No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

Been poking around the restoration posts and noticed that no one says how much they ended up paying to restore their boat.

No one lists material costs
Labour costs (if any)
Tools used
material list
Total time to restore
Total cost from land to water

These are the things I would like to know, I enjoy looking at your beautiful new restored boat but educate me on the things mentioned above.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

It could be because they didn't keep accurate records, or could just be considered too personal.

The tools are usually the same of fare... grinders, shop vac, circular saw, etc. Just look at the photos. In fact there are posts about what tools to use and what safety precautions to take. Check out the sticky posts.

I can tell you my hard top ran about $2000. The tempered glass was a killer at about $600. And the epoxy resin was rather pricey too. If I did it in poly and plexy, it would have been about half that price.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

They dont want to know....
If i kept track of it,, or my racing bills for that matter any better than i do, I'D QUIT!!!!!

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

gore said:

Been poking around the restoration posts and noticed that no one says how much they ended up paying to restore their boat.

No one lists material costs
Labour costs (if any)
Tools used
material list
Total time to restore
Total cost from land to water

These are the things I would like to know, I enjoy looking at your beautiful new restored boat but educate me on the things mentioned above.

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Because their wife, might divorce them, and that might cost more than the restore plus the loss the boat.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

It also varies from boat to boat depending on the size, how extensive the rebuild as well as upgrade or additional options as a personal choice.

I am planning on rebuilding my boat next winter and at this point, I am concerned about how much glass and poly I will have to buy. That will be the BULK of my expenses as I will probably only spend about 100-200 on lumber.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

it can be hard if you're not real careful with the records. the receipts add up over time. i bought resin in small batches, maybe 5 different purchases or more over several weeks. add in receipts for wood, screws, PL adhesive, safety equip, tools, supplies....i have an estimated guess in my mind, no need to re-live the whole thing again.

size matters a whole lot too.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

Speaking for myself, I find it tough to figure the true costs of the project, as I have bought tons of tools which I may have bought eventually anyhow. Even taking into account just the materials used, I have long lost track of how much I have spent, as we are talking many many months and easily 40 trips to Lowes or Harbor Freight for just an item or two. If I were to guess, I would say it will end up costing me about $3000 to restore my 20' bowrider completely. To get any more specific would involve adding up literally a hundred or so receipts, many of which got washed or hit the trash along with the bag it was in.

Yes, $3000 is way more than I considered spending on my restore (see the ten steps link in my sig), but at this point I want the exact boat I want and I want it to last the next 30 years without blinking. I could have easily skipped many steps and cheaped out, but given the labor involved it just isn't worth it.

I would have to say, if you can't afford the high price of a restoration, go with a starcraft or similar and avoid the entire hassle. There is no such thing as a simple, or cheap, restore.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

If you gotta ask, ya can't afford it! ;-)

or....... would not even consider it.......

prs

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

It's tough to track costs of any large project (unless motivated to do so of course). But you can do it without seeing the total unless you really want to. I just plunk things down in a spreadsheet if I think at any point I may need to check things out. If I do, then I write up some formulas and add things up. If I never feel that urge, I just tuck it away or scrap the spreadsheet.

I did this for my wedding and various home renovations over the last few years. Very casual and works exactly as well as you want it to.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

Speaking for myself, it's because there are too many little odds and ends. You remember paying $500 for a lower unit, but the 25 trips to the hardware store or parts store for $5-$10 worth of stuff is easy to not write down. And it adds up fast. In fact, you probably spend more on the little stuff than you do on the major stuff.

Plus, if my wife ever stumbled across this forum and saw the total figure, there would be blood. It's easy to sneak it up on her when don slowly a bit at a time. Present it as a total figure and heads will roll.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

Agreed with the above, it depends on what the restoration was and the size of the boat.

Rebuilt transom on mine with SeaCast ran about $1200 all said and done (all labor was my own, so everything was in Seacast and Fiberglass/resin/bilge paint).

Now, many people like to do the "while I'm in here" lists, so I spent another $100 on cables, gaskets, bellows, etc. Then, I put the engine back in and found out the starter was bad, so I had it rebuilt ~$100. Then, turned the key and the engine was frozen. So now I'm faced with rebuilding the 351W which after I'm done (full top/bottom rebuild) will run about $2200 with new manifolds/risers. So, now I'm at $3,600 but I have virtually a brand new boat. If the outdrive is bad, then throw in another $1200 for an SEI outdrive.

Which part of that do we consider a restoration? Transom only? All of it? If we consider all of it, I'm still a sane man, because I have a brand new boat for less than $5K. (it already had a redone floor/upholstery)

Again, situations will differ depending on the route chosen to go and how much work you do yourself which in my case was all of it. Someone could have a 16ft ChrisCraft all wood boat that is in shambles, but costs 3X's as much as mine to restore. As they say, "The Devil is in the Details".

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

Well what I mean is if your going to share your boat restore (that in turn inspires people to try their hand at a restore), the post should include everything I mentioned above.

Sure there is the standard tools that get used but what I mean is any special tools used that made your job easier or some thing some one didn't even think about using.

I just thought the restore sections are for help and inspiration and yes to show off your work/boat

Sure the cost can very but if I'm restoring a similar boat at least I can get an idea what the cost/time/tools/material used would be and also this information would help in what boat I could afford to restore.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

It all comes down to expectations. Not many of these projects are trying hard to reach a particular budget. They might say "trying to keep it under 5 grand" or something, but I mean SERIOUSLY working within the budget. The goal isn't a dollar amount - the goal is a boat to have fun with, and so you just do everything that needs to be done. When money runs out the, the project isn't over, it just waits until there's more money.

