Shrink wrapping boat for winter

Has anyone here done this? How much did it cost? How did it work?

I haven't done it but I talked to my local boat shop which offers they service. They basically told me that even with the boat shrink wrapped and full of dri z air (or other moisture wicking stuff) if you leave the boat outside it still gets condensation. They do an anti-mold/mildew treatment on all the upholstery/carpet but I didn't feel comfortable with it. It wasn't that much cheaper than just renting storage for the winter anyway.

thanks. I have a semi-dry covered storage and was thinking it would do better than my fitted boat cover. Did they tell you how much it was. We don't have any storage places where I live that will fit my boat

I can't remember exactly, maybe just under a grand? I'll ask them when I go in next time.

Under a grand?! A buddy of mine told me of a guy in Sac that does it mobile for $300, i was going to contact him to verify.

$350. just had it done for a boat im shipping to Asia.

I am thinking about doin this myself...
I have an old heat gun from work and I found the material at www.drshrink.com. Seems easy enough... It would cost about $100, but I would buy enough for 3 boats...

http://www.dr-shrink.com/training-video

I've called a few places around here in northern Virginia and most of them charge based on the length of the boat usually around $14/ft so a 21 foot boat would cost ~$300. I'm thinking about doing it as I have no covered storage anybody have some extra precautions I should take before it’s done?

You should be able to get it done between 300-400. Like said above, make sure your boat is very very dry inside.

699 for mine to be wrapped, engine winterized, ballast tank winterized and and dry bags put in to reduce mildew all on the lift. Done it the past 2 winters no issues, not a stich of mold. work well for me.

I work for a boat storage facitlity in Iowa and we are currently working on shrink wraps. For the 3 years we have do these, we have not had any moisture/mildew problems come spring. But we also make sure that every boat we shrink does not have any water in the carpet or in the seats! We highly recommend doing this, as we do 100+. If you have any questions, just ask. And if you decide to use a heat gun, it is going to take a while. We use a flame gun that shrinks the boat pretty quickly, but still takes about an hour after all is done. And you also have to vent the boat so that you get air flow in the boat over the winter. This also helps with the moisture/mildew.

Here is a picture of a few that we have shrunk from a few years ago.

Just got my X25 wrapped the other day. The guys that did it pulled it in to their shop three days before wrapping it to insure it was completely dry. Finial bill was $260.

http://www.shrinkit-inc.com/

If your going to be doing it every year..... It might pay to buy your own setup.

We use the biggest system they have for our business.

I just bought a setup and did my pontoon boat recently. Haven't done the Malibu yet. It is not as easy as they make it look. But I took it slow and am very happy with the way it came out. It definitely would be easier if I had a garage inside to work on it as the wind was a little factor and it definitely takes some getting use to the gun and how the wrap shrinks without burning a hole into it. Around my area they are getting like $10/foot. I bought the pro setup and spent close to $1600. But have enough material to wrap my boat for the about 15 times, both boats too. Hoping to get good and wrap the neighbors to get the $$ back but not worried about it. Really it pays for itself in the first three years(for me) and then for the next 12 it will be free besides my labor. By then I figured I will be good at it. Here is a pic of my pontoon. It needs a little tweaking but figured it is a little taller than the normal so the snow will run right off.