Hi- We recently purchased a home that needed to be fully renovated/restored. Money was extremely tight, I decided I could live with the gray tile, but the stained tub had to go. We decided to reglaze instead of replace, and it cost $300. It was done in May '07, and has held up well so far. You can reglaze the tile as well, but I kept mine gray. I have one small ding in it from my 2 year old throwing a rather large heavy toy into it. Otherwise I thought it was a great solution, and would recommend reglazing if you are unable to remodel.

borngrace,

I would suggest you get a couple of quotes from people that reglaze tubs then also get several references from them and CHECK EACH REFERENCE. My experience with reglazing tile and tubs is much different from polly929's and I would never do it again. As a contractor I have let several reglazing jobs by subcontractors and in each case the the procedure has been a dismal failure, and that's using different subcontractors each time.

I think reglazing is fine if you want to do an inexpensive freshening up of your bathroom. We decided to get a new tub rather than reglaze because we are planning to do this bathroom remodel once and never again. The old clawfoot tub had been reglazed once and was chipping (it was an almond glaze on a white tub so it was really obvious). There were large chips and it looked terrible.

So if you have a limited budget it can be better than nothing but it won't hold up like a factory enamel finish.

Our tub reglazing experience has not been good at all.
It only lasted about 1 year and problems started: now UGLY and horrible. We are now faced with having to live with it, reglaze again, or replace tub. Which would mean that the tile around the tub will have to be redone.
If we sell the house we will have to give compensation or
reglaze, and warn the purchasers. Either way, it will cost more money. I would never reglaze unless the tub can be sent off and done properly with the heating of the glaze to cook it on.

In hind sight, this decision was pound of trouble and penny foolish for us. Our decision was made due to the difficulty in replacing the tub, because we have a one bath home. Now, it would be even more difficult and costly.
I would recommend a new tub.

What you decide to do depends on:
Will children be using the tub?
Do you bathe pets in the tub?
Is it the only tub in the house?
If you answer yes to any of these questions, then the answer is no to reqlazing.
My DD had a yellow tub like yours. It had been reglazed white before she bought the house. She has 2 "Tweenage" daughters, past the bath stage, but into long showers and lots of Hair prep.. etc. and the glaze is chipping
If you have another tub in the home my suggestion would be to replace the tub with a shower. ( unless you must have a tub).
We reglazed (professionally) our second bath tub- which is never used. I am very pleased with how it turned out, but would have replaced it if it was going to receive any use. We replaced the tub in the master bath with a shower. We have a third jetted tub in our guest bath.
If you are planning on replacing the tile surround, replace or remove the tub if possible.
Pam

Wow, I'm sorry to hear about other people's bad experiences with reglazing. I just want to clarify a few things with my original post. We have a separate stand up shower stall, so the tub is not used for showering. It is only used for bathing my small children. The original color of our tub was white, with really bad rust stains from a leaky faucet. The reglazing was a temporary solution. We plan on renovating the bathroom in a few years when our finances recover from the kitchen renovation. I absolutely could not look at or bathe my children in the tub with those stains. With that said, when we do the bathroom over, the tub will most definitely be replaced.

I am really stuck here. I don't really want to give up the option of a bath -- also I think it could be a problem for resale (although that is far down the road) not having a bath in the master -- also as an antique the other bathrooms are "interesting" nooks.

We have 3/4 bath on main floor. 3/4 bath in bed 1, fullish bath in bed 2 (but it is in a slant and you have to be a pigmie to stand upright). Master bath is full and 3rd floor bath is tub, no shower.

So, I while I think a walk in shower might be nice, I'm not sure I should do it. I want to take baths (but life intrudes -- also I don't like taking bath where other people stand to shower -- seems icky)

So, then it seems that I should replace tub because glazing won't hold up?? This is a one time redo not a good enough until . . . sort of thing.

Not trying to hijack this thread, but I've got the same question. I've got a 17 year old large, corner, AquaGlass, whirlpool tub that looks like new, but is the WRONG color. It's the monster in the room and it's time to update everything. It's my understanding all of the jets can be retrofitted to white, from brass, and the air button and flow valve and faucet assembly would be changed to Nickel. This tub has been used under 10 times in 17 years. Is reglazing an option if I'm going to sell the house? What is the best reglazing method?

If you plan to sell the house why don't you leave the choice of reglazing up to the new owner. After reading everything you have just read for you to rehab that tub just for sale appeal would be dishonest in my opinion. Not that it isn't done every day.

I had a house with a 'blue' bathroom - blue tub, blue toilet, blue vanity tops.. you get the picture. This bath was used by my children & they didn't mind the blue. Right before I sold I got rid of everything but the tub which was a big one piece tub/wall unit and had it glazed white. It looked brand new & beautiful. If I had left the blue bathroom the house would not have sold nearly as fast or for as much as I received.

I think with the tub you have, reglazing is a good option. I've reglazed 50 tubs in an apartment building, similar vintage tub as yours. Only two failed to my knowledge, and that was due to bad prep. In my opinion, the reglazing method works best on old cast iron tubs that don't have "flex" in them like newer ones do. When there's flexing (as weight is placed in and taken out of the tub) then the finish can fail more easily. Since you have a good old solid tub, which you can't even buy these days, I'd stick with it unless you're in love with a new tub.

We had our old clawfoot tub reglazed in 2000. It costed $575 and to us, it's been money well spent. The tub has maintained its luster well and still looks great. There's some important considerations however.

We hired a reputable reglazing specialist who offered a 5-yr. warranty. We also care for the tub according to his instructions. The tub's not in our primary bathroom so we don't use it everyday, and we don't use it for showering. And, possibly most importantly, our kids are grown and out of the house.If any of these factors were different, our tub might not look as good as it does.

If given the choice to do it again, we certainly would do the same. It's been a great tub!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our bathtub

We have a tub similar to yours in our 1960's house. We had it reglazed a little over a year ago, and it looks great. We were not doing a tear-out at this time.

It is our only tub/shower. We have no kids. I just have to be careful to use a gentle cleaner on it (Scrubbing Bubbles), no Comet. We also have a 5-year warranty from the company.

It cost $500 to have it done. I wish I had before pictures, but I do not. When DH bought the house, the finish was horrendous.