How To Repair A Porcelain Bathtub

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Fixing a chipped bathtub is a do-information technology-yourself project that will save you from hiring an expensive professional. Whether your tub just has a few small chips, or it is badly damaged and needs to be refinished, these are both projects that you will detect kits for at your local home improvement shop. With a niggling elbow greasy, your tub will look like new in just a matter of days!

1
Buy a 2-component epoxy kit for fleck repair. Look in the agglutinative or bathroom repair section of a home hardware store. Purchase a kit that comes with both the goad and hardener that you will mix together to create the epoxy.^[1]
- Most epoxy chip repair kits come up in shades of white to match the most common colour of bathtubs. Effort to choose a kit that will closely lucifer the shade of your bathtub, or 2 kits that you can mix together to create the right color.
- Epoxy repair kits piece of work to fix chips in all kinds of bathtubs including ceramic, porcelain, acrylic, fiberglass, and enamel tubs.
two
Scrub the damaged surface area with a sponge and soap or tub cleaner, then dry out information technology. Use warm h2o and dish detergent or a household tile and tub cleaner to clean the chipped surface area. Thoroughly dry the area with a make clean rage after you finish cleaning it.^[2]
- You can also use acetone or rubbing alcohol to clean the area. Any production that removes grease and soap scum will work to clean the chip.
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3
Follow the directions on your epoxy kit to mix the two components together. Some epoxy kits come with a mixing tray and stirring stick for yous to employ. Mix the epoxy in a disposable tray with a toothpick or matchstick if your kit didn't come with the mixing supplies.^[3]
- Information technology's a practiced idea to fix the tray on a piece of cardboard or some scraps of paper to catch whatsoever spills.
4
Utilize the epoxy to the chip with a modest spatula, paint castor, or bottom of a matchstick. Scoop upwardly a pocket-sized amount of the epoxy with your chosen utensil. Spread it carefully in a sparse layer over the flake past working in 1 direction and smooth out any spots where it pools.^[4]
- Make sure that anything you use to apply the epoxy is disposable. Information technology will be hard to go the epoxy off of anything it touches.
- It's easiest to starting time with a small amount of epoxy and add more layers than it is to put as well much on and remove it.
5
Permit the epoxy dry, and so sand down the surface with 400-600 dust sandpaper. Follow the directions on your epoxy kit to allow information technology fully dry. Gently sand the surface with 400- or 600-grit sandpaper until it feels smooth like the rest of the tub.^[5]
- Some epoxy will set in ii-three hours, at which point you can sand. Other kits may advise you lot to wait up to 24 hours before sanding.
- You can add another layer of epoxy after sanding if you can nonetheless feel the bit. And then repeat the procedure.
- Keep in mind that while this is will help hide pocket-size chips, y'all may even so be able to notice the patch. This volition be especially obvious if you try to fill a number of chips with the epoxy.^[6]
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1
Purchase a bathtub refinishing kit at a home improvement eye. Salvage yourself fourth dimension by buying a whole kit that has everything you need to refinish your tub. Almost kits come with tub cleaner, sandpaper, primer, refinishing pigment, a paint tray, a brush, and a roller.^[7]
- Bank check that the kit comes with a durable resin blanket for your tub. Some cheaper kits come with an epoxy coating, which fries and discolors faster.
- Refinishing kits can cost from near $30-$100 USD.
- Tub refinishing kits work to refinish all kinds of bathtubs including ceramic, porcelain, acrylic, fiberglass, and enamel tubs. The kits will provide a new porcelain-like finish to these kinds of tubs.
two
Ventilate the bathroom, cover the floors, and put on protective gear. Open upward all the windows and put a fan in the bathroom to ventilate it. Cover the floors with heavy-duty plastic sheets to keep them rubber during the refinishing process. Put on a face up mask and goggles.^[viii]
- You can too drape plastic sheets over fixtures like the toilet and sink to protect them.
3
Clean the bathtub with the cleaner from the kit. Read the directions on the cleaner to apply it to the tub and use a sponge to scrub the tub make clean. Rinse the tub out, so become over it with the sponge and cleaner two more times to remove any soap scum and stains before you refinish information technology.^[nine]
- If your kit did not come with cleaner, and then purchase an industrial strength bathtub cleaner to utilise.
- Permit the tub completely air dry, or speed up the process with towels and a hair dryer.
4
Sand the whole tub with the sandpaper in your kit to remove the erstwhile cease. Start with the lowest-grit sandpaper from your refinishing kit and sand the whole surface of the tub in round motions by hand, or with an electric sander. Work your style up to the highest-grit sandpaper in your kit until the tub is completely smooth.^[ten]
- Your refinishing kit should come up with sandpaper to use. If your kit didn't come with sandpaper, so start with 400-dust sandpaper and work your way upward to 2000-grit. Increase the grit of the sandpaper in increments of 200 until you reach yard-grit sandpaper, then go up in increments of 500 until yous end using 2000-dust sandpaper.
v
Repair whatsoever chips or cracks in the tub with a 2-component epoxy bit repair kit. Follow the instructions to mix the two parts of the epoxy in a small tray. Use a small-scale brush, spatula, or the bottom end of a matchstick to use thin layers of epoxy to whatever fries. Look 2-3 hours until the epoxy dries and sand the patches down with 2000-grit sandpaper to match the finish of the rest of the tub.^[11]
- This will ensure that the tub has no fries or cracks and seal the surface before you lot apply the new finish.
- Get a ii-component epoxy chip repair kit from the bathroom remodeling or adhesive section of a home improvement shop if your kit did not come with it.
6
Put painter'southward tape on the walls and effectually any plumbing fixtures. Tape forth the edges of the tub where they bear on the walls and around the faucet and other fixtures. Fifty-fifty if y'all have a steady hand, it's piece of cake for pigment to get astray!^[12]
- Painter'due south record is the bluish masking record that yous can find at hardware and paint stores.
7
Apply one glaze of primer with a castor and roller. Apply a roller to roll on the primer onto the large, apartment sections of the tub similar the floor and sides, then use a brush to get into the corners and curved parts. Permit it dry for at least 2-iii hours before you start to pigment on the new terminate.^[13]
- Priming the surface is an important office of ensuring that the new finish adheres correctly so that you end up with the correct texture. Make certain that the primer is completely dry to the touch on before you lot paint over information technology.
8
Paint on ii-three coats of the new finish with a brush and roller. Always paint in ane direction when you utilise the new coat to your tub. Roll on the new finish to the floors and sides in even dorsum-and-along rolls until the flat expanse is completely covered. Fill in the corners and curves of the tub with fifty-fifty back-and-forth brush strokes. Allow each glaze dry out for at least 30 minutes before yous put the next coat on.^[fourteen]
- Some kits may come up with a spray-on finish. If you lot use a sprayer instead of a brush or roller, try to spray evenly and in one direction. Brand sure your walls and fixtures are well-protected past tape where there is a hazard of paint spray striking them.
ix
Let your bathtub sit down for 2-3 days before you utilize it. The new finish needs to set completely before y'all run water over information technology. Consult your kit'due south directions for the exact drying time for your specific end.^[15]
- If you don't permit the cease dry out long enough, y'all could end up with streaks and bubbles in the new blanket and yous will need to beginning the process over once again.
- Your new DIY end will last for years, just keep in mind that professional finishes volition last even longer.
- The chemicals used in this procedure can be dangerous, so it may be a skillful idea to stay somewhere else for a few days while the tub cures.^[16]
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How do you fix a bit in a porcelain tub?

