Cost of ceramic

[201Steve]

For those who’ve had it done. Your level of satisfaction in the comments 

[Joshua Blackh4t]

I did it myself with Meguiars products. Took a few days and a couple of hundred dollars, made a huge difference. I only waxed it though. They have a hybrid ceramic product that might be better.

The Meguiars ultimate compound nicely feathered out odd paint spots where there had been corrosion work done.

 

[Greg Ellis]

There is a guy on YouTube that does really nice work.  You can do a YouTube search for Aviana Aircraft Detailing.  He really seems to know his stuff.  I received a quote from him for around $3600 to do my Mooney.  It was a little much for me but I will say that if you watch any of his videos he does really nice work.

[dzeleski]

The Meguiars ceramic products are not true ceramic products. They are SiO2 coatings, Turtle wax also makes one. Both megs and turtles “ceramic” coatings are good though. I use the turtle wax version these days and it easily lasts 6+ months.

 

That being said I used to detail on the side a few times a month. Your average car would cost about 1500 to correct and coat, if I was doing airplanes there’s no way I would charge anything less then 3000 unless the paint was basically new and required very little correction. Keep in mind a true ceramic coating is permanent and can only be removed via compounding.

[takair]

I selected under $1500. Local company that does business jets in the region did mine. I had major water marks on the white paint. I could never remove them. They got about 80% of it out through cutting and buffing and then “ceramic coated”.  I recently had it out in rain, one night.  Nice beading, but water marks are back. They swear it was a ceramic product and not a “polymer”. I’m not convinced. It doesn’t seem any better than the various waxes I have tried…..maybe worse. My suggestion is to be very careful on who you pick. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. If the price is high, I’m still not sure how to prevent the unscrupulous from using some watered down potion. Either way, I certainly didn’t get $1500 worth……but I don’t know that a $3000 job would have saved my paint either. 

[mike_elliott]

One of my Ovation clients does this. He will spend a full 4 days on the plane doing paint correction first. While his time might not be worth as much as a heart surgeon's, a couple hundred in material and 4 days of time generally warrant about 2500, remembering that his net is not your gross. The results are stunning

[GeeBee]

There is a ceramic products company that recently located by me. They are UK based. They are the real deal

https://gtechniq.com

I am definitely going to have my boat done, as it takes a beating in the sun while the slip is covered, late sun still gets through. They are quoting 3500 for a 30 footer. I am going to have my truck done as well as it has to sit outside a lot. 2200. My M20R I don't know, because it is always hangared but for 10 days a year where it has to sit outside. 

[Greg Ellis]

5 minutes ago, GeeBee said:

There is a ceramic products company that recently located by me. They are UK based. They are the real deal

https://gtechniq.com

 

This is the stuff the guy on the YouTube channel Aviana Aircraft Detailing uses.  He seems to get excellent results.  His price was too steep for me at the time because of some avionics stuff I am having done.

[EricJ]

There are a few threads here where ceramic coatings have been discussed, and pics of Mooneys with it applied.   Many of us just did it on our own, but cleaning, polishing, and coating an airplane is definitely a task.   The Aviana guy has a lot of good videos that show what he uses and how to use them, and he's posted here before when people had questions.   That said, the market for this stuff seems to be fast-moving and there are new products coming out all the time.   Many of us tried the gtechniq C2V3 after seeing what Aviana was accomplishing with it, and it's good stuff.   It is very easy to apply and holds up well.     I also tried it on my truck, which lives outside in Scottsdale, AZ, and it lasted about a year before it started failing on the hood and roof.   That's better than anything else I've used so far, but now I'm going to try some of the newer products.

The good news is, there are a lot of new products that are really good, most are easy to apply once the surface is prepped (which is the hard part), and there's a lot of good comparisons and tutorials on YT and elsewhere on the webz.    Like this, which is already a year old:
 

 

[hammdo]

I use Adams and they 'just' came out with 'another' new and improved ceramic coating. 

You're not kidding it's fast moving... 

-Don 

[Hank]

45 minutes ago, EricJ said:

Many of us tried the gtechniq C2V3 after seeing what Aviana was accomplishing with it, and it's good stuff.   It is very easy to apply and holds up well.     I also tried it on my truck, which lives outside in Scottsdale, AZ, and it lasted about a year before it started failing on the hood and roof.

So what does "coating failure" look like? And what do you do after it happens???

[shrews]

I'm having my Ovation done next month while we are on vacation.     He will likely spend at least 2 days paint correcting prior to the ceramic, paint is in good shape given its not a very old plane, but TONS of swirl marks in the paint which drives me nuts.   I'm a huge proponent of Ceramic coatings on cars and boats so this is a no brainer to me,  makes clean up so much easier and faster with just a bottle of detailer and a couple of clean rags.       I'll post before/during/after when its done.        

