Resufacing/coating cast iron tub?

They wanted $400 to refinish my tub. I bought the Rust Oleum kit, like $50 Turned out nice, Need to be able to ventilate the room. It’s an epoxy so it has a strong odor.

I had a 70s era salmon colored iron tub that had been reglazed by a previous owner but the coating was starting to chip and fail. I chose to remove the previous coating and reglaze with Rustoleum Tub and Tile. It was a full two day job.

A couple things from my experience may help yours.

I started removing the existing coating using Jasco Premium Paint & Epoxy remover, and it worked very well in areas where the existing coating wasn't well adhered. In areas where the existing coating was applied thick, I still had to muscle it off, while wearing a respirator, which was physical work. I went through 4 razor blade scrapers and at least 12 blades. However, it is imperative that the existing coating be removed completely. I then extensively sanded the base surface with an orbital sander and 120 grit sandpaper. The assumption was that the underlying porcelain glaze had been scuffed before the last application, but the sanding also removed the last of the previous coating and whatever was left behind. I then cleaned with CLR, then Bar Keepers Friend, then rinsed, wiped, and let dry. The stripping and prep took 5 hours. There is no shortcut.

The next morning I cleaned it again then applied a coat of Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer. The final cleaning was with TSP Substitute, which will not affect the adhesion of the primer. After wiping down with TSP Substitute, I wiped it again with a tack cloth. At that point it was ready to apply the new coatings. Applying coatings is the easier part.

I applied one coat of Extreme Bond Primer. After a 4 hour wait, I applied the first top coat of Rustoleum, waited about 50 minutes, then applied the second coat. The mixture was extremely thin for the first coat. I used white foam rollers, not the ones which are a little fuzzy. Just foam. The foam held up well. For the edges I used a new brush and a couple foam brushes.

You have to have good lighting for the application of the topcoat. The lighting is needed to spot drips and lines. Roll those out immediately.

The real magic begins on the second coat. The product is a little thicker by that time and seems to go on heavier. It also becomes more forgiving and runs less. I had enough mixture to apply a thin third coat on the inside walls and floor and the top edge. The coverage was fantastic.

The end result was impressive. Overnight it hardened to an almost glassy smooth surface. It looks almost brand new from a few feet away. There was still a little texture to the finish, but it was well within what I consider acceptable.

But to stress one thing, this is the kind of project in which careful effort is rewarded. I have a lot of experience painting with thin paints on cabinets and furniture. I can see how this job could create a real mess for a painting novice, especially on the first top coat when it is very thin. Also, if your surface has been recoated before, there is no shortcut on the prep. Overall, I was very pleased with the outcome.

The job was done in 2021. The glaze has help up extremely well to this day.

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TBoy

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wow. Guess that's why I was quoted 1,000 to refinish a tub. Ended up just tossing it.

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I didn’t remove any of the previous finish and has held up fine.

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Looking back at what I wrote, I wasn't very clear about the critical bit of information on the finish that I had to remove.

The original factory finish on the tub was salmon, but a previous owner had applied a white refinishing coat (maybe a prior application of Rustoleum) that was starting to fail. It was that prior refinishing coat that I had to remove, not the underlying salmon finish. I scraped and sanded all of the prior reglazing finish off, and got down to the original factory glaze before applying the new bonding primer and top coat. If it hadn't been previously recoated, It would have been a much easier job to prep the surface.