How about tearing it out and put in a nice looking regular type bathtub. It will be a whole lot less aggravation. Is a concrete bathtub normal in Egypt??

It was more like paving the outside with cement. Which we did. But then he insisted on painting it. Tearing it out would be hard since I just put this in a couple months ago...And the neighbors are fed up with any loud renovation noises....

Concrete is porous. It absorbs water. It also stains and etches. That’s normal concrete behavior. Perhaps abrade off the paint coating and tile the apron in a large format concrete look tile. But that depends on how the concrete apron was constructed and attached. That’s info we don’t have. But your builder does

If that is a regular tub inside there, how does the concrete get wet?

You have a lot more cement at the lip of the tub than the one in your inspiration photos, which may account for the chipping. I like the look of the painted version, though, just not the lip.

So if I abrade off the paint coating and tile the apron, won’t that cause the tiling to stick out bigger around the bathtub? Since the tile was not applied to it originally? they put bricks around the tub (it’s what they do here) and then added concrete over which they would have adjusted to fit the tiling in the right place. But i wanted a cement tub on the outside instead of tiling, however painting it was a stupid move. is there something they could do to the raw concrete layer to make it into that hard and durable cement look?

If you can remove the paint and get the concrete to a smooth finish, a concrete sealer seems like it would fit the bill

Tear it out. It wasn’t designed correctly rly from the beginning. Fix that now while you’re still inconveniences. Or live with it forever.

Cement is an ingredient, you may have stucco or mortar.

Yes, the existing paint can be removed, finish changed, and a waterproof paint applied. Can you obtain epoxy based waterproof sealants?

You and your builder should have done a small mock up of this idea. You would have seen how scratchy it is and , filling it with water, you would have seen how it changes color when it’s wet. He would have seen if he had the skills to do this to your satisfaction.

Thanks everyone for the comments! I guess I do not know if it's cement or concrete. I thought my contractor could know what I want through inspiration photos etc. But I'm not sure exactly what they used, I hope there is a way to salvage this. If I end up tearing it out, I guess I lived and learned. It really sucks. I've been dealing with a lot. Renovation in North Africa is a different beast and I have been dealing with a lot of confusion of differences in the way things are handled here.

Pick a solid surface concrete look alike and cover that mess with it please.

Will do! Any suggestions?

Your inspiration photos were most likely done with a stucco finish.

sheeesh, dont stress about it ....take yourself to the tool shop and get a grinder with a couple of concrete grind/polishing heads and start to turn that frown upside down...It will be messy but im sure you will polish that pickle up to the desired finish...

@elizabeth johnston this is an old post. bathtub was redone over a year ago. took off the painted sides with that stucco or whatever cement the guy used and we tiled the tub. much better now.