How To Repair Chipped Tub

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Fixing a chipped bathtub is a do-it-yourself projection that will salve yous from hiring an expensive professional. Whether your tub just has a few pocket-sized chips, or information technology is badly damaged and needs to exist refinished, these are both projects that yous will find kits for at your local habitation improvement store. With a little elbow greasy, your tub will look like new in just a matter of days!

1
Buy a 2-component epoxy kit for scrap repair. Look in the adhesive or bathroom repair section of a home hardware shop. Buy a kit that comes with both the goad and hardener that yous will mix together to create the epoxy.^[i]
- About epoxy chip repair kits come up in shades of white to match the nearly mutual colour of bathtubs. Try to choose a kit that will closely friction match the shade of your bathtub, or 2 kits that you can mix together to create the right color.
- Epoxy repair kits work to ready fries in all kinds of bathtubs including ceramic, porcelain, acrylic, fiberglass, and enamel tubs.
two
Scrub the damaged area with a sponge and soap or tub cleaner, then dry out it. Use warm water and dish detergent or a household tile and tub cleaner to clean the chipped expanse. Thoroughly dry the surface area with a clean rage after you end cleaning information technology.^[2]
- You tin can also employ acetone or rubbing alcohol to make clean the area. Whatever product that removes grease and soap scum will work to clean the chip.
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3
Follow the directions on your epoxy kit to mix the 2 components together. Some epoxy kits come with a mixing tray and stirring stick for you to utilize. Mix the epoxy in a disposable tray with a toothpick or matchstick if your kit didn't come up with the mixing supplies.^[3]
- Information technology'south a good idea to set the tray on a piece of cardboard or some scraps of paper to catch whatever spills.
four
Utilise the epoxy to the bit with a modest spatula, paint brush, or bottom of a matchstick. Scoop up a pocket-size amount of the epoxy with your called utensil. Spread information technology carefully in a thin layer over the chip by working in i management and smooth out whatever spots where it pools.^[4]
- Make sure that anything you apply to utilize the epoxy is dispensable. It will be hard to go the epoxy off of anything it touches.
- It'due south easiest to offset with a small amount of epoxy and add together more layers than it is to put besides much on and remove information technology.
v
Allow the epoxy dry, then sand down the surface with 400-600 grit sandpaper. Follow the directions on your epoxy kit to let it fully dry out. Gently sand the surface with 400- or 600-grit sandpaper until it feels shine similar the residue of the tub.^[5]
- Some epoxy will set in ii-3 hours, at which indicate yous can sand. Other kits may suggest you to await upward to 24 hours earlier sanding.
- You can add another layer of epoxy after sanding if you can however experience the flake. Then repeat the procedure.
- Proceed in mind that while this is will assistance hide small fries, you may still exist able to detect the patch. This volition be particularly obvious if you try to fill up a number of fries with the epoxy.^[six]
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1
Purchase a bathtub refinishing kit at a dwelling house improvement eye. Relieve yourself time past ownership a whole kit that has everything you demand to refinish your tub. About kits come with tub cleaner, sandpaper, primer, refinishing paint, a paint tray, a brush, and a roller.^[7]
- Check that the kit comes with a durable resin coating for your tub. Some cheaper kits come up with an epoxy coating, which chips and discolors faster.
- Refinishing kits tin cost from nearly $30-$100 USD.
- Tub refinishing kits work to refinish all kinds of bathtubs including ceramic, porcelain, acrylic, fiberglass, and enamel tubs. The kits will provide a new porcelain-like finish to these kinds of tubs.
2
Ventilate the bath, cover the floors, and put on protective gear. Open up all the windows and put a fan in the bathroom to ventilate it. Cover the floors with heavy-duty plastic sheets to go along them prophylactic during the refinishing process. Put on a face mask and goggles.^[viii]
- You can besides drapery plastic sheets over fixtures like the toilet and sink to protect them.
3
Clean the bathtub with the cleaner from the kit. Read the directions on the cleaner to apply information technology to the tub and use a sponge to scrub the tub clean. Rinse the tub out, then go over it with the sponge and cleaner 2 more times to remove whatever soap scum and stains before you refinish it.^[9]
- If your kit did not come up with cleaner, then purchase an industrial strength bathtub cleaner to use.
- Let the tub completely air dry, or speed up the process with towels and a pilus dryer.
4
Sand the whole tub with the sandpaper in your kit to remove the old finish. Starting time with the lowest-grit sandpaper from your refinishing kit and sand the whole surface of the tub in circular motions by hand, or with an electric sander. Work your way up to the highest-dust sandpaper in your kit until the tub is completely smooth.^[10]
- Your refinishing kit should come up with sandpaper to utilize. If your kit didn't come with sandpaper, and so start with 400-grit sandpaper and piece of work your way up to 2000-dust. Increase the grit of the sandpaper in increments of 200 until you lot reach k-grit sandpaper, then go up in increments of 500 until you end using 2000-dust sandpaper.
5
Repair any chips or cracks in the tub with a 2-component epoxy chip repair kit. Follow the instructions to mix the 2 parts of the epoxy in a small tray. Use a small-scale castor, spatula, or the bottom end of a matchstick to employ thin layers of epoxy to any fries. Wait two-three hours until the epoxy dries and sand the patches down with 2000-grit sandpaper to lucifer the cease of the balance of the tub.^[11]
- This will ensure that the tub has no fries or cracks and seal the surface earlier you lot utilise the new finish.
- Become a 2-component epoxy flake repair kit from the bathroom remodeling or adhesive section of a home comeback store if your kit did not come up with it.
6
Put painter's tape on the walls and around whatever fitting. Tape along the edges of the tub where they touch the walls and effectually the faucet and other fixtures. Even if you have a steady hand, information technology's like shooting fish in a barrel for pigment to go astray!^[12]
- Painter's tape is the bluish masking tape that you tin detect at hardware and paint stores.
7
Apply 1 coat of primer with a brush and roller. Use a roller to ringlet on the primer onto the big, apartment sections of the tub like the floor and sides, then use a brush to get into the corners and curved parts. Allow it dry for at least two-3 hours before you lot outset to pigment on the new finish.^[xiii]
- Priming the surface is an of import function of ensuring that the new finish adheres correctly then that you end up with the correct texture. Make sure that the primer is completely dry out to the touch before you lot pigment over it.
eight
Paint on 2-3 coats of the new end with a brush and roller. Always paint in 1 direction when you employ the new coat to your tub. Roll on the new cease to the floors and sides in fifty-fifty dorsum-and-along rolls until the flat surface area is completely covered. Fill in the corners and curves of the tub with even dorsum-and-forth brush strokes. Permit each coat dry for at least 30 minutes before you put the side by side coat on.^[fourteen]
- Some kits may come with a spray-on finish. If you lot use a sprayer instead of a brush or roller, endeavor to spray evenly and in ane direction. Brand sure your walls and fixtures are well-protected by record where at that place is a risk of paint spray hit them.
9
Let your bathtub sit for 2-three days before yous apply it. The new terminate needs to set completely before you run h2o over it. Consult your kit's directions for the exact drying time for your specific finish.^[15]
- If you don't let the finish dry out long enough, you could finish up with streaks and bubbles in the new coating and you will need to offset the procedure over over again.
- Your new DIY finish will last for years, only go on in listen that professional finishes will last even longer.
- The chemicals used in this process can exist dangerous, so it may be a skillful idea to stay somewhere else for a few days while the tub cures.^[16]
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How do you fix a chip in a porcelain tub?

