How to renovate old claw foot bath?

[ToriLea265]

Please can I have some advise on how to renovate my outdoor bath  as you can see it's badly chipped, and claw feet are rusting. I also wish to paint the outside black, (not keen on the blue). I'm actually not sure even where to begin so please any help would be appreciated.  ( it lives outside, but next winter it will be covered to keep her beautiful, also should mention I live in muriwai beach, so salt air) thankyou 

 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @ToriLea265. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about restoring a bathtub.

If this is an older bath, it would be best to assume that lead-based paint has been used and wear appropriate PPE gear. Full respirator, gloves, long-sleeved shirt. Wet-sanding should be used to keep dust at a minimum.

I'd suggest taking a scraper and doing some exploratory work to see if you can chip away at the paint surrounding those chipped areas. If it comes away easily, it should also be removed as it is compromised. My bath looked similar to yours, and I soon realised that all the paint could easily be chipped off.

You'll need to start the rejuvenation process by sanding the chipped sections so they have a smooth transition into the surrounding paint. Depending on the depth of the chipped areas, you might need to use anything from 120-240grit sandpaper.

After the chipped areas are blended in, you'll need to scrub down and then sand the entire inside of the bath with 240-320grit sandpaper to remove any gloss level. Once the surface has been flushed with water to remove debris, you can begin applying White Knight 500ml White Tub And Basin Paint. You'll find the complete application guide on the White Knight website.

For the outside of the bath, you can use Dulux Aquanamel or an oil-based paint suitable for exterior purposes. Preparing the current paint by removing the gloss with 240grit sandpaper would be best.

If you'd like to post a picture of the rusted feet, we can advise the best cleaning method before painting. They'll likely require a complete sanding to remove any trace of rust.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[ToriLea265]

Wow Mitchell thankyou so much for all the information and answering me so quickly!!!

Just another question..I went today to Bunning's and brought a orbital saner, and 3 different grades a sand paper ..my question is earlier in your reply you mentioned lead paint and wet sanding ...I'm guessing that I've brought the wrong sand paper then?( flexovit sanding disc's I brought) would it matter then if I didn't wet sand? Presuming you can't get these wet??

Tha KS again!!

Also on the outside of the bath can I use the orbital sander?

And on the right of bath it's got a little rust coming through what shell I pop on that?

Thanks so much Tori

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

Typically, you'd use Wet'n'dry sandpaper when wet sanding @ToriLea265. Wet sanding is not necessary; it just prevents lead-based paint from landing on everything. More of a problem if you're inside a house. I was particularly concerned when I did my bath as my wife was pregnant then, and I didn't want her to be exposed to anything. 

You can use the sander on the outside of the bath. If you remove the rust by sanding, you can paint over it. If you can't get rid of it, you could apply some rust converter.

Mitchell