Hey there! Funny running into you here. I'm also starting a bathroom remodel so I check in here for great advice and lessons learned.

Here is one thing that might work for your tub. I had my nasty old tub painted by a company called Perma-Ceram. I don't know if they are still around but I am sure others are. I think it is an epoxy paint. Anyway, the fellow totally sanded the old finish off the tub. He then sprayed it with this paint and it stunk to high heavens. However, it looked like a new tub when he was done. It has lasted amazingly well. After 17 years, it is only now starting to chip a small bit. I think they could fill your old holes with fiberglass and epoxy, like rust spots on cars.

My neighbor had their tub covered with some kind of plastic-y thing that also covered the surrounding tiles. I guess that's the slipcover for your tub! It was a little cheesy but solved some problems. I have to say that the tub cover did not fit real tight and you could kind of get it to move if you pushed on it. Still, it's a less expensive solution and not only hides the tub but also the tentatively moldy tiles. It has definitely held up several years and got them through the sale of the house.

See -- you could have asked this in the CF conversations, although I'm sure you'll get a lot of good advice and other ideas here. Good luck with this and I hope a great job comes along soon.

Bumping this up in case anyone with more experience has advice for Lpink.

I guess this is a case of "TMI" and also too little money to be of interest here Pam, lol! Wish I had a digital camera but alas, I don't.

My tub looks like the one in the graphic atop this forum, except it is up against a wall on three sides, and has no feet. And it has two additional holes besides the tub drain lever, where I guess old fixtures were. And then a weird half wall built above that to house "new" fixtures.

At this point I'm going to look into reglazing. That seems the path of least resistance. But I'm not sure about the tub surround. My friend said he would come over and help me do tiles, but I'm not sure if I want ceramic tiles. A light color would look best in my bathroom, and I'm worried about cleaning with the painfully hard water I have. I wonder if there are high end synthetic panels that might work. What I have isn't "high end" by any means but I don't know where to look for such things--I looked at Home Depot but I don't really like that store. I haven't looked at Loewes, but I'm not sure if there are other kids of places to get this stuff. The bathroom remodeling places around where I work are no help whatsoever, they are too high end--they don't sell quick, non-labor intensive solutions.

I'm trying for the most bang for the buck with the least labor needed, but not something that is going to look cheesy.

I wouldn't say "too little money to be of interest." I have seen questions answered here about things that cost next to nothing to do/purchase.

I tried to read your original post but got terribly confused. It's hard to come up with suggestions when you can't figure out the situation!

I did get that you want to do something with your tub, and I can comment on that. I also have an old tub that sorely needs refinishing. It's in terrific shape but is an awful color that clashes with the floor tile. I looked into reglazing and found that very few people have it done (which may tell you something). The few responses I got indicate that it is at best a temporary fix, like 5-6 years. Dedtired's is the first reglazing I've heard of that seems so successful. I also heard that the process can risk damaging wall tiles. Clearly it depends a lot on who you get to do it, but because I wasn't able to find anyone local who had had it done, I didn't feel comfortable just picking someone at random.

An architectural salvage place in my area used to have a guy who would remove the tub and refinish in his shop; it was a much different process than the standard reglazing, and the result was quite good. But he retired.

In my case, I finally decided to live with the color. And happily, just sprucing up other parts of that bathroom has made such a difference that the tub color no longer bothers me quite as much. A pretty shower curtain pulled shut can do wonders, as well. And mine only cost me $15. :-)

Hi Lpink, sorry to hear about your job situation. I know how that goes (first hand) and just hope the economy picks up after the election....

I'm having a tough time visualizing as well. And I have concerns that you'll be covering up leaks/mold which will come to bite you later -- especially if you go to sell.

I'm trying to think of a cost-effective way for you to get this checked out -- do you have any skills you could use to barter with a plumber (cooking, yard clean up?). Or if you have a nonprofit or city-based housing center --or a Habitat for Humanity -- you may be able to talk to them and see if they know of any resources for reduced-rate services. Most places want people to keep their houses....

Do you know anyone with a camera phone? If you can get pics, I'll post them for you. Just send me an email via the GW forum [click the "My Page" link next to my name] to let me know you have them; I'll email you back so you can send pics.

Thanks guys!!

Yes I don't know what to do which is why I posted here. I have zero exprience remodeling bathrooms and I don't know much about cost effectiveness. If cost wasn't a factor, I would hire a contractor to do all the work, rip out the tub, replumb, rebuild the surround and have a snazzy ceramic tile pattern done.

I was wondering about the quality of a reglazing project. I can't take the tub out as is, the behemouth would have to make two turns and navigate over a bannister. They must have built the house around the tub, lol! I asked my neighbor who had his bathroom redone, and he said they broke his tub up to get it out. Another friend who redid his farmhouse bathroom said he broke his tub up with a sledgehammer. My neighbor said his remodeler used a blowtorch. It's not that I have ZERO household skills, but when we're talking sledgehammers and blowtorches . . .

I might be able to get help getting the thing out, but then I would be left with the problem of filling in the hole. So far, I haven't found anyone who can reinstall a bathtub and surround for a reasonable cost. I absolutely cannot go over 4 K. Less would be better.

So the reglazing or plastic insert seem like good ideas because they are not so invasive. With these old houses, you tear something out to solve one problem and uncover another, lol!!

The tub is all grey and pitted at the bottom, and has lots of rust around the holes for the old fixtures. Looks really bad. But I'm most concerned about the plastic wall surround panels coming unglued and the caulk between the wall and the tub getting moldy. I bleach it almost every other week, but the fact that it molds up that fast has me worried.

In their new house, my parents have a tub and surround all molded from one piece of plastic. It is very basic but easy to clean.

I am worried about just "covering up" a problem which could harbor mold.

I'll see about getting my friend to come by with his camera. He's coming by to take a look at the place but not until after he finishes a grad class he is taking, so it will be after next week. This friend is very handy and he's already remodeled one house and is in the middle of his second. He said he would help, but he does so much for me already, I am having a hard time thinking of a good swap for all of this! I already ply him with baked goods and jam!! He's married so his wife takes pretty good care of him. He's a former student of mine, so I did help in a lot back in the day, but the student has surpassed the master at this point!!

>So the reglazing or plastic insert seem like good ideas because they are not so invasive.

Yes, these are both temporary fixes. You will save money now, but you will pay again and again every time they wear out, which they do, pretty quickly.

BTW, if you mean the custom liner where they come out and make a mold to fit your tub, you are not saving a dime over the cost of real demo/redo. That is quite expensive and will probably cost at least your whole 4K budget. It's just a lot faster than doing it right, and at least around here, they just pop it in right over the mold and gunk, so it's all breeding away back there behind the nice shiny plastic.