Is it worth it to paint a porcelain tub, or should I just get a new one?

August 27, 2013 9:56 AM

We're getting our 1960's era home ready to sell for as cheaply as possible. It comes with two porcelain tubs in lovely shades of avocado and beige, and never-been-updated bathrooms...

I'm trying to do this as cheaply as possible - by myself I might add. Is it worth it to keep the tub rather than get a new plastic one and paint it? I've been googling and can't find millions of links to tub-painting like I normally do on my other projects.

Thanks so much!

posted by ashtabula to opelika to Home & Garden (24 answers total)

Take a look at Retro Renovation for ideas of how to decorate around this.

It is MUCH better to leave it all as it is, just tarting it up with paint/Wallpaper, etc.

Groove WITH it.

Either someone will love what you've done, or they'll rip the whole thing out anyway.

My sister uses the Epoxy Paint to do her tub in her 50's house, but it was white to begin with and it's just for touchups. She kept the seafoam green tiles and painted a gorgeous painting in her bath.

Don't replace the tubs! You have to rip out walls and it's a freaking undertaking!

I'll go out, find some neat ideas for cute decorations, can you post pics of your bath?

Avocado is coming back, just like the original pink bathrooms did!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:02 AM on August 27, 2013 [7 favorites]

I've had three clawfoots done and several vintage sinks using epoxy-based paints. They aren't as durable as porcelain glaze, of course, and the process is toxic and not DIY, but it can be done in place, safely, by a trained tech. Mine have all stood up well. No abrasive cleansers is the big thing. I'd budget $500 a pop. Cheaper than replacement.
posted by FauxScot at 10:02 AM on August 27, 2013

I don't know what to tell you to do, except to tell you not to paint the tub. I lived in an apartment with a painted tub, and it flaked off like crazy, clogged the drain, got all over my feet--gross. On preview, exactly what stoneweaver said.

You may enjoy this.
posted by phunniemee at 10:03 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

Please, please don't paint them or rip them out. Leave them as they are. Some people will love that there are original bathtubs and would weep if you painted them. Other people won't like them and will want to re-do the bathrooms anyway to their own taste.

Painting the tubs will make them look nasty, and cheap plastic ones will look like penny-pinching.
posted by essexjan at 10:03 AM on August 27, 2013 [9 favorites]

Since you're not going to be living with the results for very long, and this is strictly something you are doing in assuming you'll be getting a return on it, I'd say you should first ask your real estate agent.

Your agent might say: your house will fall into price range $XXXk without the upgrades, because it will be way crappier than comparable houses. Or maybe it's average for the market in your area, and you wouldn't see much return. Maybe your house is already at the top of its range (biggest house in the neighborhood, big lot, whatever) and theres not much room upwards for price to go.

Either way, this will give you an idea of how much money you can expect to spend and make on these upgrades. Agents often have good recommendations of contractors and good ideas of how much this will cost. I think everyone will tell you that no upgrade is better than a terrible upgrade.

If it was as easy as spending $10 on some paint with average skills, gee wiz, your new homeowner can do that too, and its probably not worth your time.
posted by fontophilic at 10:22 AM on August 27, 2013 [2 favorites]

The epoxy based paints are indistinguishable from porcelain, and can be color matched to the current shade. Not DIY, I repeat. Not cheap. Pretty good.
posted by FauxScot at 10:23 AM on August 27, 2013

Here's an avocado bathroom.

Here's what I'd do.

1. Get a painted white toilet seat and get some high gloss paint to match the tub and toilet. Paint the new toilet seat. Now the toilet is all one color. Cost-1 quart of paint.

2. Get a peel and stick tile that's modern looking, but with a trace of green in it. Like this at Lowe's. This is a super-easy project. If you're lucky enough to have an avocado mosaic tile LEAVE IT!!!

3. This wallpaper would play into the colors, but make it somewhat elegant. (this is fabric, but you get the idea.)

4. Or keep the walls neutral and go for something like this shower curtain.

5. Or this shower curtain.

6. Or this one!

7. Replace the light fixtures with something modern, but slightly retro.

8. Get this item here for decor.

9. Instead of using regular bottles for shampoo and conditioner and body soap, which will squick prospective buyers out, get these. They're $4 apiece and look nice in your shower (we hung a shower caddy and put them in there.)

Really, all you have to do is make it as appealing as possible, and sparkle with cleanliness!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:25 AM on August 27, 2013 [2 favorites]

Pix of mine. Was a rusty pile of junk, just like the sink. Finished 5 years ago. In frequent use.
posted by FauxScot at 10:27 AM on August 27, 2013

Speaking as someone who has just bought a house after literally years of looking for something perfect, my opinion is: Leave the bathrooms and tubs as they are. Generic, modern, off-white bathrooms are everywhere, and don't do anything to distinguish your house. One of the bathrooms in my new place is, yawn, white, but the other is this fantastic range of 50's Hospital Room Pinks that I just love. I would've been so sad to miss out on that! Your prospective buyers might not be overjoyed at the idea of an avocado tub...but let them make that choice. Better that, than you put a lot of work into making things the same color scheme everyone else has.