[EricJ]

28 minutes ago, Hank said:

So what does "coating failure" look like? And what do you do after it happens???

If the coating is still there water will bead.   In areas where it stops beading the coating has failed.    About 1/4 of the hood on my truck doesn't bead any more after sitting in the AZ sun for a year after application of C2V3.   That's actually a really good result.

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard shrews…

I’ll be looking forward to your pics…

 

Somebody did a nice presentation around here with the GTech products…. And how paint correction is done on pretty new paint jobs….

Unlike the automotive factories, with dedicated painting facilities ….. robots and great consistency in super clean air…

Mooney paint can always be improved…

 

Best regards,

-a-

https://mooneyspace.com/search/?&q=Ceramic&search_and_or=or&search_in=titles&sortby=relevancy

[carusoam]

This is the video that sealed the deal for me….  

-a-

 

[Warren]

The main confusion is that there are many levels of "ceramic" coatings.  Everyone is jumping on the new market.

1.  Wax -- anything that has wax and ceramic mixed and is easy to apply is still basically a wax.  Expect a useful life of 3 months.

2.  Polymer -- lots of options here and these will hold up for about a year.

3.  Ceramic -- true ceramic coating still have a large range of products and expected life.  All the real ceramic products should have a life of at least two years.  There is lots of confusion here about how much ceramic is in the mix, what the carriers are and how long it lasts and all the marketing gimmicks confuse the issue further.  Some offer 2 year warranty, 5 year, 6 year, lifetime,...   Many of the longer warranties require a touchup every year of couple of years.

The success of a ceramic coating is highly dependent on the preparation.  It is a lot of work to correct the base paint to remove oxidation and swirl marks.  However, this is critical to a good looking final product.  Also critical is the application process.  With the high quality ceramics, many are only available to professional installers and can make a mess if applied incorrectly.  Of course cost and quality are usually somewhat correlated.

However, when done correctly a ceramic coating is easy to clean and protects the surface from scratching and halos.

Note:  Much of my experience is from going through factory training and certification on detailing planes from GA through jets.

[N201MKTurbo]

20 hours ago, EricJ said:

If the coating is still there water will bead.   In areas where it stops beading the coating has failed.    About 1/4 of the hood on my truck doesn't bead any more after sitting in the AZ sun for a year after application of C2V3.   That's actually a really good result.

People who don’t live around here just don’t understand our sun. It can be destructive in ways that just doesn’t happen most places.

Edited September 1, 2021 by N201MKTurbo

[tmo]

On 8/31/2021 at 4:33 PM, GeeBee said:

My M20R I don't know, because it is always hangared but for 10 days a year where it has to sit outside. 

Do it, it must be good for at least +5 kts ;-)

[LANCECASPER]

On 8/31/2021 at 12:15 PM, shrews said:

I'm having my Ovation done next month while we are on vacation.     He will likely spend at least 2 days paint correcting prior to the ceramic, paint is in good shape given its not a very old plane, but TONS of swirl marks in the paint which drives me nuts.   I'm a huge proponent of Ceramic coatings on cars and boats so this is a no brainer to me,  makes clean up so much easier and faster with just a bottle of detailer and a couple of clean rags.       I'll post before/during/after when its done.        

Any reviews on how it turned out?

[201Steve]

I had mine done. It looked great when it was finished, but that’s a no brainer. Like I told the guy, I’m paying you for it to look as good in 6 months. As in all Things I pay for on my airplane, I am never FULLY satisfied. Plane is in for extended stay at Mx right now so, not getting to enjoy it, but hopefully the dust comes right off when I go pick it up in late January. !!

[Scott McGill]

Guys,

I professionally cut, polish and ceramic coat with Aviation Grade Ceramic w/a 2 year warranty. Usually charge around $2500-$2800 for travel planes and $2000 for Florida Local Planes, some variables with rising gas prices.

Aviana is by far the best but believe I come in a close 2nd. He's a great guy!. If I can help any of you or someone you know, please reach out anytime.

https://www.facebook.com/Thirsty-Coatings-106707281804108

Happy Landings,

Scott McGill

Thirsty Aviation

850-591-0792 

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Scott McGill
Add Photo

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard Scott.

Got any pics of your work?

Best regards,

-a-

[amillet]

Does that come with a guaranteed 5 knot increase in indicated airspeed? 

[Scott McGill]

25 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Welcome aboard Scott.

Got any pics of your work?

Best regards,

-a-

Thanks and Great suggestion! Just added one. It comes out better than new and warranty the coating for 2 years. Care guide provided. Shine is in the preparation so majority of my time is bringing out the best paint finish.

 

Reach out with any more questions.

Best,

Scott

[Scott McGill]

28 minutes ago, amillet said:

Does that come with a guaranteed 5 knot increase in indicated airspeed? 

 I'm up for making a youtube video testing it. Friction coefficient is unbelievable though.