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I am in the process of planning to renovate our upstairs bathroom. The main reason we are doing the bathroom is that the floor tile is starting to come up. Since everything else is old too, we decided to just do the whole thing.
The one question I have right now is whether to replace or reglaze the steel bathtub and the surrounding tile. It looks like it is original to the house, which was built around 1980. For the most part they are still in decent shape, especially the tile. It's just that they are that ugly shade of robin's egg blue. Also, the tub has a couple pin-sized rust spots near the drain. I spoke with someone who said that rust spots can and will expand quickly, thus rendering the whole tub unusable and in need of replacement. Granted, she was an employee at a big box hardware store but I wanted to see if this is true.
Basically, does any sign of rust basically mean that it is beyond repair and that the tub needs to be replaced? Or will a reglazing/refinishing of the tub cover those spots to prevent any further rusting from occurring and recolor the tub to a more modern color, thus allowing me to keep a tub (and tile) that are in otherwise good condition? Any help you be appreciated. Thanks!
I believe it is steel in that I believe that is what the inspector said when we bought the house last year. Otherwise, I would not know the difference . The wall tile is fine, it's just not he prettiest. The floor tile is what is coming up. Unfortunately it is the tub in the house as we have 1.5 baths so a shower wouldn't work.
Unless the retiling of the floor is going to cause more damage to the tub, is the rust enough to replace it? Other than the color (and the couple rust dots), it's in pretty good shape so I would feel like we're throwing away a perfectly good tub (IF the reglazing can resolve the rust issue).
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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At that age it's most likely steel, but you can tell by knocking on it. Steel has a more hollow sound. Some of the refinishing companies do a good job that lasts a long time, but you'd want to do it soon before the rust spreads and goes too deep.
I recently replaced one, and had to cut it with a sawzall to get it out in 3 pieces. Doing it yourself, replacement is actually cheaper than refinishing. Paying a contractor, refinishing costs less.
We had our tub refinished a couple of years ago and it looks great. It's one of those one piece units that get put in when the house is built. It was yellowing and they went over it with white. It stank to high heaven while they were putting it on, but the smell cleared quickly as it dried.
They also put in a new drain stopper that just rotates in the opening that we really like.
We had our tub refinished a couple of years ago and it looks great. It's one of those one piece units that get put in when the house is built. It was yellowing and they went over it with white. It stank to high heaven while they were putting it on, but the smell cleared quickly as it dried.
They also put in a new drain stopper that just rotates in the opening that we really like.
We had water issues in the wall around a tub. The bath was not properly built originally, and water got into the sheetrock and softened it. We had tile around the tub, and I imagine the tub was steel. We had a firm completely cover everything with fiberglass. I believe the installer did saw out the softened areas and put something in its place, but this was about 7 years ago, I've forgotten the details.
We chose a slightly marbelized tile pattern and managed to choose a similar cultured marble sink. Everything looked wonderful after the facelift, which also included a new vanity. I believe the firm was the local franchise of Bath Fitter, or a similar firm.
I'd take my time choosing this. In our case, the product was very nice.
Thanks for all your help. I just have one more question: Would reglazing prevent the few rust spots from spreading into something worse? Or is that once the rust appears, no matter how small, it's only a matter of time before the tub disintegrates?
Thanks for all your help. I just have one more question: Would reglazing prevent the few rust spots from spreading into something worse? Or is that once the rust appears, no matter how small, it's only a matter of time before the tub disintegrates?
Removing rust isn't rocket science- removing ALL OF IT is the exception- if all of it isn't removed, it just keeps growing- does that answer your question?
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. The wall tile is fine, it's just not he prettiest. The floor tile is what is coming up. Unfortunately it is the tub in the house as we have 1.5 baths so a shower wouldn't work.