Fine art Fricke
Dwelling house Renovation & Repair Specialist

Fine art Fricke is a home renovation and repair specialist and the owner of Art Tile & Renovation based in Austin, Texas. With over 10 years of experience, he specializes in bathroom and kitchen renovations. Fine art focuses on a unmarried contractor approach to customized renovation work, and performs projects such as installing custom tile showers, fixing tiled shower leaks, replacing cracked tiles, and installing floor and wall tile.

Home Renovation & Repair Specialist

Expert Answer

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If you just have a small, isolated fleck, yous tin get enamel fix from a home improvement shop. Just dab a little on, then let information technology dry. All the same, go along in mind that you'll probably still be able to come across the patch, especially if you're trying to cover a number of chips.

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Things You'll Need

2-component epoxy fleck repair kit
Sponge
Soap or household tub and tile cleaner
Dispensable tray and mixing stick
Modest spatula, brush, or matchstick
400-600 dust sandpaper

Bathtub refinishing kit (tub cleaner, sandpaper, primer, refinishing paint, a paint tray, a brush, and a roller)
two-component epoxy scrap repair kit
Minor spatula, brush, or matchstick
Face mask
Goggles
Fan
Heavy-duty plastic sheets
Painter's record

If yous don't desire to refinish your bathtub on your ain, you can hire a professional person who'due south specialized in refinishing tubs, instead.^[17]

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Article Summary X

If you take a minor chip in your bathtub, you can ready information technology with an epoxy kit. Before you lot beginning, scrub the damaged surface area of your tub clean with a sponge and some soap and h2o. Follow the directions on your epoxy kit for mixing the ii components together. Once they're mixed, utilise a minor spatula or a paintbrush to spread a thin layer of the epoxy over the chip. Wait for it to fully dry, which should take at to the lowest degree 2-3 hours, then use sandpaper to buff out the dried epoxy until its smooth. If your bathtub is badly damaged, yous can use a bathtub refinishing kit to restore the end. Y'all'll need to sand the whole tub to remove the sometime finish, repair all the cracks with epoxy, and so pigment on new primer and stop. To learn how to foreclose pigment from getting on yous tile, read on!

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