Comments on: Fiberglass Refinishing

Question: Fiberglass Refinishing

five fresh fish — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 15:34:49 -0800

Fiberglass refinishing: pleasure or pain?

I've an old fiberglass bathtub. It's fookin hooje. And the house was built to fit it. And I was stupid and when I removed the tile around it, I didn't protect it at all adequately.

Ergo, it is now covered in chips and dints and scratches.

I spent today with a palm sander, 400 grit wet, and endless patience. Most of the scratches are out, and I can see that all of them will come out.

The chips, not so lucky.

So now I need to consider applying new gelcoat. Just how stupid an idea is this? I believe it's toxic, messy, and will require endless finishing work to create a nice mirror-like finish.

Is there an alternative? Note that the bathtub reglazing guy won't touch the tub: too big for him to do in a single shot, and he's afraid of screwing up.

(My saving plan is to cut the front of the tub out, reusing the majority of it as a base for tiling a very large shower.)

By: SpecialK

SpecialK — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 16:21:48 -0800

I can't beleive that a bathtub reglazing guy wouldn't be willing to take on the project. Did you talk to a couple of different ones, or just that one guy?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 21:12:59 -0800

Just the one. He's the only one we got. :-)

His suggestion was to toss it out and get a new one; the cost would be about the same. That's true, but not if I'm going to replace it with such a large one.

By: Shoeburyness

Shoeburyness — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 06:55:19 -0800

I'm not sure if my tub is fiberglass or not... but the previous owners refinished it before we moved into the house. Apparently no one ever used it, because as soon as people started using it for the shockingly strange things of bathing and showering, the stuff began peeling off. It looks absolutely awful. I can't recommend refinishing.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 11:01:23 -0800

Refinished with what, Shoe? Marine paint (in which case you want it tested for lead and other toxins), or gelcoated?