Grumble and swear (a lot), and then wonder why I started this project. 15 minutes talking to Rust-oleum with questions about a third coat.and deciding I needed to do a third coat. 5 minutes anguishing over bits of roller in the finish, drips, brush marks, etc.2 hours to sand a second time, wipe with a tack cloth, tape edges, and clean up (I used the brush attachment on the vacuum cleaner to pick up all the fiberglass dust – it goes everywhere!).

After reading lots of questions and reviews on Amazon, I decided to sand the tub a second time just to be on the safe side. On Saturday I cleaned and sanded the tub according to the kit’s directions. The last thing I wanted was to have the paint bubble up because I had rushed through the prep work.įinally, the tub had several areas of rust stain from the iron in our well water, so I made sure those areas were especially clean. To make sure that the surface was well prepped, I spent a lot of time cleaning and sanding. It took me about four days to complete this project. Cleaning products, sanding & painting supplies – $30.3 Rust-oleum Tub & Tile Bathtub Refinishing Kits – $90.So, how much did this DIY bathtub refinishing cost? All together, it cost about $150: garbage bags – for discarded rollers and brushes Costs.old newspapers or drop cloths to protect the floor.I found the wider brush to not be flexible enough. foam brushes (at least 2 per coat) – 1.5″ wide worked best for me.4″ mini roller and roller refills (at least 2 rollers per coat).painter’s tape – get a wide size (1.5″ – 2″).400 grit sandpaper (I used 8 sheets for 3 coats).Rust-oleum Tub & Tile Bathtub Refinishing 2-Part Kit (I needed 3).So, I went to my local Ace Hardware, got a cheap 4″ roller and asked for roller covers that would work with an epoxy paint. Unfortunately, the roller and roller covers I ordered did not work together. I was lazy and ordered most of the bathtub refinishing supplies from Amazon (links are included below if you’d like to be lazy too). The Rust-oleum bathtub refinishing kit covered the yellow fiberglass, and it’s actually very white, as you can see in the picture at the bottom of the post. That’s just the reflection from the yellow floor. Please note: in these pictures, the front of the tub looks like it has a yellow tinge. Here’s the view from the hall (ignore the floor & yellow toilet): (I’ve seen articles where people got great results with just one coat, so I guess it depends on the base color you are covering and the tub material.)īut it was worth it.

It was pretty obvious that I needed to sand those bits off and add a third coat. I should have swapped the roller cover earlier. There were a few places that looked like they needed an additional coat, and after the paint dried, I realized I had little bits of the roller cover embedded in the finish. It almost became an “I Love Lucy” skit, but with lots of swearing. I had more trouble with the second coat of the bathtub refinishing kit, but it was 100% user error. The wall will be painted and the floor replaced, so I wasn’t too concerned about making a mess, but definitely needed a wider size of painter’s tape. I couldn’t get all the faucet parts off they are relatively new and I didn’t want to scratch them, so I just taped them up really well. I followed the prep directions to a ‘T’ (scroll down to the bottom of the post for some tips) and applied the first coat. The kit consists of two cans of paint – the base and the activator, and you mix them together inside the larger can, then just paint it on. I found one kit was just enough to paint one coat on the entire tub and surround. The instructions on the box are fairly straightforward: you basically clean, then sand, and then paint. Homax, Aquafinish, and Bathworks are just a few, but I chose the Rust-oleum Tub & Tile Refinishing Kit. There are several DIY bathtub refinishing kit choices. The one piece tub and shower unit is actually in remarkable shape with no scratches, cracks, or chips, and it’s in good structural condition. (Check out My 1970’s Bathroom Remodel – Before for the whole experience.) But, before we get into the nitty gritty, here’s what we were dealing with: a Harvest Gold fiberglass tub and surround straight out of 1977. Today, I wanted to share what I learned from completing this DIY bathtub refinishing project. What? You can’t paint a tub! Oh, yes you can, and I just completed this DIY bathtub refinishing project.

Instead of a complete demo, we decided to try to paint the bathtub. After changing directions with the bathroom remodel, it was finally time to do something about the tub. We’ve been remodeling our 1970’s era Harvest Gold bathroom for the last few weeks.

Rust oleum tub and tile