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View Full Version : Anyone do strictly exterior detailing (hulls)?



Buffed
10-23-2015, 07:37 AM
Anyone do strictly hulls on boats. Would love for this to be my niche as it brings the most enjoyment when working. But I'm afraid to turn down customers wanting full details. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Chaotic29
01-06-2016, 05:39 PM
Anyone do strictly hulls on boats. Would love for this to be my niche as it brings the most enjoyment when working. But I'm afraid to turn down customers wanting full details. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Not strictly hulls, but i have done 2 boats. The first one was a heavily oxidized dark blue 33ft Trophy fishing boat that took around over 30 hours for me to correct and protect. My second was a massive 50+ft two story Yacht that i did not have to polish but i did a stripping wash, deep clean and a coat of sealant. on every square inch not in the water. The yacht took around 30 hours also.

It is alot of work because of the awkward angles that boats have. But just like anything else it is very rewarding. It is also a pain if you cant get the boat out of the water. I did both of these still on the water. The Trophy boat was lifted out of the water and i could stand on the pontoons, but that only left a small area i could stand along the side, thus i had to be very careful and took extra time. *TIP* it did not happen to me but i was stressed about dropping my machine. *Using a few feet of rope make a "sling" and attach it to the buffer/polisher to prevent it from falling.
There are alot of boats and since they sit outside almost all the time alot of boats need attention and "most" people with boats can afford to have it detailed, so go for it. Start small, and find a private marina if you can. When i was working on these 2 boats in the marina i had 5-6 people walk up and ask me how much i charge and if i would do their boat. Just the fact that you are doing a better job than the sketchy boat washing guy that somehow washes, polishes, and waxes your boat in 1 hour makes boat owners ask questions and get you more business.
It would be a full time job to do all the time if you have a good amount of customers. Since it takes so much time that i do not have, i will only go back and do these 2 boats again about every 6 months.
If you have clients with wake boarding boats, etc. that are sitting on trailers, i think it would be a whole different story and alot easier. Less time per boat since they would hopefully be smaller and since they are on a trailer you can actually stand next to it and work more easily.

Mike Phillips
01-06-2016, 05:48 PM
Anyone do strictly hulls on boats.

Would love for this to be my niche as it brings the most enjoyment when working.




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Marine 31 Boat Detailing Class - Saturday February 6th, 2016 (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/marine-31-boat-detailing-classes/91505-marine-31-boat-detailing-class-saturday-sunday-august-22nd-23rd.html)


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