Have you covered a tub with another tub (installed a “liner”)?

November 30, 2021 1:33 PM

We have an old tub which is fairly inaccessible. We are thinking about replacing it with a tub liner without removing the original tub. Have you done this, and would you recommend it? It is a fairly high use tub, our goal is something that will last for at least a decade (longer would be better). We have tried “reglazing” which has been a temporary and crappy fix.
posted by arnicae to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

My parents have a tub/shower that had been lined before they bought the house (20+ years ago). No issue with the quality but just keep in mind that it's going to be just a bit smaller on all dimensions since it's fitting inside the old tub. When I use their shower, it always just feels a bit tighter than a 'normal' shower.
posted by hydra77 at 1:39 PM on November 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

It's possible that the reglazing you had was subpar. When we had our tub reglazed, he told me it should last at least a decade. It's only been about a year so I can't speak from experience, but that's consistent with the estimates I read from independent sources. It might be worth consulting with a well-reviewed company to see if they think they can do a better job or if there's something about your situation that makes it difficult to properly reglaze.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 2:37 PM on November 30, 2021

Response by poster: Our reglazer was the best rated on Yelp, Angie’s List etc and has a one year warrantee when we got it done 3 years ago - in that time they reglazed it 2 more times. Hope yours lasts longer.
posted by arnicae at 2:55 PM on November 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

We had this done when we moved into this house 19 years ago, not being able to afford a proper remodel on the bathroom at that time. It has held up fine and is still going strong. No problems whatsoever.
posted by Orlop at 3:28 PM on November 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

My mum had a liner put in about 6 years ago, including the walls around it. It's not to my taste because it flexes a tiny bit and looks fragile but it's holding up fine so far and she loves how easy it is to keep clean. She recently discovered a vinegar/dish soap mixture that's brought it back to a gleaming finish.
posted by brachiopod at 3:32 PM on November 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

I lived in a place that had a tub liner that wasn’t fitted properly. It had disturbing squishy spots on the tub bottom where it didn’t quite fit the original contour.
posted by fimbulvetr at 4:11 PM on November 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

We've had tubs done in two houses by Bath Fitters.

In my brother's, it was just the tub. It bubbled up after a few months (year?). The company came back and fixed it and no problems since. They don't do just a tub reline anymore.

In our house, we had the tub taken out downstairs and had it made into a shower. It's got a small lip to keep the water off the floor. It goes from floor to ceiling. Maybe 2 years ago? We had our upstairs bathroom done about a month ago. We kept the tub and had it relined including the walls. It looks so much better than the dingy 40+ year old tile.

We did the consult and decided what we wanted. They do a basic measurement at that time. A little while later, they come back and do a laser measurement. Once the surround is made, it was a one day installation.
posted by kathrynm at 4:26 PM on November 30, 2021

I'm encouraged to hear all these good things about tub lining. I lived once in a place with a lined tub and it was fine, but it was also a brand new job. I now live in a place with a tub that needs to be either replaced or lined (apparently too far gone for glazing), and the three professionals who've looked at it all immediately said it's a short-term fix and a bad idea - that eventually water will get in between the tub and the lining and bad things will happen. (I haven't made any choice yet because replacing is currently out of my budget.)
posted by trig at 4:47 PM on November 30, 2021

The office for the aging paid to have it done to my Grandma’s bathtub, which had been in place since before WWII. It turned out really well. One wall was slightly wobbly, but that’s only because the wall underneath was wobbly (having been in place since before the Civil War).
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:41 PM on November 30, 2021

When my husband and I bought our house, the only tub/shower in the house had a lining that was installed back in the 90s or so. When we went to renovate last year, the entire thing had mold between the liner and the old tile. There had always been a slight musty smell in there, but had absolutely no idea it was that bad. I would never ever put a liner in a tub after seeing how much mold accumulated. Maybe the technology has improved since the 90s to allow to more air circulation or something but there's still no way.
posted by little king trashmouth at 6:45 AM on December 1, 2021 [2 favorites]

We redid our 40+ -year old bathroom a few years back with Bath Fitters. They overlaid the tub with a liner and also lined halfway up the walls with the subway tile-type wall liner. We f-ing love it. It’s behaved flawlessly, it’s easy to clean, and we’ve had no problems with it at all. (Oh, and my mother-in-law had them do her bathroom a few years before us and it’s also still in perfect shape.)
posted by _Mona_ at 5:30 AM on December 4, 2021