We coat 40-footers outdoors

How do you ceramic coat an RV without a shop?

We use an aviation protective spray applied over the coating while it cures — the method used on private aircraft, which can only be detailed and coated out on the tarmac. Instead of sealing the environment out, you seal the coating in.

A coating cures on the panel, so dust, pollen and overnight moisture landing on it during that window become part of it permanently. Enclosed bays solve that for cars, but no portable bay goes over a 40 ft coach, and anyone promising you a dust-free tent over one is overselling.

We have been detailing and coating private jets and aircraft in Hawaii since 2019, which is where this comes from. It is not a workaround invented for motorhomes — it is how the aviation side of our business has always worked, on aircraft worth considerably more than an RV.

The practical result is that your coach gets coated where it is parked, whether that is your property, a storage yard or an RV park. We bring our own water tank and generator, so no hookup is needed on site.

Why does my RV sidewall look chalky?

Fiberglass gelcoat oxidises in sunlight — the resin at the surface breaks down and leaves a chalky, faded layer that makes a white coach look grey and a coloured one look washed out. Wipe it with a dark cloth and the cloth comes away chalky.

This is the single most common thing wrong with an RV in Southern California, and it is not dirt. Washing will never touch it. It has to be cut back with compound until you reach sound gelcoat underneath.

How far gone it is decides the job. Light oxidation comes back with a single-stage polish; heavy chalking needs multi-stage compounding. We will tell you which after looking at it, and the difference in price is significant enough that guessing is not fair to you.

What are the black streaks down the side of my RV?

Black streaks are runoff — dirt and degraded sealant washing off the roof and running down the sidewalls in the rain, where they stain oxidised gelcoat because the chalky surface holds onto them.

The streaks are a symptom. They appear on oxidised coaches and not on sealed ones, because a sound, sealed surface has nothing for the runoff to grip. Scrubbing them off every few months is treating the symptom.

Correcting the oxidation and then coating the sidewalls is what actually stops them coming back, which is the main reason RV owners end up coating rather than just washing.

Can you polish over my RV graphics and decals?

No — machine compounding over factory vinyl graphics will damage or remove them, especially once they have started to fade and crack, so decals are worked around by hand rather than polished through.

This matters because RV graphics are expensive and often no longer available for older coaches. A compound pad run across a sun-brittled decal takes the decal with it, and there is no putting it back.

Faded, cracked or lifting graphics are worth a conversation before we start. Sometimes the honest answer is that the coach looks better with the old decals removed entirely than with them polished around.

Do you clean and treat the RV roof?

We clean RV roofs, but rubber roofs — EPDM and TPO, which is what most coaches have — are not treated the same way as the sidewalls, because sidewall products and compounds will damage them.

The roof is also where we find things. Failing sealant around vents, skylights and the AC shroud is the usual cause of both the black streaks on your sidewalls and, eventually, a water intrusion problem inside.

If we see sealant that is cracked or lifting we will tell you and photograph it, but resealing a roof is an RV service job rather than a detailing one. We are not going to take money for a repair that needs a different trade.

How much does it cost to detail and coat an RV in San Diego?

RV and motorhome work is priced per linear foot at one rate regardless of height: $20.70 per foot for a wash with bug and tar removal, $25.90 per foot with wax added, $103.50 per foot for permanent Stealth Diamond Borograph ceramic, and $207 per foot for Liquid PPF with Stealth Diamond.

So a 32 ft fifth wheel starts around $829 for a full exterior detail and around $3,312 for a permanent ceramic coating. A 40 ft Class A starts around $1,036 and $4,140 respectively.

Oxidation is the variable that moves the number. Gel coat oxidation removal runs $25 to $67.30 per foot depending on how deep the chalking goes, and a coach that has sat in the sun for eight years is a different job from one that has been kept up, at the same length.

Send photos of the worst sidewall in daylight and we will price it properly rather than quoting the high end to protect ourselves.