Boat detailers: per-foot quotes that price the oxidation, not just the length. Free, no signup.
Defaults are editable starting points, not market prices. Your actual pace and supplier cost are the real numbers.
Boat detailing dies on the flat per-foot quote. A $30 per foot price sounds fine until the gelcoat oxidation level multiplies the compound passes. Start with your bar (60), profit margin percent (20), minimum job fee ($150), and daily take-home goal ($500). Pick a boat preset: Center console, Bay boat, Bowrider, or Express cruiser, each filling length, wash minutes per foot, compound minutes per foot, and materials as editable starting points. Choose the service level: wash plus wax, compound plus wax, or compound plus polish plus wax. Then set the gelcoat oxidation: light is one pass, moderate is multi-pass at 1.6 times the compound time, heavy is 3 or more passes at 2.5 times. That multiplier is the whole reason one per-foot number fails. Add interior detail with its own minutes, hardtop or tower minutes, and the leaks card: setup and ladder minutes, drive minutes, miles at your vehicle rate, plus a hard-water spot removal toggle with minutes and product cost. Results show the breakdown, the recommended quote, dollars per foot, the verdict, the gut check, and the day planner.
Example only, not typical pricing. Center console defaults at a $60 bar with 20 percent margin: 23 feet, wash plus wax, heavy oxidation on the gelcoat. Labor minutes are 23 x 4 = 92; with hardtop 45, setup 30, and drive 40, own time is 3.45 hours. True cost = 3.45 x 60 + $45 materials + $20.10 vehicle = $272.10. Recommended quote = ceil(272.10 x 1.20 / 25) x 25 = $350, or $15.22 per foot. Effective rate = 350 / 3.45 = $101.45 per hour, above the bar, so the verdict is PRICED RIGHT, with the heavy-oxidation reminder attached. Switch to compound plus wax on moderate oxidation and the same boat: compound minutes go 8 x 1.6 = 12.8 per foot, own time is 8.36 hours, true cost is $566.50, the quote is $700 ($30.43 per foot), effective rate $83.77 per hour. A $500 gut quote on that job pays $59.83 per hour and leaves $200 on the table. The day planner on the wash preset gives 7 jobs at $77.90 profit for a $500 goal, 24.2 hours, and flags it: over 10 hours a day means raise the price, not the hours.
Why does oxidation matter more than length?
Because it multiplies the work per foot. Heavy oxidation runs the compound pass 2.5 times, so a 23 foot boat stops being a wash job and becomes an all-day correction. The tool prices the multiplier, not just the tape measure.
How does compound plus polish plus wax add time?
It takes the compound time and adds half again: the polish pass costs 50 percent of the compound pass on top. Compound plus wax just adds the compound time to the wash time.
When does the verdict say WORKING TOO CHEAP?
When the effective rate clears true cost but sits under 80 percent of your bar. Usually the minimum fee dragged a small job under your rate, and the fix is a bigger minimum or a better per-foot number.
What does the gut check flag?
It converts your instinct quote into dollars per hour and dollars left on the table. If the gut number sits under true cost, it calls that out too, before you book a job that loses money.
What does the planner's over-10-hours flag mean?
Your goal needs more than 10 hours of committed time a day at this quote. The tool tells you to raise the margin instead of adding jobs, because more losing jobs only lose more.