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Ron Jones near Indy
02-09-2011, 8:56 PM
We have a 39 year old cast iron tub in pretty good shape. It has no chips, one small rust stain and a dull finish. We do NOT want to replace it for several reasons. We would, however, like to get it looking better. The Lowe's bathroom guru said that we could get it refinished for about the price of a new one. He could/would not recommend someone to do this.

Does anyone here have experience with refinishing/re-glazing CI tubs? Any recommendations on this topic? I'm skeptical of a DIY system. Am I correct in this?

Howard Garner
02-09-2011, 9:29 PM
I did this a few years ago when I flipped a house.
You do need a HVLP sprayer and special finishes.
Do some web searching and you can find sources.
Expect to pay a few hundred for the complete kit.
Cleaners, primers, and finish. Enough to do several tubs.

Howard Garner

Howard Garner
02-09-2011, 9:33 PM
Following up on my own post
Try this site.

<http://www.startremodeling.com/solutions/store/do_it_yourself_resources.html>

This has all you will need.

Howard Garner

Marc Myers
02-09-2011, 9:59 PM
There is a reglazing kit available at home depot that is about $50. I used it myself with decent luck when the company I worked for flipped a house. No need for a sprayer, I did it with a brush using two thin coats. It was a self leveling epoxy paint if I remember correctly. One kit is a quart + hardener and was enough to do a full sized tub (no walls) once. You sand it down with steel wool, wash the tub, repeat 2x, let dry and paint away. I can't say for sure how long it will last, but I was surprised at the results the next day. For what the tub started out looking as, and what my expectations were for the product, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a pretty bright white color, no streaks, and seemed a hard durable finish. For 50 bucks and a few hours labor, nothing to loose.

Jeremy Brant
02-10-2011, 1:05 PM
Not sure what your reasons are for not wanting to replace it, but I suggest replacing it. I was in a similar situation when I bought my house, with the tub being around 50 years old. I priced it out and refinishing was going to be ~500 by a professional, and they would only guarantee their work for 3-4 years. From talking with other people who had done this, they almost all had to have it redone again or fixed within that warranty period. That to me says that you're definitely going to need it done again within a relatively short time after the warranty expires. I priced out a new cast iron tub and with shipping was within $100 shipped to my house, with a limited lifetime warranty. The price on the tub I bought (Toto) has gone up some since then, but I would still do it again for the factory finish and piece of mind that it should be good for another 50 years. Removing the old tub was easy...throw an old wet sheet or towel over it to protect yourself from enamel splinters, then blast away with a sledgehammer and it will easily crack into pieces small enough to carry out of the house. Moving the new one in is doable with 2 people. Sliding it back into the alcove was the toughest part, but still worked out fine. I did redo the whole bathroom though, and this was put back into place prior to retiling the walls. Depending on the tiling, you might need to redo the bottom row of tiles to get it right.

Bryan Slimp
02-10-2011, 1:18 PM
The tub in our house was reglazed (I doubt it was done professionaly) and it's terrible. I wouldn't go near the $50 system, and I would guess the fumes would be pretty bad too.

I've priced a few tubs to replace it with and they can be had for the same price or lower than I was quoted to refinish the exisiting tub.