Our house has 2.5 bathrooms. Two of them, the master and the half bath, are being rebuilt from the inside out. The other, the upstairs bathroom, will retain one original feature: the bathtub. There was at least one problem with this feature: 1987. That’s the year our house was built and it's when we think this fiberglass unit, with its deep almond hue, was installed. For us, it was a problem. Our solution? Paint the tub. PAINTING THE BATHTUB
Getting started: Our house had been vacant for several years before we bought it. What was left behind in it was grime and stains, which were made worse by the sawdust that had settled inside since the reno started.
Tips and tricks:
1.) A serious scrub down: This would be a dirty job, and the first phase of it was mine to tackle. Bring on the Ajax. I had to be careful to clean all corners of the club, remembering to tackle even the hard-to-see spots.
This job more time than I would like to talk about. After the first cleaning was done, we walked away and let the tub just sit for a few months. Not because we needed to for the project, but because this is real life. I had grad school work to tackle, my husband had to do his job, and we both had a new, really cute, really sweet, baby to feed and wipe and cuddle.
By the time we picked the job back up, the tub needed another, less intense, wipe down.
2) Sanding: I tackled that job by lightly rubbing the tub with a handheld electric sander. My husband followed it up by finishing out the hard-to-get contours of the tub with a hand-held strip of sandpaper.
3.) Protecting the tub’s plumbing fixtures: This was an essential step. We didn’t want to have to purchase new fixtures for the bathtub and the paint we were using is pretty unforgiving. The fix: We wrapped the chrome fixtures with painters tape, another job my husband tackled masterfully.
4.) The paint job: a phase of the project I was not there for. My husband tackled that too because he had done it before and we wanted the lines to be as smooth as possible.
Analysis:
The end product of this project is more than adequate for us, and I feel it was a good choice for our house. The bathtub paint ripples slightly, but it covers well and it’s durable. The painted tub we now use only started chipping about a year ago and the chips a few and stable (not expanding).
Because we painted the tub, we not only avoided the cost of buying a new one, but we avoided the hassle of demoing the tub and hauling its replacement up stairs. A win!
Important health concerns:
First: Sanding fiberglass creates a very fine dust that probably shouldn’t be inhaled and probably should be whipped up right after the job is done. This job is also noisy. To protect my lungs I wore a respirator, which we already owned, but can be purchased for just a few bucks. To protect my eyes, I wore sunglasses, which I briefly considered enclosing with duct tape. (Our safety glasses were MIA). To protect my ears, I used foam earplugs. We also used a box fan to draw the dust out of the bathroom as we worked.
Second: I was surprised by how strong the paint smelled, which was a concern not because of inconvenience or discomfort, but because we feared the fumes in it might be dangerous. The scent is significantly stronger than household paint, and though it began dissipating after it dried, the smell filled the house for about a week after the job. To avoid the fumes, my husband wore a mask. We also kept the baby out of the house until the smell was completely gone.
COST: The "Tub and Tile" Rust-oleum we picked up to tackle this job cost $29.99 at Walmart as of the time of this post.
