Tub Refinishing Cannot Be Worse Than Replacement. Can It?

July 10, 2009 6:15 PM

So I've read the previous questions on bath tub refinishing, the most recent of which, according to what I found, was two years ago. We have a fiberglass tub/enclosure that was put in when the house was framed 24 years ago. It's showing its age.

I do NOT want to refinish this thing myself, and removing the fiberglass tub/enclosure in the master bathroom, and replacing it, while worthwhile, was a nightmare. I just want to have this tub refinished to a bright white that will be a durable solution. My mother has suggested we look at Re-Bath, but I'm skeptical. So, questions here are two fold:

1) have you had your fiberglass tub refinished professionally, and were you happy with the results? What did it run you?

2) have you used this "Rebath" service? How were the results? Worth it?

BONUS: If you are in the Atlanta area, can you recommend someone to do this work? TYIA.

posted by Medieval Maven to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

I used Re-Bath (in PA) and three years later am very happy with it. It made a huge improvement over the filthy fiberglass thing that was there before. I want to say it was around $1800..? We just got a basic, plain white tub and surround, with a soap dish on the wall (included) and a corner shower caddy (a little extra). They also installed new hardware.

I recommend Re-Bath to people over Bath Fitters because Re-Bath uses a separate sheet for each wall, where Bath Fitters uses one large sheet bent at the corners to cover all the walls. Because ceilings are uneven, this creates gaps along the top edge, so then they put a strip of some sort of trim around the top. And there is extra stress on the corners.
posted by LolaGeek at 6:24 PM on July 10, 2009

I used Mr. Bathtub (in the San Francisco Bay Area) -- I know it isn't your geographic area, but you might want to look at the process on the site to see the steps they go through.

Our bath was even older than yours, and in quite a hideous state. The Mr. Bathtub guys were really thorough and professional. They taped up the whole room with sheets, including the skylight; we couldn't use the bathtub for two days while it dried/set. They sprayed three coats of polyurethane glaze, and it was a miraculous difference. Plus they were really funny guys to talk to.

It cost us about $1000 for two guys for two days. Worth every penny. The bathtub, eighteen months later, still looks immaculate and new.
posted by vickyverky at 7:44 PM on July 10, 2009

I might have been the person who asked the question a couple of years ago. We were very happy with the results of the refinishing. It sure beat pulling the tub out. However, we have since moved away, so I don't know what it's like now. But I'm told most of the apartments and hotels around here opt for refinishing, so I suspect that the tub is still fine.
posted by acoutu at 9:11 PM on July 10, 2009

When I was a contractor I would always have many one piece units that were damaged during construction of high rises.I used a company called Whirlpool Specialties(Toronto ,Ontario) for the repairs and he was both reasonable and skilled.

The repairs were flawless and not noticeable.He also did numerous restorations on shower units in a hotel I maintained.The cost was roughly 2/3 of the cost of a new unit minus installation costs.I can look up his card if you are in the geographic area-if not then perhaps ask a local mechanical contractor who they use for gel coat and acrylic unit repairs.
posted by plumberonkarst at 11:51 AM on July 13, 2009