Decontamination wash
A proper strip wash, iron remover to pull embedded brake dust and rail dust, and a clay treatment to lift bonded contamination the wash left behind. Coating over contamination seals it in.
Ceramic coating
Hard, slick,
and built for
winter here.
A semi-permanent layer bonded to your clear coat. It fights altitude UV, sheds mag chloride and road film, and turns a miserable February wash into a ten-minute job.
What it is
Not a wax. Not a sealant. A different category.
A ceramic coating is a liquid polymer, mostly silicon dioxide, that's applied to prepared paint and cures into a hard, transparent layer chemically bonded to the clear coat. Wax sits on top of paint and washes off in weeks. A sealant is a synthetic version that lasts months. A coating becomes part of the surface and lasts years.
What it gives you is threefold. It's hydrophobic, so water beads tight and rolls off, taking dirt with it. It's chemically resistant, so road brine, bug acid and bird droppings don't etch the clear the way they would on bare paint. And it's harder than the clear underneath, so light contact — a wash mitt, a microfiber towel — is far less likely to leave a mark.
What it doesn't do is stop a rock. No coating is a substitute for paint protection film on a hood or a leading edge, and any shop suggesting otherwise is overselling. It also doesn't make a vehicle self-cleaning. It makes washing dramatically easier, which is a different and more honest claim.
- UV resistance. The main argument for it at 9,000 feet. Clear coat failure is a UV problem, and horizontal panels here get punished.
- Brine and road film release. Winter grime sits on the surface instead of bonding to it, and comes off with far less scrubbing.
- Chemical etch resistance. Bug guts, sap and bird droppings get a buffer before they reach the clear.
- Easier washing. The practical benefit you'll notice weekly. Less contact means fewer new swirls.
- Gloss retention. It locks in whatever the correction achieved, rather than letting it degrade over a season.
- Wheels, glass and trim. Coatings for brake dust on wheels, water beading on the windshield, and fade protection on plastic trim.
The process
Most of the work happens before the coating goes on.
A coating is maybe two hours of the job. The rest is what makes it stick and makes it worth it.
Paint correction
Swirls, haze and defects removed. A coating is transparent and permanent-ish — everything underneath it is what you'll be looking at for the next several years.
Panel prep
A dedicated solvent wipe on every panel to remove polishing oils. Skipping this is the single most common reason a coating fails early and streaks.
Application and levelling
Applied panel by panel in a controlled environment, then levelled in a short window before it flashes. Too slow and it high-spots; too fast and coverage is thin.
Cure
It needs to stay dry, typically 24 hours minimum indoors, and reaches full hardness over the following days. Plan your week around it, and don't let it get rained on the first night.
Aftercare
We'll tell you exactly how to wash it and what to avoid. Coatings are low maintenance, not no maintenance, and the wrong soap strips the hydrophobics off a good one in one pass.
Straight answers
Is it worth it up here?
For a vehicle that lives outdoors in Summit County and sees I-70 through the winter, it's one of the better dollar-per-year protective decisions available — more useful here than in most climates, because both of the things it defends against, UV and road chemical, are unusually severe at altitude.
For a vehicle that lives in a garage, gets driven in summer, and is washed by hand four times a year, it's a nice-to-have. You'd get most of the practical benefit from a good sealant applied twice a year for a fraction of the cost. We'll tell you which one you are.
Where it's clearly worth it: a new vehicle you plan to keep, any dark color, a work truck that gets hosed down constantly, and any fleet where appearance is part of the brand.
Questions
Ceramic Coating, answered.
How long does a ceramic coating last?
Depends on the product tier, how the vehicle is stored, and how it's washed. A well-maintained coating on a garaged vehicle can perform for several years. The same coating on a truck parked outside year-round and run through brush washes will degrade considerably faster. Anyone quoting you a guaranteed number without asking those questions is guessing.
Can I still take it through a car wash?
Touchless, yes — and it's a good match, since the coating does the work the brushes would have. Brush washes will scratch a coated vehicle just like an uncoated one; the coating is hard, not invincible.
Does it prevent rock chips?
No. Nothing except paint protection film meaningfully stops rock chips, and on I-70 you will get them. If chip protection is the priority, PPF on the hood, fenders and mirrors is the answer, with a coating on top of it.
Can you coat a vehicle that's already scratched?
We can, but we won't recommend it without correction first. The coating is clear and it's staying on for years — it'll preserve the scratches perfectly.
Can it go on a new vehicle straight from the dealer?
Yes, and it's the ideal time, but 'new' doesn't mean 'defect free'. Transport film, lot washes and dealer prep leave swirls on most new vehicles. It'll still need decontamination and usually at least a light polish.
Also worth a look
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Serving Silverthorne, Frisco, Dillon, Breckenridge, Keystone and the rest of Summit County.