Reglazing a Bathtub

[soozy87]

Has anyone ever re-glazed a bathtub? Looking for tips, product recommendations, advice, etc. I have a ugly green tub that I would love to change to white before we redo the tile surround. 

[munkii]

We are hiring a company to do it. I'm sure some people have success with DIY products, but I'm not interested in going that route because of the horrible job the previous owners did on the tile surround. IDK if it was a crap product or if they didn't do it right (probably a combination), but the re-glazing they did on the tile has been flaking off ever since we moved in.

So, in about two weeks, a company is coming to our house to re-glaze the tub. They use some kind of polyurethane glass blend that is sprayed on after they've thoroughly cleaned the tub. They can also do surrounds, but we're tearing out the tile and starting over.

If you decide to do this on your own, make sure there is plenty of ventilation.

[gummybear]

We've had it done 3 times in our rentals. Twice by a company that specializes in it and once by our contractor. I cannot ditto the ventilation suggestion enough. We were pretty much not supposed to go in the house after, and professionals have equipment to deal with the fumes but my contractor said he was not right in the head for days after bc the fumes were so bad.

The results are very nice though. We changed one tub from poop brown to white and it was lovely. The other ones were just white on white but it brightens things up so well.

[dottyblue]

gummybear, how long has the reglazing been in place and has it held up well?

We rented from a place that had reglazed the tub and it was peeling/chipping and had to be entirely redone. From what I understand it had only been in place for a couple of years. Is that normal? Or is the reglazing just as durable as a regular tub? (owners of our rental were notoriously stingy... so they could have hired some one who did a crummy job)

[munkii]

dottyblue , I'm also curious to see gummybear 's response because, from what I understand, it lasts about 10 years, give or take. I wonder if what you experienced was a DIY job. I don't think DIY products are made to last like professional glazes.

ETA: I came across this link that says basically what I said: homeguides.sfgate.com/long-bathtub-reglazing-last-93759.html.

Also, I came across this company's website on the dos and don'ts of re-glazed maintenance: www.bathtubrx.com/tubcare.html (the logo is hilarious). 

[gummybear]

The one tub is enamel coated steel. That was professionally reglazed in summer 2015 and still looks great. The other tub is cast iron and was professionally reglazed about 10 or so years ago? That's the one we just had our contractor redo this fall. That tub def. had a lot of wear and tear, but it's the only bathroom in the house and we usually have 3-4 people in there at a time, so it gets a lot of use. The DIY product our contractor used is def not as nice as the professional finish, but it does the job for now. It was more of a touch up issue - the tub itself will prob survive the apocalypse.

The professional reglazers usually give a warranty around 5 years. But, many times, if it is a rental they may not stand by that or even offer it bc rentals are notorious for their excessive wear and tear. Another thing it could have been - you can only reglaze once at a time. So, if you have a super old tub and reglaze it, if you need to do it again, you need to have the old finish removed. This is where it can get pricey. The reglaze itself is only a couple hundred, but to remove an old finish is $$$. So your tenants could have done what we did - just touch up an old reglaze. We have plans to do a new tub liner soon - bc removing the 65 year old cast iron tub would require actual demo or wall/ceiling removal.

[Deleted]

It's in our plans to have ours reglazed. Our tub is from 1927, so we called a local restoration company and they recommended a guy who can do the tub for $375 and the sink for $125. I'm sure prices vary from place to place, but that range convinced us to keep the original fixtures and not replace them!

[hbomdiggity]

hire someone.

I can't remember if it was $400 or $600 HCOL and they had to do a ton off prep/repair.

[IndiaInk]

We paid $300-400 to reglaze our claw foot tub. It looks so nice and is now lead-free, so that's a bonus

[lightbulbsun]

We paid about $350 to have ours reglazed. We had it done 6 years ago, and it's held up really well. There are some chips in it, but that's only because we wash our dogs there. I'm pretty sure if it was just H and I there wouldn't be any chips. It's our only tub, so it gets daily use.

[aspentosh]

It's worth hiring a reputable company. Previous owners didn't and this is what we have been dealing with for almost 5 years. We are finally sick of it and we are redoing her bathroom next month.

[Deleted]

Feb 25, 2017 16:49:08 GMT -5 IndiaInk said:

We paid $300-400 to reglaze our claw foot tub. It looks so nice and is now lead-free, so that's a bonus

Do you have a picture? We have a claw foot tub that we have yet to use so I can't really tell if it needs to be reglazed or not.

[soozy87]

I think we are going to hire someone to reglaze the tub for us. Thanks everyone for your advice and telling me about your experience!