Opinions on reglazing/refinishing bathtub?
Comments (20)
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agogeoffrey_b
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Had tub reglazed and.....
Comments (12)We had reglazed the tub in our last house and had the non-skid applied and it was hard to keep clean. We had THIS house on the market and decided that the pink bathroom might be the reason we were not selling, so we had the bathtub reglazed and opted to NOT have the non-skid coating, because the tub (which is only used for guests) would then look pristine. We have since taken the house off the market and now the slippery surface is a safety concern. But we DO plan on putting the house back on the market, so we don't want to stick appliques to the new tub. The non-stick coatings suggested (slip doctor) say that they work on porcelain, but I wonder if they will stick to the epoxy finish. I guess the only way to know is to try....See MoreRemoving Old Bathtub Refinishing/Reglazing
Comments (1)The original porcelain coating is a glass coating, actually applied and melted onto the tub while red hot. The only thing that etches glass is hydroflouric acid (which is quite nasty stuff). Luckily, HF acid isn't in anything easily bought over the counter. You should be able to use about any pain stripping product at the box stores to remove old paint from the tub. One of the gel type strippers would probably work well with the vertical areas of the tub....See Morei need a bath mat safe for re-glazed bath tub!!!
Comments (10)After slipping on a plastic mat with suction cups that didn't grip the tub, I bought non-slip shower treads on Amazon. They're made by a company called SlipX Solutions. Several posters on GW recommended them. They're fabulous: clear, not too visible, clean easily, and best of all provide excellent traction. I highly recommend them....See MoreReglazing tub
Comments (9)>>I would actually be a little leary about reglazing....from what I've heard you will get one year max out of it before it starts peeling, and you have to use special cleaners to avoid damage. >> How about the experience of someone who had it done in 2003? As with ALL paint jobs, prep is everything. Check references and do your homework. This is smelly paint, a high gloss polyurethane similar to auto paint. They will block off everything with plastic and should remove window screens as well. They will leave you a touch-up kit - USE IT immediately if the surface gets nicked. Water going underneath the paint will lift it off. The most critical thing to remember is that ALL paint jobs, no matter what type of paint and what surface, needs a full 30 days to cure completely. You can use the tub after three days, but be gentle with it until those thirty days are up. People who don't pay attention to this are the second biggest reason for reglazing failure (first being not doing your homework and using bad installers). The tub bottom may be quite slippery afterwards - I neglected to ask if they had any non-slip texturing they could do for the bottom, but my 83-yr-old MIL who uses the tub, is accustomed to using a non-suction cup bathmat. She had the same reglazing done in her house on tub and shower, and 24 yrs after it was done, she sold the house and it was still in perfect shape. The paint formulations have changed since hers was done and I wasn't expecting it to last forever. We have suction cup safety bars (plastic) which we use on the solid surface shower surround. Every once in a while they pop off and fall into the tub, or we knock over a big bottle of shampoo when we're cleaning. They're fairly heavy for being plastic, but there has been no damage to the paint at all. The tub still looks perfect. Because of the high-gloss, cleaning is simple. You can't use abrasives, but you don't need to - a spraying with one of those soap scum removers and a swish of a sponge gets everything off and the tub is gleaming again. Smartest $350 we ever spent!...See Morejakkom
8 years agoI'll disagree. We have a tub in the main flr bathroom that is only occasionally used. It was an extremely depressing shade of green, with the glaze worn off from too much pumice-loaded Comet cleanser over the years.
Because the floor (also depressing, cracked, and in a combo of yellow and green) had been tiled in around the unusual shape of the tub, we would have had to replace the entire floor in order to change the tub.
Money was tight, so in 2003 we opted to refinish (paint). Picked a nice neutral almond. The company came in, ground the finish off, spray-painted the tub. They were very careful about taping, including the window next to the tub.
They said it was basically similar to car paint, a 2-part epoxy paint. They left a vial of touch-up paint but you can use the commercial appliance touch-up paints sold at HW stores if they're a color match.
Basic points are:
- Touch up any nicks right away. I've never had any, although we've had brushes and suction safety bars fall in the tub any number of times over the last 13 yrs.
- LET IT CURE PROPERLY. All paint pretty much requires 30 days to fully cure. Baby it along until then. Since this was a second bathrm, we just ignored it for a month and stuck with our master shower.
I did have to run out and buy a shower mat for it. It has suction cups, but (when anybody uses the tub/shower) it's taken up immediately afterwards and not allowed to remain on the bottom. Once repainted, the surface is a high gloss and it is really slippery!
I do try to use the tub (for showers) at least once a month, to help keep the drains clear. We have low-flush toilets and after three successive sewer clogs caused by TP not able to get flushed all the way out due to lowered water flow, I figured we needed to use this second bathrm a little more often.
Normally I'm all for being green, but honestly, in this case you want the toughest, strongest paint possible. It'll stink to high heaven for 36 hrs, but was the savings of time/annoyance worth $350 for us?
Absolutely, positively, YES. 13 yrs, no problems, still going strong.
Old bath:
Refinished in almond, new Cultured Granite surround (sorry for the pinkish tone; it's actually a warm cream on the walls). We ended up putting a W2W washable bathroom carpet down for a number of years before we finally replaced the floor:
kats737
8 years agoI agree that it has a place, if properly done and carefully used.
We purchased an antique sink and actual porcelain reglazing was not an option. So we had it professionally refinished. It was probably the most expensive of the quotes I got, but seeing some samples of the finish and the preparation, it seemed like the best choice. As I understand he uses an epoxy that is cured by a light (think gel manicure). This was done in their shop, not in home.
I have had it for a year and the finish still looks new. This is our 'daily driver' bathroom sink. My only complaint is that it seems to pick up any stain, eg spill a little cough syrup or wash marker off your hands and it takes it like a magnet. Fortunately a paste of barkeepers friend (no scrubbing) wipes it right off.
Now I have heard horror stories about in-place bathtub refinishing not lasting. Or if it does, maybe it's got 10 years of use (which is nothing compared to an actual reglazed piece). But it sounds like for you, the new white finish and limited use might be the best scenario. However, there's no way I would use a 'green' service, I agree with the PP you probably want as caustic as legally allowed in your state!
nicole___
8 years agonosoccermom
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
er1998
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millworkman
8 years agokats737
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8 years agogeoffrey_b
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agonosoccermom
7 years ago
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