Good luck on your selling!
posted by mittens at 10:30 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

As long as you have Professional Reglazer do it, I think it is totally worth it.
posted by jbenben at 10:33 AM on August 27, 2013

I would get it resurfaced by a pro -- spend a little money and make it look nice, especially if the rest of the bathroom is already nice. I spent about $500 on the job. Only regret is I wish I had it done right after we moved out rather than right before -- very stinky for 2-3 days.

Also, shop around, you want the job done right for your future owner. My job came with a 3-5 year warranty that transfers to the new owner.

Having said all that, I just re-read your post and see the bathrooms have 'never been updated' so I would tend to agree with others who have said just leave it.
posted by jacobsee at 10:34 AM on August 27, 2013

Embrace the retro. It is so in right now, just check out any major design blog. if my husband hadn't used his one veto we'd be living in a house with avocado green kitchen appliances and pink bathroom fittings with green and pink bathroom tiles. It was amazing. If you are selling your house, save your money, throw in some paint and accessories to tie it all together and make it look intentional. If you were staying that's another thing, but unless you are going the full on refurb in the bathroom chances are whoever buys the place will do them up how they want anyway so it's just wasted money.
posted by wwax at 10:36 AM on August 27, 2013 [2 favorites]

Add my vote to keeping the tubs (are the sinks/toilets the same color?). Repainting will look messy. Reglazing by a pro probably won't be worth the cost (no one is going to pay extra because they saw a white tub).

You've got to work with the color. Here are two color palettes that include avocado green. It may depend if you've got brown wood to take into account or not. Pick a very limited color palette and make everything in the room those colors. When in doubt, white. Clean, crisp, and uncluttered is what people like to see in a bathroom, even if the given colors are not their first choice.

Here are two bathroom updates for inspiration/ideas: 1, 2.
posted by Kabanos at 11:16 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

Having all the caulking redone is a cheap and easy fix. Get someone who knows how to do it as the learning curve is surprisingly steep. Also, you want to google 'bowl of fruit trick'
Nthing leave the tub alone. ..list as 'mid century modern, all original fixtures' ..you will be beating them off with a stick.
posted by sexyrobot at 11:21 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

I DIY epoxied a tub a few months ago. I bought the cheaper kit at The Home Depot and lots of drop cloths and blue tape. It took about 4 hours but it looks clean and FABULOUS! The trick is to really spend the time on prepping the surface. Yes, steel wool sanding for the third feaking time is a total pain in the upper arms and shoulders, but it's worth it. I say go for it! Fresh, clean white appeals to a whole heluva lot more buyers than avocado green.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 11:30 AM on August 27, 2013

I bought an apartment with tub that was re-glazed in ~2007. It is starting to chip and you can't scour it. So I'm kind of resentful, however: the less the bathroom screams "please remodel me!" the better off you are.

Photos? I bet if everything else was a crisp white you'd be in good shape, at least with the avocado bathtub
posted by amandabee at 11:39 AM on August 27, 2013

Does the bathroom have a built-in shower? Is it the only bathroom? If there's no shower, installing a nice-looking shower is a must. If there's another bathroom with a tub, you could price out having a shower installed. I'd note in the realtor sheet that the price reflects the outdated bathroom, or I'd offer a renovation rebate.

Most buyers are unlikely to seek the retro look, but you might as well make it into a silk purse. Make sure the bathroom is in excellent condition, no water stains, clean caulk, fixtures that work correctly, etc. Navy blue, aqua, turquoise, or black & white look good with avocado green. Fresh paint, bright shower curtain (more). Make sure the towel bars look nice. Buy a coordinated rug/bath mat and towels, and keep them for showings. Maybe a nice potted plant, if there's counter space, or on the back of the toilet. A bouquet of eucalyptus or lavender will make it smell nice. De-clutter ruthlessly. Make sure the flooring is clean, and wax it. increase the wattage in the bulbs, esp. as older bathrooms often don't have adequate lighting by current standards.

Real estate agents will recommend that you spend money. Most of the things they recommend increase the price, benefitting the realtor, but do not pay back 100%. If youo spend money fixing up any room, it should be the kitchen.

