I've damaged my fibreglass bath by dropping a heavy glass shower screen onto it.
This photo shows the damage
I'm wondering how best to repair it - my first thought is car body filler?
If you can get to the back of it, then I would start with laying up some fibreglass mat and resin so you have a backstop. If you can't get to the back, then some wood splints inserted into the hole and stuck with some grab adhesive.
After that, a primary fill with plastic padding or some other two part filler. (you can get car body filler like wood fillers, that come in white).
Then it rather depends on how cosmetically accurate it needs to be... getting two "whites" to match is often difficult.
A gel coat repair kit may be your best bet:
Household insurance claim and let them worry about the what's and wherefors !
Andrew
It can be done but it isn't quick and it isn't easy. a lot of rubbing down building up and polishing out to make it good. kits for small repairs are available for boat owners and probably for the car/caravan market as well.
TW
Time for a new bath.
The best repair duplicates the original structure - glass reinforced resin sealed with a gelcoat. You need to cut away the damaged area, feather the back edge an inch or two with a grinder and lay up a couple of layers of glass in resin (supporting it with a former treated with mould release stuck on the front) then remove the former when the resin is firm, key the edges of the front and apply gelcoat (which you'll probably want to sand when fully cured depending on how smoothly it goes on, but the gel just has to seal the resin, anything else is cosmetic).
There is an epoxy product called Milliput in Superfine White shade that I have used in smaller bath repairs, and it looks okay. But you'd need something underneath, like fibreglass, as already mentioned. I used a two pence piece underneath, and made sure there was more epoxy on top to give it some structural resistance to falling through.
It worked okay, but I could never stop worrying about it, so I ended up replacing it. And now the replacement bath currently has a Milliput-repaired small crack in it. Our son keeps dropping his toy battleships in it. I'll replace it again when he's grown up a bit. I think a metal bath would be the answer, but then he would always be cracking the enamel.
First ask yourself, will any possible repair satisfy your other half (assuming you have one). ;-)
Tim
+1
Fibreglass and resin is wonderful stuff, and I've mended a few things in my time with it. But I wouldn't say that the result is cosmetically beautiful.
The trouble is that a new bath may mean new tiles, and that means loads of mess.
Yes, but hang ten.
What you need to do is first pf all patch from underneath with a bit of chopped strand mat and polyester resin - Halfords can supply - then use polyester resin and a (mica?) filler - and that may be available from Halfords or you may need to shop elsewhere at a specialist glass fibre shop and finally resin with a white pigment.. Powder paint WILL work, for white (Ti O2 is inert) but again a specialist glass fibre shop may have a better 'gel coat' pigment
Once the layers are built up, sand back going down top 600 grit or finer and use T- cut to blend the repair in
Thanks for those replies, which have provided some useful pointers.
I can get to the back of the hole so I think I may get some fibreglass matting to provide a solid base and then go for Milliput or car body filler.
I suspect Milliput may be better as it gives lots of time to work it before it dries.
My other half lives in the flat upstairs so it's only me that has to live with it!!
I've built / moulded many things out of it, including canoes and RC racing boats.
I think it can be.
Uncles Reliant Robin was hit whilst parked at work and a similar sized hole to the OP's bath punched though the top of the wing.
He was going away for the weekend but rang us to mention the damage in the hope we could help him resolve something when he got back.
We dived round there as soon as he's gone, repaired and re sprayed it and I'd have to say you would be hard pressed to spot where the hole was. In fact, when he was dropped back late Sunday night he 'felt' for the hole but couldn't (tried both sides in case he's remembered it wrong) and even went indoors to get a torch as he thought he was going mad. It was only when he saw the traces of fibreglass on the gravel drive ... we then got the phone call. ;-)
Something I considered when we fitted the plastic corner bath 30 years ago now and so I reinforced the plastic with a good couple of layers of chopped strand mat and extra reinforcement on the weaker bits.
I'm pretty sure the reinforcement has helped to protect against damage caused by things that have been dropped in it over the years. ;-(
Depending of ease of access ... and what's likely to be considered 'acceptable' ... I'd clean the hole up with a round file / Dremel and maybe use some of that slotted MDF to create a backing to pull some chopped strand matt up against the back of the hole. Once cured, the hole could be filled with patches of CSM and then filled with a body filler, smoothed and polished or covered with some quality shaped vinyl to make it a feature (like a big water droplet). ;-)
Cheers, T i m
However what you have there is polyester. Milliput is epoxy.
Agreed it comes in china white....
Accidental damage is cheap on house insurance. Or did you not bother?
In that case, gaffer tape.
Bill
Its probably include without the accidental cover. I claimed for new bath after I fell off some steps and cracked the bath when I put my boot down rather hard, no "accidental" cover on the policy but it did cover fixtures.
What will be the consequences of a sudde failure?
What is the depreciation effect on the property?
Perhaps you plan to keep coal in it.
Or an insurance claim and a new bath. Brian
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