Ceramic Coating 325 Freedom

Subscribed. Never done this before...

i have never done the ceramic coating, but i know that a good wax will help prevent oxidizing, keep the shine, and make it easier to clean. some people like wax, some like ceramic. from what ive seen they essentially do the same thing. hopefully someone with a bit more detailing knowledge can chime in here.

Ceramic coating is great on gel coats. Just make sure to have all surfaces cleaned . Easy to apply and when done proper can last up to a year or so. Did my hull on my 1989 Overnighter 20 last year and still looks amazing. Easy to clean after applying. I used Glide Coat. Great products for marine applications. A cheaper alternative is Meguiar’s premium marine wax. It only lasted a season but it’s cheaper and if buffed, shines well.

I have had my boat 4 years. I ceramic coated it in year one and just redid it this spring. The actual ceramic coating is easy. But the prep work is a ton of work. But honestly, if you were doing it correctly for wax, you would go through the same steps. Mine consisted of a heavy cutting, medium cutting and polish. Followed by a good wash and an isopropyl alcohol wipe down. Then apply two coats of ceramic and buff off with the microfiber towel.

If you do the prep right it should last 2+ years. My boat is lift kept all boating season so prob 8 months.
I used Starke products this time. Level R,
then triple P.
Last time I used Presta products Super cut, medium cutting and the ultra. I like the starke better.

I did not wipe between grits. They are different diminishing abrasives so they get more fine as you work them. 1.5-1.25in quality wool pad (Lake country for me) then either green wool pad on the rotary or orange foam pad on DA. Last step was always white foam pad on DA. Lots of good YouTube videos. Doing this is critical to achieve a lasting pretty finish whether you are waxing or coating.
Wash this and scrub thoroughly. Put 90% isopropyl alcohol in a sprayer and wipe everything down. Apply coating per manufacturer instructions. I did not buff the nonskid. I do buff off the flat surfaces between each coat. Two coats.

Make sure you use a neutral pH soap after coating. Most stuff just wipes off with basic wash. I use silicone squeegee to wipe off water from hull sides. Very happy with the results. I used Glide Coat ceramic. It does help to apply their spray and shine every 3rd wash or so to maintain.
In the pics you can see the PO name still ghosted in the gel coat. I got 95% of that out with the above process.

Wondering if there are any long term downside effects....

Never heard of any.

Fishtales said:

Wondering if there are any long term downside effects....

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Not sure if it is a downside but it is extremely hard. Last Christmas I had the boat moored at a marina. Usually have it on a trailer. The fenders left some patches that had slightly less gloss. I compounded the areas expecting it to take a couple of minutes per area took about 10-15 mins. I wouldn’t want to have to remove the ceramic coat. It would be a big job.

I ceramic coated my 228. The coating is quite easy the prep takes quite a bit of time. I coated all exterior surface including the aluminium frame of the hardtop. I also did the non skid. It didn’t make the floor slippery. There is more gloss than wax. It lasts much longer. I still wash it after every use using ceramic coat friendly detergent.

SeanC said:

Not sure if it is a downside but it is extremely hard. Last Christmas I had the boat moored at a marina. Usually have it on a trailer. The fenders left some patches that had slightly less gloss. I compounded the areas expecting it to take a couple of minutes per area took about 10-15 mins. I wouldn’t want to have to remove the ceramic coat. It would be a big job.

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It may depend on what compound you are using and how it is applied. With either Presta Super Cut or Starke Level R and a Makita rotary I could take down a 3x3' area in less than 5 min. Probably more like 2-3min. When I did my first coating I wasn't nearly aggressive enough with the rotary and the ghosting came back pretty fast. Not due to the ceramic but due to not removing the oxidation well enough first. There is a guy that does fiberglass repair and ceramic coating a couple of bays down from where I store the boat in the winter. He showed me how to work the rotary much more aggressively than I thought. I also found it helpful to have a spray bottle of water handy to mist the pad and surface. It seemed to make the application go faster and smoother and use less product. It does sling a bit more slurry around. But I could get a very nice gloss, albeit with some swirl marks after the 1st pass. YMMV.

I did have two areas where I also had some fender rash on the sides. I did a 1000 grit and then 2000 grit wet sand with a DA and foam backing pad on those areas only. That removed those scratches and the heavy cut compound took out the sanding marks easily.

B-Shell said:

It may depend on what compound you are using and how it is applied. With either Presta Super Cut or Starke Level R and a Makita rotary I could take down a 3x3' area in less than 5 min. Probably more like 2-3min. When I did my first coating I wasn't nearly aggressive enough with the rotary and the ghosting came back pretty fast. Not due to the ceramic but due to not removing the oxidation well enough first. There is a guy that does fiberglass repair and ceramic coating a couple of bays down from where I store the boat in the winter. He showed me how to work the rotary much more aggressively than I thought. I also found it helpful to have a spray bottle of water handy to mist the pad and surface. It seemed to make the application go faster and smoother and use less product. It does sling a bit more slurry around. But I could get a very nice gloss, albeit with some swirl marks after the 1st pass. YMMV.

I did have two areas where I also had some fender rash on the sides. I did a 1000 grit and then 2000 grit wet sand with a DA and foam backing pad on those areas only. That removed those scratches and the heavy cut compound took out the sanding marks easily.

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The compounding worked well. Got the original Grady colour back. Removed the ghosting where the Rhode Is. registration numbers were. Had to wet sand the top of the cabin and some of the other horizontal surfaces. The ceramic coating went on easily and still looks great. The fender rash was on the ceramic coat. Buffing that out took a lot longer than if it was just gelcoat.

I had mine ceramic coated at the dealership as part of the sale. I don't know if it makes a huge difference, but it came with a 5-year guarantee on all the cushions for rips, mildew, fading, and stains....figured that alone was worth the cost.

Depends 100% on the installation. My 2022 Grady was done at a boat dealership and they did a really crappy job. They also said they were going to coat "the hull". As it turns out, they only did the sides down to the waterline. I can't tell any benefit whatsoever from the ceramic coating. My boat is still fading and scuffs on everything it touches. That glowing shine you see advertised didn't happen on mine. It didn't even shine as much as after a good wax job.

They also did the interior vinyl and again I can tell no difference than other boats I've had without the magic coating. Fortunately, I only paid them half price but still wasted $750.

FREEDOM!!! said:

I had mine ceramic coated at the dealership as part of the sale. I don't know if it makes a huge difference, but it came with a 5-year guarantee on all the cushions for rips, mildew, fading, and stains....figured that alone was worth the cost.

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I have the same boat as you. Every time I ask the dealer about an issue with the vinyl or hull they always offer to fix it for free instead of making a claim on the ceramic coating warranty.

Hummm.. My guess is there may not be ceramic coating installed if they don't want to file a claim. Either way, its getting fixed, so no worries.