As a buyer, I'd rather get a rebate and get the work done well, than have any substandard renovation that will just bug me. I'd also prefer to choose things myself, not have the previous owner's choices, but I'm probably an outlier.
posted by theora55 at 11:47 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

We had our tub reglazed by a professional (using non-toxic Kott Koatings) and it was terrible. It smelled like poison and chipped after just a few weeks. They came back and patched it up, but it still chipped. I felt kind of bad because we were in a rental and the owner gave us a choice between reglazing or putting in one of those plastic liners and I chose the reglazing. As bad as it was, I think it's still better than those gross liners that just scream cheap motel bathroom.
posted by jrichards at 12:07 PM on August 27, 2013

I had a clawfoot tub whose porcelain was in very bad shape--large swaths totally gone, just the cast iron showing through--from long years of cleaning with abrasive powder like Comet (and, I'm willing to believe, Bartender's Friend). I did NOT want to replace the tub, it was sooo long and comfortable, with a slanted back. I used the two-part epoxy paint on it and that was pretty successful. This was for use, not immediate resale, so "successful" in that sense. Used lots of ventilation during the job, with one large floor fan blowing in the bathroom door and another in the window blowing out. The white epoxy wasn't perfect but it was way better than what it covered. Only problem noted was that the paint was not perfectly self-leveling. There were brush marks that were just visible when clean and became very noticeable when they started to catch dirt. Not wanting to make the same mistake as the previous owner I started cleaning the tub with one of those kitchen sponges that have a teflon scouring pad glued to it, together with liquid cleaner with no abrasive. This did not scratch or cause wear on the epoxy. When I left that house five years later the epoxy (when freshly cleaned) looked as if it had just been applied.
posted by jfuller at 12:19 PM on August 27, 2013

I will add to the chorus of voices saying "Don't Do It!" Even if you can't embrace the retro, please don't "update it" on the cheap. Just don't touch it.

I understand the home sale stress. Mine was on the market for a year before it sold, and it was a dated 1992 ranch with orange oak and cheap fixtures. I repainted walls, but I didn't repaint the orange oak kitchen cabinets, even though it probably would have helped the kitchen a little. Still, it would have looked cheap and terrible, and much worse than if I'd just left them. So I left them as-is. My eventual buyer plans to do a big kitchen update, but was happy to have something reasonable and usable for now.

No one (and I mean no one) is looking for retro 1992 orange oak cabinets in a tract home, let me tell you. But people are looking for avocado and harvest gold kitchens and pink and blue bathrooms. They are! So don't screw this up for yourself!
posted by aabbbiee at 12:46 PM on August 27, 2013

I did a DIY with white Klenk's epoxy enamel and would recommend that route for anybody with more time than money; that sort of product is quite different from regular house paint and the "oh god don't paint a bathtub" people are, in my experience, thinking of house paint.

But a lot of this hinges on the rest of the bathrooms and the rest of the house. Are the bathrooms the only update-free parts of the house? Are the rest of the bathrooms neutral in colour and period? If this is a thing where the bathrooms are the only thing that look 60s and the kitchen is replete with modernity, avocado is unlikely to be a value add for your home.
posted by kmennie at 1:16 PM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

Here's the thing - changing the colour of the tub isn't going to change it from being a 1950s bathroom to an updated, modern bathroom. People who want a fully updated bathroom won't be impressed, people who want the avocado look won't be impressed, and people like me who don't care how it looks but care everything about the quality of your long-term maintenance will look at many other details. (I notice stuff like the caulking, condition of the walls around the shower/tub, any grout staining, rust marks, etc ...)

What are the condition of the tubs otherwise?

However, choices like this really depend on your local market. People on the west coast are going nuts for MCM, but that might not be the case in your area if new construction is more popular/affordable, etc. If there are other nearby homes that are comparable but have fully updated bathrooms, you will take a hit on price and I'm not sure changing the tub colour will shift the odds in your favor.
posted by stowaway at 1:26 PM on August 27, 2013

I have painted quite a bit of stuff (mostly metal, some floors) with two-pack (epoxy) paints - although not any kind described as enamel - and I would very much not want to paint a bathtub, or live with a painted bathtub. I've used brushes and (expensive) rollers (the cheap ones dissolve straight away, the expensive ones last about 45 minutes), and suspect you'd only get the kind of coat I'd be happy with (it's a bath! you want total smoothness!) by spraying. And I would not want to be spraypainting in a bathroom without a lot of experience and expensive PPE. And dropcloths on everything.

I am also looking at buying a house, and would much rather be faced with a nice solid bath in a clean room than with some of the really obvious 'we've redecorated! with sparkly black tiles and a fancy showerhead!' looks that I've been seeing pictures of. An obviously painted bath would cause a reaction of 'eww, we have to rip this out, give discount now plz' in much the same way that mouldy sealant/tiling would, whereas 'oldfashioned but clean and functional' would ... well, I'd still try for the discount with the intention of redecorating, but it would be a lot less hassle and expense for the seller.
posted by Lebannen at 4:12 PM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

I spent several hundred dollars getting a tub recoated with epoxy, surface prepped sanding and chemically, sprayed with an air compressor.

It looked not great but OK for a few months, then it started to detach from the tub and look awful. It was a waste of money.

If the tub is in good shape and looks fine except for the color, leave it as is. Covering it up will just make it seem like you might be hiding far worse problems than the color.
posted by yohko at 7:36 PM on August 27, 2013