Here's a pic of hole by the drain of a ten year old tub, replaced when retiled surround and the rest of the bath. Was cleaning the tub yesterday when I was trying to remove rust stains from around the drain from cracked porcelain, when my finger went through the tub. Anybody have any ideas on a way to repair this without ripping out all the tile and replacing the tub?
You can buy a porcelain tub repair kit/epoxy. The important part is preparation of the area. I would remove the ring and remove the remaining rust. Then apply the epoxy, let sit and sand to shape. Then reassemble.
That is an EX tub.
I but if you look at the bottom the whole area around the drain is rusted out.
It looks like you'd only be delaying the inevitable at best.
If you told us you could get under the tub, that might open up some better ideas as well.
I'm going to assume that you cannot get under the tub.
I would:
Bend a mascara brush to a 90 degree angle and insert that into the hole to clean any dust off around the hole on the underside of the tub.
Drill two small holes in the middle of a piece of wood not much bigger than a popsicle stick.
Put a loop of string through the holes in the wood.
Insert the wood through the hole and pull the string taut so that the wood blocks most of the hole.
Loosen the string just enough to inject epoxy between the wood and the underside of the tub with a dual plunger caulking gun. Inject epoxy on both sides of the wood. Pull the string taut again and secure with some duct tape and allow epoxy to cure.
Cut the string and remove it from the wood.
Clean the area around the hole well using a Q-tip dipped in oven cleaner to
remove any soap residue on the tub around the drain. Rinse with water and dry with a paper towel.
The the drain plug in the drain hole.
Now, mix up some more two part epoxy and spread it as best you can over the hole and cracks near the tub drain.
Cover that new epoxy with Saran wrap or any cling wrap.
Dip your finger in some dish washing detergent and smooth the surface of the epoxy under the cling wrap.
Allow the epoxy to cure overnight. In the morning, the cling wrap should pull off the epoxy cleanly, but if it doesn't you can scrape any cling wrap off the epoxy with your finger nail.
Here is a bright idea for you Try using a descriptive subject Mark
I agree with the others who said that the tub is basically a goner.
But, if you wanted to take a shot at trying some kind of repair, then you may want to try what Nestork wrote. That's about the only option for a repair in my opinion -- trying to get epoxy behind the hole as a start. Or, if you can open up a ceiling below and access the tub, try it from underneath.
About the tile -- you can usually just remove the first layer of tile that meets the tub, then take out the tub and replace it, then put a row of new tile at the tub line that is a color that is compatible with the rest of the tile, but not trying to match it exactly. It will look like a decorative border around the top of the tub.
If it is a cast iron tub, check out YouTube videos about how to break a cast iron tube with a sledge hammer.
And, as someone else suggested, it is always better to put a subject heading such as "Repair hole in cast iron tub?" instead of something nondescriptive like "Any bright ideas?" or "Help needed" etc.
Good luck and let us know what you decide to do or try.
Any repair would be temporary but you may want to consider a bathtub liner
Hi, When I replaced tub in our most used main bath room I had to remove only bottom first row of tiles, cut the tub in half with Sawzall and removing it was not too difficult. I don't know how old the tub is, looking at the picture I'd say over all condition underneath is hard to check. I'd just bite a bullet and replace it to have a peace of mind. I don't want major flooding when bottom fell out.....
Thanks for the suggestions, but I knew anything would just be temporary so rather than presidential engineering it, I'm just going to bite the bullet and do it the right way and just replace it
NO
I had suggested this type repair to my son on a solid surface vanity sink that he knocked a hole in. Don't know what he did but I would include a fiberglass patch on the bottom applied as you suggest for extra strength.
In news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Oren belched:
yeah, I already knew the answer to my question before I posted, but I thought maybe, just maybe there was a shot someone might have a "bright idea". oh well, mama gets to pick out some new tile and paint............she's happy
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