Q: How much does it cost to get my boat detailed in Seattle?

That's a great question and you'll find that the answer varies a lot depending on which company you're contacting.

Getting Quotes
When trying to find out boat detailing prices for your area, the first thing you'll need to do is contact several boat detailing companies to get quotes. This can be a difficult challenge because a lot of the one-person or super small boat detailing businesses don't have anyone answering phones or replying to emails for them and it often takes them a long time to get back to inquiries, if you hear back from them at all. 

At Deckhand Detailing, we respond to emails, estimate requests and phone calls within minutes. We pride ourselves on great customer communication because our customers are the heart of our business!

Some boat detailing companies won't give you a quote until they see your boat first. This method will give you a more defined quote, but it might take them several weeks before they have time to go look at your boat. They won't be able to schedule the work until after they've seen your boat, so if you need it done sooner than later, this may not work out very well for your schedule.

Deckhand Detailing does it differently. Our buff and wax jobs use a range of prices based on the condition and size of a boat. Boat owners know the condition and size of their boat, so with our price ranges, they're able to know what they're going to be charged for when requesting a buff and wax detail job. By giving a range, we're able to get new customers on our schedule without having to go look at each and every boat. We always do test spots anyway, so if we detect that the boat is going to take longer or require more compounding than expected, we always reach out to let the customer know.

​The Going Rate
There is no "going rate" for boat detailing. It's a very specialized service and every company does it a little different than others, meaning you'll need to ask what each boat detailing company what their rates include.

Some companies charge by the hour and others charge by the foot for their buff and wax detail jobs. Deckhand Detailing charges by the foot for that service because we want our customers to know ahead of time exactly how much it's going to cost, with no surprises at the end. It doesn't matter how long it takes us to do the job because the rate for the customer won't change. This is the best way to price a large buff and wax service if you truly want to be fair to the customer.

If a company charges for their buff and wax job by the hour, try to get an estimated range of how long they think it will take and require them to let you know if they think it's going to take longer at any time during the job.

Find Out What's Included in the Quote
Our pricing structure lets customers know exactly what's included in the quote, but other companies don't often let you know upfront what added fees or costs might be attached to your invoice. Always ask if there are any additional fees or costs that might get added to the invoice. This could include adding supply costs (ask if supplies are included in their quote), drive time costs or fees, parking fees, equipment set up and take down costs, overtime costs or surcharge or invoice fees.

Comparing Quotes
Boat detailing rates can be all over the place! There are several reasons for this. If you get a quote from a new detailed who's just starting out vs a quote from a large company that's been in business for a long time, there could be a several thousand dollar different! That's because the single detailer is desperate for business and doesn't have to pay the overhead that a larger company has to pay. The single detailer may also not be paying taxes or have liability insurance. A rate of $500 vs $2,000 might sound great, but remember that you get what you pay for. 

If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. If you get a quote from a detailer for $500 and you get a quote from another detailing company for $2000, you will definitely want to ask both companies what their quote includes and make sure that there aren't any extra fees that will be passed along to you in the end. You also want to make sure they have full coverage liability insurance because if something goes wrong and they're not able to cover it, you'll be stuck with the repair bill.

If you get two wildly different quotes, you may want to question the lowest quote because that person may not actually realize all of the work that goes into detailing a boat. This could be their first job or they may be new to detailing and think they can do it because they've detailed cars before, but that doesn't mean they know how to detail boats.

Location Matters
If you live in Fort Lauderdale or Miami and keep your boat at one of the large marinas there, you're going to pay a lot more for boat detailing than you will in a small town that only has one lake to boat on. Rates will vary all over the country because location creates demand, which results in higher detailing rates.

Our Advice
We can't give you specific rates for what detailers charge because there are so many factors to take into consideration. However, we can tell you that sticking with a larger company that is well established, has liability insurance and specializes in detailing boats (rather than cars and airplanes) is going to be the better company to go with. Their prices will be competitive and they should have very skilled workers who will do a good job (and hopefully an excellent job!) and take good care of your boat. Read our article on how to hire a boat detailer.

Next Steps - Get a Quote
Deckhand Detailing was established in 1990 and specializes in full-service, year-round boat detailing services. If you're interested in getting a quote for your boat detailing needs, fill out our quick and easy, no-hassle estimate request form to get a full list of our rates and services. Our crew has been with us for a long time and is well trained. They love what they do! We hope you'll find that we're the best boat detailing company in the Seattle area to serve your boat detailing needs.