Resurfacing a spa bath

[jodblu]

Hello This is my very first post after stumbling across the Workshop while looking on the Bunnings site. I am excited about the future in anticipation. I am looking at doing some basic improvements over the next year or so as I will be putting my house on the market. My home is okay at the moment but I feel it just needs a bit of sprucing up. In this post I wanted to get some advice about resurfacing my corner spa bath. Just as an introduction to my home, when we bought it was basically every wall, trim, tap, light switches  ,etc were and mostly still is Cream, cream and more cream! We haven't changed much over the 12 yrs here. I have started the bathroom makeover. I have replaced the lovely cream vanity with the equally beautiful pink top and cream basin with a nice shiny white vanity. I painted the cream walls white but I now have decided to paint the walls grey as the existing tiles have a grey swirl and all the grout is grey. I also replaced the cream taps with chrome ones. I replaced the cream plastic double towel rails with chrome ones. I just wanted to ask if anyone has been successful in doing their own resurfacing work. I would really like to change the spa to white. Like all the surfaces in my bathroom the spa bath is in excellent condition no marks or wear and tear at all. I did consider getting rid of it and just putting in a normal size bath but the existing tiles are in such great condition I think I will leave them alone and besidesThe spa and yes it's cream!The old vanity !!my shiny new vanitythe corner spa bath I don't think I could get the same wall and floor tiles now if I had to replace some. What do you think?

[Jason]

Welcome to Workshop @jodblu. It’s fantastic to have you join the community. We trust you’ll get loads of helpful advice and inspiration for your reno work from our helpful members. We are looking forward to seeing what you can achieve with a little help along the way.

I will hand over now to the community for their input...

Jason

[jodblu]

Hi Jason, Thank you for the lovely welcome. Jo

[MartyH · Accepted solution]

Hey @jodblu 

These should help -

https://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/bathroom/baths-showers-and-toilets/how-to-paint-a-bath

https://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/paint/how-to-paint/how-to-paint-tiles

https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Bathroom-and-Laundry/Can-you-paint-a-bath/m-p/2813

https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Bathroom-and-Laundry/Painting-bathroom-tiles/m-p/23102

https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Kitchen/How-to-paint-tiles/m-p/5954

[jodblu]

Thank you Marty

[jodblu]

I am still interested if anyone with basic skills has had any success with repainting a bath.

[Mathy]

Hi @jodblu - your progress so far looks great. Regarding your question. I worked the Paint Dept in Bunnings for nearly 10 years, and have dealt with this question for many customers - some who were successful and some who were not.

The key to a great job is to sand every (and I mean every) piece of gloss/shiny off that bath surface. It requires a lot of perseverance and attention to detail, and this is the reason that the resurfacing usually fails - people run out of patience. Paint does not like sticking to a shiny surface, and being a bath, you can’t use a bonding primer. It’s also best to remove the fittings and, if possible, the drain insert. You’ll need a power sander. Also, make sure you follow instructions about curing times etc. The paint is a 2 part epoxy - so needs time to fully cure before you can use it. Also, never use a scourer or abrasive cleaning products on it afterwards.

I’ve also heard that the Rustoleum Tub and Tile is a better product than the White Knight product, I think you can special order it. This makes sense, because Rustoleum is a USA product, and the Americans are really into re-surfacing things - however, maybe do some research on that.

Hope this helps a bit, cheers Deb

[elly1]

 

I'm looking at doing a similar job! After Mathy's comments maybe I don't have the patience for it. I'm in the process of painting my lovely bathroom dove tiles white and it is never as easy as the YouTube clips lol 😁 The transformation really would be worth the effort tho 🤔

[Mathy]

Hi @elly1 - patience is something that can be developed with perseverance towards a goal in mind. I’m not the most patient person, but I have developed the ability to deal with what I find very, tedious tasks - trust me, if I can do it, then so can you

Firstly, accept that it’s going to be tedious, boring and take a while - a lot like doing the Xmas food shopping - once you accept this, it gets easier.

Secondly, having accepted that it’s going to take a while, work out an acceptable level of “doing the task” and rewards. For example, I’ve just chiselled off 7sqm of one inch mosaic tiles in my laundry - started out with gusto, hit the wall of boredom and had to grind it out. I arrived at 45 minutes of tile removal, followed by 15 minutes of my favourite YouTube Channel, with coffee.

The art of DYI often involves long periods of demolition and boredom before one gets to the exciting part of re-building and transformation

[elly1]

Fantastic advice, it's a mindset game for sure 👍