and products at www.detailedimage.com that might help you decide if you want to tackle it.

 

[bronze_10]

I am hoping the price is resonable enough that i can pay the guy to do it... i dont mind waxing a few times a year if needed but if i can get a professional to do it for me and it keep its shine for the next 10 years... that may be the way to go... it all depends on the price.

 

[veedubtek]

i will have to put some beer cans on some fishing line at the end of my driveway and try to snag a @robert843 to come do the work!

Not gonna lie you don't have enough beer lol this is not a fun project (like pulling off hydro turf I don't care what the cost is I'm not doing it again) to do correctly but a worthwhile one. Gel coats is something like 10 times thinker than a cars finish paint but your guy is probably right and could only do it a few times in a boats life. You really do have to take off the top layer to get the shine back and to get it to stay lots of products will bring it back immediately but you will find yourself doing the same next year. I don't know what your budget is on this but if your guy will do it and do it correctly and guarantee his work in other words if oxidization comes back out next spring he will do it again I would say its easily worth $400-500 to have him do it more them that I would probably have to dive in and do it my self.

Ya see @bronze_10 , you've gotta use better bait. Try C.C. whiskey next time for better results when fishing for @robert843 's.