Art Fricke
Home Renovation & Repair Specialist

Fine art Fricke is a home renovation and repair specialist and the owner of Art Tile & Renovation based in Austin, Texas. With over 10 years of experience, he specializes in bathroom and kitchen renovations. Fine art focuses on a single contractor arroyo to customized renovation work, and performs projects such as installing custom tile showers, fixing tiled shower leaks, replacing cracked tiles, and installing flooring and wall tile.

Dwelling Renovation & Repair Specialist

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If you lot just take a small, isolated flake, you lot can get enamel set up from a dwelling improvement shop. Just dab a little on, and then allow it dry. Withal, keep in heed that yous'll probably withal be able to come across the patch, peculiarly if you lot're trying to cover a number of chips.

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Things You'll Need

two-component epoxy bit repair kit
Sponge
Soap or household tub and tile cleaner
Disposable tray and mixing stick
Small spatula, brush, or matchstick
400-600 dust sandpaper

Bathtub refinishing kit (tub cleaner, sandpaper, primer, refinishing paint, a paint tray, a brush, and a roller)
2-component epoxy scrap repair kit
Small-scale spatula, brush, or matchstick
Face mask
Goggles
Fan
Heavy-duty plastic sheets
Painter's tape

If yous don't want to refinish your bathtub on your own, you tin hire a professional who's specialized in refinishing tubs, instead.^[17]

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Article Summary X

If you accept a small chip in your bathtub, you can ready it with an epoxy kit. Before you get-go, scrub the damaged area of your tub clean with a sponge and some soap and water. Follow the directions on your epoxy kit for mixing the 2 components together. Once they're mixed, utilize a pocket-sized spatula or a paintbrush to spread a sparse layer of the epoxy over the bit. Wait for it to fully dry, which should take at to the lowest degree 2-3 hours, then use sandpaper to vitrify out the dried epoxy until its smooth. If your bathtub is badly damaged, you tin use a bathtub refinishing kit to restore the finish. Yous'll need to sand the whole tub to remove the old finish, repair all the cracks with epoxy, then paint on new primer and finish. To learn how to preclude paint from getting on you tile, read on!

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