Get a new tub without the demo

Replacing a bathtub can be pretty complicated. In addition to the removal and disposal of the tub, there's also the prospect of replacing adjacent flooring and walls, not to mention the tricky plumbing. You may want to avoid the hassle and mess of installing a new tub, or the existing tub may match the architectural style of your house. Also, not all bathroom makeovers need to be expensive, dramatic undertakings — sometimes, you simply need to spruce up an otherwise functional room. There are three options to consider when it comes to refinishing a tub.

DIY Epoxy Paint

Klenk's makes a two-part epoxy refinishing kit for recoating tubs and other fixtures that you can get off the shelf at a hardware store. The Klenk's kits can be applied with the included brush and a roller. There's a bit of a time commitment. The tub should dry for a day after the initial prep work, and the mixed epoxy sits for an hour before use. There's a 12-hour window for applying two to three coats. Finally, the tub cannot be used for five to seven days.

The upside to all of this is the relatively inexpensive cost; a Klenk's kit costs around $40.

By thinning with lacquer thinner, Klenk's can be sprayed, if you're set up for that, which improve your chances of getting a smooth finish. But don't neglect safety when you spray highly inflammable material inside the house.

Professional Recoating

A tub-refinishing firm will refurbish your tub with little hassle. A company called BathMaster (www.bathmaster.com) for this

project. I wanted to preserve the integrity of my cast-iron tub.

The refinisher preps the tub with an initial cleaning, followed by an acid etch. The tub is then sanded, and any depressions or scratches are filled with a body-filling compound. After spraying a coat of primer, a good refinisher will blend a custom colour match for the other bathroom fixtures before spraying several coats of the final finish.

Before the work began, the refinisher set up a ventilating unit outside so that the fumes were exhausted very efficiently. The whole job took about five hours, and the tub was ready to use the next morning.

Different firms offer different finishes-epoxies, acrylics, urethanes or polyesters. If it's desirable, fixtures or tile can also be recoated to match.

A refinishing should cost between $300 and $500 and you should expect a warranty of three to seven years. An additional benefit from our tub refinishing is that the smooth, shiny finish is less slippery than the original tub, which means we have been able to do away with bath mats, thereby avoiding one of the prime causes of bathtub staining and degradation.

Tub liners

Another option for covering up an existing tub is a liner. A tub liner company will install a form-fitting acrylic liner over your existing tub. They typically have large inventories of many types of tubs to ensure a match for the one being covered. The installer can also completely transform the tub surround with the addition of acrylic walls the same day. For a scruffy situation, the instantaneous transformation can be pretty dramatic.

Acrylic tub liners can offer good durability against chipping and a renewable finish, but the installation has to be perfect to avoid any gaps between the liner and the tub, which can lead to future cracking. Some firms offer an impressive lifetime warranty.

Tub liners can cost more than $1,000, even more if the walls of the surround are replaced as well, but the tub can typically be used as soon as the caulking has cured.


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