Detailing a house boat????

[Jeepster04]

Has anyone tried to tackle a job like this? Ill be working on this thing in the next couple weeks and Im not sure where to begin at all. I wont be doing the interior but I will be doing everything on the outside.

The top deck is looking pretty rough. Ill need a good LOOOOOONG brush to reach everything and since meguiars doesnt offer anything like that(shame), Ill have to settle for something of lesser quality. What should I use to clean everything product wise? I guess I could use APC+ but would that be practical? Ill need ALOT of whatever it is so I hate to use all of my APC+. I couldnt go around spraying the top deck with it so I would need to dilute it in my bucket.

Im not sure what wax to go with yet either. The top of the front is in the worst shape. I believe the previous owners had everything re-done except for that so it will need at the minimum a good coat of cleaner wax. I guess Ill have to mount my PC to a pole of some kind to get to the middle of it since you cannot walk on that part.

Any advice at all is greatly appreciated. I just dont know where to begin with this.

Pics:













This thing is a beast.

-16x75ft
-Three bedroom
-Dual GM 5.0 engines
-1.5l 109amp generator

[Renny Doyle]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

First congrads...that is a fun job...large but fun! As for products, look right here at the Meguiar's Marine line-up. We use them all the time and they work!

As for the job itself...I can not stress the proper systems and process to make you work effectively and allow better quality. We perform a number of large jobs a year and the process can make it or break it for you!

Also, check with the harbor master and see what regulations you need to meet. In addition, that person may inform you if the Coast Guard has any special request for cleaning boats in water....if indeed that is what you are doing.

So, do a job walk a couple days in advance, make out a game plan and go at it...remember...this is just like any other detail...just bigger!

I have a pretty tight schedule next week but if you desire, call me Monday morning and I will chat with you via phone.

Good luck,

[Jeepster04]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

haha, we can say it will be a fun job!

What would you use to clean the top deck on that thing? Its so massive Im not sure anything from the marine line would help me since they are all small bottles.

What kind of brush would you recommend?

[Renny Doyle]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

As for the product to use on the deck...without seeing it first hand I could give you a dozen possibilities...and then some. It depends on the year of the craft, the make/model and the flooring type.

We have worked on these decks where its been a breeze to get them clean while others have offered a challenge. As you can see, I am hesitant to throw a couple products out to you as it may not work or worse...could cause damage if used within the wrong application.

As for brushes, look at getting a couple types...again depending on the condition and materials...not all brushes with act the same. I like a beveled brush or what is called a truck washing brush. Also, a nice bores hair brush is something we have on hand also. Again think about the size of the project but remember to large of brush will not allow the correct pressure to be applied and allows the user to clean to large of area that could prove to be ineffective. We usually prefer Magnolia Brush Mfg. brushes the best.

Good luck,

haha, we can say it will be a fun job!

What would you use to clean the top deck on that thing? Its so massive Im not sure anything from the marine line would help me since they are all small bottles.

What kind of brush would you recommend?

[Jeepster04]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

Thanks a bunch renny. The top deck is fiber glass with gel coat from what I can tell. Its not in real bad shape other than TONS of pollen and the regular black stuff that forms on white fiber glass.

I was thinking of trying to find a boars hair brush. And I understand what you mean by a bigger brush not being effective.

Here are the above pictures that no longer show up. I changed the name of the folder on photobucket and it seems like the links got messed up.

[Renny Doyle]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

We had a boat deck last summer that had the non-slip finish and nothing would remove the black from the deepest nooks of the non-slip floor. One of our guys grabbed a bottle of mild wheel/tire cleaner and tested a small area.

The next morning when we returned to finish the interior and rear deck, that test spot was as good as new...so good we re-cleaned the front deck by hand so it would match. Again, we used a very mild product and it worked fantastic with the truck washing brush along with some elbow grease and lots of time on our hands and knees(soft sided knee pads will be a smart move too)!

Also a hint...bring some of the Mr. Clean Magic eraser pads along with you...we had good luck with those little pads on that same boat!

[Jeepster04]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

Got it all cleaned up! Didnt do anything for removing oxidation since I just didnt have the stuff to do it. There was a guy there cleaning another house boat. I noticed him putting something on it after he washed it so I got him to come over and put some on your fly bridge to see what it would do. All the guy did was wipe it on(took 5 times on ours) and it left a nice shine. I read up on it some and people compare it to a clear coat. I read where some complained about it peeling off or turning yellow so we will see. I ordered two bottles at $40 per bottle. If I dont like it Ill sell the other bottle to the guy that details around the docks.

Mostly everything was pressure washed. Everything on the top was pressure washed. The sides were sprayed down and washed via a soft brush on a pole with some marine wash I found at walmart. They top and sides seem to be in great shape with little black streaking but the fly bridge(front top) is in rough shape. Ill probably use that 'new glass 2' on it first just as a good test.









We had ordered HD tv but we didnt find out that HD uses a BIGGER dish till the guy got there to install it. We'll have to settle for plan old digital out on the boat I guess. We have HD at the house but its through a land line. This Dish **** is all new to us.

[yalerd]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

Nicely done, how long did it take?

[Jeepster04]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

Nicely done, how long did it take?

Pretty much 2 full days. The first day we had to sign the papers for the boats slip at 8am so that took up around 1 hour or so. The next day the cable guy came at 9am and got in the way for a few hours. What you cant see in the pics is all the carpet we had to pressure wash. The sides didnt take a couple hours to wash and dry but those porches took along time.

Going to try and put the 'new glass 2' on the fly bridge this weekend.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

The boat came out great. Excellent job. Way to go.

[mirrorfinishman]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

Got it all cleaned up! Didnt do anything for removing oxidation since I just didnt have the stuff to do it. There was a guy there cleaning another house boat. I noticed him putting something on it after he washed it so I got him to come over and put some on your fly bridge to see what it would do. All the guy did was wipe it on(took 5 times on ours) and it left a nice shine. I read up on it some and people compare it to a clear coat. I read where some complained about it peeling off or turning yellow so we will see. I ordered two bottles at $40 per bottle. If I dont like it Ill sell the other bottle to the guy that details around the docks.

Ill probably use that 'new glass 2' on it first just as a good test.

The only sure way to remove oxidation is to polish it away using aggressive products, such as Meguiar's #49 Oxidation Remover.

Miracle products that wipe on and wipe off may look good for awhile, however, they really do nothing to remove the oxidation. They just cover up the problem and continue to build up on the surface.

[benhui86]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

woah that thing looks so awesome!! how much did it cost?

[Jeepster04]

Re: Detailing a house boat????

The only sure way to remove oxidation is to polish it away using aggressive products, such as Meguiar's #49 Oxidation Remover.

Yea I know.

I just dont have it in me to buy a rotary buffer, buy all the megs marine products I need, and buff an entire house boat.

woah that thing looks so awesome!! how much did it cost?

Do you mean the detail or the house boat? I didnt charge anything since its the families boat.

House boats in that shape run around 150-200k. To replace a boat like that would be around 275k.

There are boats around there that go for half a million.