So, I think due to the casual nature of these projects, you won't get budget/financial information simply because noone wants to monitor those details. Restoring a boat is basically your hobby, and you want to keep doing the fun parts otherwise it turns into another job.

In the rare event you stumble across a restoration that someone is doing for their business, you might get more details. But unfortunately if they need that level of financial accountability, they won't be spending their time publishing it all to an Internet forum.

EDIT: for grammar

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

gore said:

Sure the cost can very but if I'm restoring a similar boat at least I can get an idea what the cost/time/tools/material used would be and also this information would help in what boat I could afford to restore.

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OK, just one fer-instance. I replaced the transom, stringers, and deck on a 15 ft fish-n-ski this summer. Total for materials (glass, epoxy, plywood, milled fiber, cabosil, and some odds n ends) was about $700. My labor was free of course, and it took me 6 weeks to complete the project working evenings and weekends.

I'm currently restoring a '79 Checkmate and there's no way I'm going to keep records on that, don't want my wife to find out what I'm spending. This is a great boat and very unique, I'll be keeping it for a very long time and so I'm going a little out of my way to replace guages, steering wheel, and other non-essential items.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

I'll add, the costs can vary quite a sum based on how you approach the project, as well. My saying "It cost me $3K" doesn't mean it will cost you that amount. There are simply too many variables. I, not having done a restore before, have made my share of mistakes, which cost money. I have also had many trips to the hardware store, paying retail, for what I could have bought for much less as a lump internet purchase in the beginning. Also, as I began to see the true costs of the restore, I began feeling less 'cheap' about it and buying the better quality items where cheaper items would do the job for someone looking to get rid of a boat sooner than I am. For someone to quote a cost doesn't really mean anything for this type of task. If I didn't get a great deal on my fiberglass, my costs would be higher. If i didn't already own many of the needed tools, my costs would be higher. If I was content with good-enough rather than being uber-picky on my paint job, my costs would be lower. If I didn't mess up here and there, my costs would be lower. If I planned ahead better and knew what to expect, my costs would be much lower. Learning is expensive, and I've seen many upon many first time boat restorers, myself included, on here. And education costs vary widely based on prior experience.

I think, on the whole, the costs of a restore will always be cheaper than the labor put into it. Even at minimum wage I have more into the restore as labor than as parts. As others have said, restores are often a hobby, and hobbies are rarely an investment. After all, I could lose, and have lost, money on the stock market with much less effort

Is it possible to track and list all time and money spent? Yes. Would it be something someone would do for fun? I've only ever met one person who thought accounting was fun. The rest of us guestimate.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

Well we run a small biz as well and I'm the accountant, so kinda enjoy recording every cent spent. I have ledgered everything we've put into our 78 Newman Pla-ville Resto so far. When we are finished I will probly post that along with the finished boat. What have I learned from keeping the records... well so far it's cost me about 40% more than I intended to spend. Overall It's still a better deal than buying a brand new $10,000 and up boat. Extra perk, I will have a unique boat that will be pretty much new, and I know everything about, so if anything goes wrong I know where to look.
In my opinion you should never restor anything if your looking to save money. Fixing a boat or a car is about the experience, and the end product that you can be truly proud of.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

It also depends on what the end goal is. If you want to restore something because you love it, it can get out of hand. If you want to turn a buck on a project, then you track everything.

I restored a classic car, 1970 Ford Torino Cobra. I sat down and "figured" how much I had into it..... I almost got sick! I have way more into it than what the car is worth, but I restored it for the love of the car, not for resale value.

All depends on what you want I guess....

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

Miranda said:

In my opinion you should never restor anything if your looking to save money. Fixing a boat or a car is about the experience, and the end product that you can be truly proud of.

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This makes no sense you restored an old boat to save money.

If I had lots of money then I would simply buy new and forget about all this, so yes if I'm asking how much is because I (we) want to save money plain and simple.

I would rather be awed and ooh and educated too that's all I'm saying if if some one (most of you should) list everything you did would have saved you money instead of learning it on your own and losing money and yet still with your knowledge still hold back what is most important to the readers

COST
TIME
MATERIAL
CUSTOM TOOLS

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

That's the point we're trying to make though - no one's holding anything back. It's a labor of love, and not everyone likes to record the financial details to find out how much that love costs.

Re: No one lists the cost of there restoration why??

gore said:

This makes no sense you restored an old boat to save money.

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while it may be cheaper than buying new, restores aren't cheap. you don't restore a boat and try to sell it, you won't get your money back or be paid for the labor. that's what makes this a better decision than buying another boat for lots of people...free labor.

gore said:

I would rather be awed and ooh and educated too that's all I'm saying if if some one (most of you should) list everything you did would have saved you money instead of learning it on your own and losing money and yet still with your knowledge still hold back what is most important to the readers

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each job is too different. as a reader, it's your responsibility to get what YOU need from reading. if you find someone who's restored a boat similar to yours, just ask them. nobody's hiding any secrets i don't think.

gore said:

COST
TIME
MATERIAL
CUSTOM TOOLS

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COST...again, each job is very different and that's not the point. the cost was not having a boat at all or buying a different one and risking rot again or even losing money on the boat you just bought.

TIME...are you learning as you go? do you have proper equip? working inside or outside? does it freeze where you live?...again tons of variables

MATERIALS....people always start threads asking how much resin they need or how much cloth.....i did, nobody really responded. again, each boat is different and nobody can really see what you're doing. plus people don't want to say you should buy a certain amount of resin and you don't need that much. man up, take some measurements, and take the dive

CUSTOM TOOLS...this one has been talked about a bunch. you're not searching.

there's so much information on this site. make of it what you will.