Protection
Ceramic Coating
A coating is not a shortcut. It is how you lock in correction work: a semi-permanent layer that takes the abuse the clear coat would otherwise absorb, and makes the car far easier to keep clean between visits.
Nine months of rain a year is not really the enemy. The enemy is what the rain carries and leaves behind: road film off I-5, brake dust, fir sap, and the mineral spotting that follows every dry-out. Coated paint stays hydrophobic, so that film sheets off instead of bonding, and a maintenance wash turns into a genuinely short job.
Installation is mostly preparation. Paint gets washed, decontaminated, corrected to the level you have approved, then panel-wiped to strip every trace of polishing oil. Only then does the coating go on, leveled by hand, panel by panel, under controlled light. A missed high spot cures hard and has to be polished back out, which is why this stage stays slow and unhurried.
The vehicle then needs protected, dry cure time. That means a garage or covered space, no rain contact and no washing for the cure window. We will walk your space with you before booking so nobody is surprised, and you get written aftercare: how to wash it, what to keep off it, and when to book the inspection.
What is included
Every stage, spelled out.
If something on this list does not apply to your vehicle we take it off the quote rather than charge for it.
- 01Full decontamination and paint preparation
- 02Correction to the agreed level before any coating goes on
- 03Panel wipe-down to remove all polishing residue
- 04Hand-leveled coating application under controlled lighting
- 05Glass, wheel face and trim coating options
- 06Controlled cure period at your covered space
- 07Written aftercare and a maintenance wash schedule
- 08Follow-up inspection after the first month
Anatomy of the job
What two days actually look like.
“Multi-stage correction” is a phrase. This is the schedule behind it: where the hours go, and the two points where the work stops and waits for you.
Day one
Decontamination and cutting. Nothing is polished until the paint is measured.
- 08:00
Arrive and set up
Tank, generator, extraction and lighting come off the rig. Roughly half an hour, and your driveway stays usable around us.
- 08:30
Wheels, barrels, arches
First, while the paint is still cold and dry. Faces, barrels, lug seats and wheel wells by hand, with dedicated brushes.
- 09:30
Foam dwell, contact wash, dry
A dwell lifts the loose layer before anything touches the paint, then a two-bucket wash with fresh media per panel section.
- 10:30
Iron and clay decontamination
The iron remover bleeds purple off the lower panels. Clay shears off what is left. The hood goes from sandpaper to glass.
- 12:00
Measure, then inspect
Paint thickness readings recorded panel by panel, then the defect map under raking light. Clear coat is finite; this decides what is safe to remove.
- 13:00
Test spot, and your approval
One section corrected and shown to you on your own paint, under the same light. The rest of the car is not touched until you have seen it.
- 14:00
Cutting stage
Panel by panel, with trim and edges taped. This is the long part and it does not get rushed to fit a day.
- 18:00
Stop, cover, leave
The vehicle stays under cover overnight. Nothing half-corrected gets driven.
Day two
Refinement and protection. The finish is stripped bare before anything goes on it.
- 08:00
Refinement stage
The cutting stage leaves its own light haze. This removes it and brings the gloss up to the level the test spot promised.
- 12:00
Oil-stripping wipe-down
Every trace of polishing oil comes off, so what you approve is bare corrected paint and not a temporary shine.
- 13:00
Coating, levelled by hand
Applied and levelled panel by panel under controlled light. A missed high spot cures hard and has to be polished back out, so this stage is deliberately slow.
- 16:00
Cure begins
The vehicle stays in your covered space, dry and untouched, for the stated cure window. No rain contact, no washing.
- End
Walkaround and handover
We go over the car with you in good light: what came out, what did not, and why. Written aftercare, and the date worth booking the inspection.
A typical schedule for a mid-size vehicle in fair condition, and not a promise for yours. Condition moves every number on this page, which is why we look at the car before we quote it.
Where we do this
Ceramic Coating at your address, both sides of the river.
Book it
Get a quote for ceramic coating.
Send the vehicle, the city and where it will be parked. We come back with a scope, a price and a window, usually the same working day.
(509) 224-8299Also worth knowing about
Interior Detailing
Hot-water extraction, steam and hand work that pull the cabin back to a condition you can smell as well as see.
Read moreExterior Detailing
A hand wash built to remove contamination instead of grinding it into the clear coat, plus the wheel work nobody else bothers with.
Read morePaint Correction
Machine polishing that removes defects from the clear coat instead of filling them for six weeks.
Read more