Bathtub refinishing advice

[James R. Lunsford]

I want to refinish my bathtub and I've seen diy kits on the web, and I'm wondering if anyone has used one and has any advice as to which ones are better and/or advice on the job itself.

TIA

[Jim Yanik]

"James R. Lunsford" wrote in news:Ji1Of.213$zp2.54@trndny01:

I suggest using a professional refinishing service.You get a warranty. IMO,it's worth it.

THOROUGH Surface prep is CRITICAL to the new finish adhering,and care must be taken when cleaning the tub.I've read on this NG that a pro recommended using 409 to clean the epoxy finish.

[scott21230]

Everything that I have reas suggests that they suck. I have heard of them pelling after a few weeks. If you are handy and good and painting (and prepping) and only doing the tub, then it might be worth a shot. If you are going to redo the walls, you may as well do it the right way and rip out the tub and put in a new cast iron one, as nature intended.

[C & E]

I had mine done by a pro and the surface prep was caustic, requiring some serious ventilation for proper etching of the surface. It lasted about 8 years and began to spall off. True to the warranty they resurfaced it last summer. The finish is very nice. I probably would have opted for a replacement unit but the old one is prtty well sealed in by the finish plaster which would have been pretty well damaged while wrestling the new one in.

[tomrobroy]

A couple of years ago while in a no-money funk, I used a DIY kit from the local Home Depot. My bathtub had a large black stripe going down the middle of it, which was real attractive.

I spent a lot of time prepping the tub, which involved scraping out old caulk and using these brillo-pad looking things to scratch the tub and made sure it was as clean as possible (don't recall what I used for cleaning, might have been TSP). It took a lot of work to do that, but I didn't have the funds to hire someone. I then applied the refinisher, which was the easiest part of the whole process. My only regret is that I didn't use a better brush, as any bristles that came out of the brush were stuck in the gooey finish and had to be removed with tweezers, as rebrushing over the area would leave streaks. Also, it wasn't until I was almost done that I got pretty good at painting the refinisher on without leaving streaks. I might also add that you won't see imperfections or shadows from the streaks unless you shine a light directly into the tub.

Overall, we're happy with it. It has lasted several years. I'm sure it will need another coat eventually, but for the time being it looks pretty good, and even with shining a light directly on it, you can't see that lovely black streak. Hope this info is of some use to you.

[Jim Yanik]

"tomrobroy" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Actually,adding extra coats will not add much time to curing. You just have to wait long enough for the 1st coat to gel. IMO,I would use three coats.

Also,the newest Tub&Tile kit I downloaded instructions for uses a roller for finish application,and includes the etchant for surface prep.

Tub&Tile has a website and you can download the kit instructions in a .pdf file format.