Home / Guides
Straight answers · No upsell
What We’d Tell You in the Shop
Plain-English guides to paint care in the Kansas City Northland. What actually damages a finish, what protection is worth paying for, and what things really cost. Written by the people doing the work, not a marketing department.
Latest
Guides worth your time
We write these because the same questions come up on the shop floor every week. No fear-mongering and no invented statistics. Where we cite a number, we say where it came from.
Coming up
What we’re writing next
These guides follow the Missouri seasons, because that is when the damage actually happens.
Road salt and the Northland winter
What brine on 152 and US-169 does to paint and undercarriage, and the wash routine that actually removes it instead of smearing it around.
Getting a boat ready for Smithville Lake
Spring prep, oxidation you can still save, and the difference between a wash and gelcoat restoration. Pairs with our gelcoat page.
New vehicle, first 90 days
What to do, and what to avoid, on factory paint before the first winter. Includes whether correction is worth it before coating.
Rather just ask us?
Send a photo of the paint and we’ll tell you straight what it needs, and what it doesn’t.