I think it very much depends on the company you use. We plan to reglaze a tub in our current house, because demo-ing it is not practical in terms of other concerns. We are leaving a still-perfect old mud job tile surround and having the tub redone. In our previous house, we had an old cast-iron tub from the early 1900s reglazed and it lasted for 15-20 years without problems (it was still fine when we sold the house so I have no idea what happened subsequently, if anything). But there are some real scam guys out there in that particular business, so you really need to research the company you are using, get references, etc. But we were VERY happy with the job at our old house so as long as you find a firm in which you have confidence, I think you'll be pleased.

Yes, we had our harvest-gold tub turned to white last November. 5 months, so far so good. A co-worker of mine had his done 2 years ago and has had to have the guys back twice to redo it, starting just 3 months after the first attempt. Were his guys idiots? Is his tub magically impossible? Who knows. It seemed to me (from articles and reviews on the web) that a national franchise will reliably do an acceptable job; an independent could be better, or much much worse. So we went with what seemed a reliably adequate chain (Miracle Method) and, like I said, so far so good. Looks fantastic, like a fully white tub, cleaning's been easy so far and it's still unchipped, unscratched, and unstained. I'd say, just do it, unless you can convince yourself that the grey fixtures are really going to look as good as you want them to in your new design.

Is the problem that a spot reglaze comes up? I appreciate the response but some elaboration would be helpful. Replacing the tub is not a good option. We'd end up replacing all the gorgeous old bathroom tile AND I'm told we'd have to tear up the concrete floor (which the drain line is embedded in, along with a steam pipe etc.) as well as rip open the ceiling from below to replace the plumbing. Huge, very expensive job potentially fraught with problems, and this is our only upstairs bathroom, for a family with small children.

I would tile to the ceiling but was just in a similar situation and did not. The ceiling in my bathroom was not even and I did not want to take a chance on seeing an uneven line next to my last row of tile. I actually have my bull nose piece just above the window. I used bull nose in my window jambs but now would have preferred not to. Steve