Both do the same job: put a sacrificial layer between the sun and your gelcoat. The difference is how long the layer lasts and what it costs to keep renewing it. On a lake where UV is the whole battle, that difference compounds.
A machine wax over clean gelcoat sheds water, holds gloss and blocks UV for roughly a season here. It is the right call on a budget, on a boat you are selling, or over a finish that gets corrected annually anyway. As part of a wash & wax it runs est. $13-20 /ft.
A marine ceramic bonds to corrected gelcoat and holds for one to several seasons depending on product, exposure and storage. It runs est. $45-90 /ft including prep, which is most of the cost and most of the value: coating only bonds to a corrected surface.
A boat that lives on Ouachita uncorrected needs a compound roughly every year or two at est. $18-28 /ft. Ceramic stretches that cycle out by seasons. Over a few years of ownership the coating tends to pay for itself in corrections you did not need, and the boat looks better the whole time.
Keeping the boat three years or more, and it lives in the water: ceramic. Selling soon, trailering under cover, or watching the budget: wash & wax, applied whenever beading stops. Both beat doing nothing under this sun.
All figures are estimates. The written quote is the final price.
For a trailered, covered boat, often yes, renewed each season. For a boat that lives in the water in full sun, wax alone means annual correction; ceramic breaks that cycle.
No. Ceramic bonds only to bare corrected gelcoat, so old wax and oxidation come off first. Prep is included in how the job is quoted.
Regular washing, nothing exotic. The coating makes washing easier and keeps its gloss between visits; harsh acids and abrasive pads are what shorten its life.
Three quick fields plus the boat. Every figure on this site is an estimate; the written quote we send back is the actual price.
Prefer email? lakeouachitaboatdetailing@gmail.com works too. Our crew is mobile across Lake Ouachita: marina slip, lift, trailer or driveway.