The install itself is 7 to 8 hours or more. On a larger vehicle, or when paint correction comes first, it becomes a two-day job: prep, decontamination and correction on day one, Gtechniq application on day two.
Then the car needs to stay dry for 24 to 48 hours after application. That dry window, not the labor, is what makes a coating something we plan with you around the forecast rather than simply book into a slot.
Every other service we offer is a same-day appointment. Coating is the one where being mobile changes the plan rather than just the address.
A full careful hand wash, wheels and arches done first with separate tools. Nothing downstream works on a car that is not properly clean.
Iron remover with dwell time, tar and sap removal where needed, then a clay bar pass over every panel. This is what leaves genuinely bare clear coat for the coating to bond to.
A one-step is typically 4 to 6 hours; a two-step 6 to 8 or more, sometimes a full day on a large or badly swirled vehicle. This is the step that pushes a coating job onto two days.
Every panel wiped to remove polishing oils and residue. Invisible in photos, and not skippable: coating applied over residual oil does not bond and fails early.
Applied panel by panel and levelled within its working window, then inspected under light for high spots. Temperature and humidity both affect the working window, which is one more reason the forecast matters.
The car stays dry. No rain, no sprinklers, no washing, and ideally no heavy fog on the panels.
The coating continues hardening after it is touch-dry. We give you the care instructions before we leave, including when normal washing can resume.
| Situation | Realistic schedule |
|---|---|
| Sedan, no correction | One day, 7 to 8 hours, plus the dry window. |
| Sedan, one-step correction | Usually two days, or one very long day depending on start time. |
| Sedan, two or three step correction | Two days. |
| Midsize or large SUV, any correction | Two days. |
| Any vehicle, forecast uncertain | Planned around a clear stretch, which may move the dates. |
We would rather move a date than apply a coating into a forecast that will not hold. Rescheduling for weather carries no penalty.
SF City Wash is mobile only. There is no shop and no drop-off, and every job we have documented — 60 of them across 28 neighborhoods — was completed at the customer's own address.
For a standard detail that is a pure advantage: the car never moves, you never lose a parking spot, and you do not have to be there. For a coating it takes a bit of coordination, and it is worth being honest about that.
What helps most: covered parking for the first day. A residential garage, an apartment lot with a roof, or an office parking structure removes the weather risk from the dry window entirely. If you have that, a mobile coating is straightforward.
What we do if you do not: watch the forecast and plan the dates around a clear stretch. This is why coating appointments get discussed rather than booked online. Every other service on our list can be booked instantly; coating and correction are quote-based because the plan has to fit your parking and the weather.
We bring our own water and power to every job, so nothing at the location is needed. For all-day work like a coating, access to a power outlet is helpful but not always required, and we confirm that when arranging the appointment.
A coating is a quote-based service, which means a conversation about the paint, the correction level, the package and the dates. That is not friction for its own sake — it is the difference between a coating that lasts its rating and one that does not.
Send photos with the quote request and tell us where the car parks. Those two things shape most of the plan.
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That is what a mobile coating needs. Tell us where the car parks and we will build the plan around it.