Do-it-yourself bath restoration for beginners. Home bath restoration methods

- durable, wear-resistant and shock-resistant sanitary ware, which has been used as a washing container for hundreds of years. Previously, bowls made from this difficult-to-machine heavy alloy had no worthwhile alternative. But even now, when hardware stores are full of more modern and diverse steel and acrylic models, they continue to be in demand.

The popularity of the cast-iron bath is explained by the fact that, despite the rather high cost, it has a long service life and maintainability. After 10-15 years of operation, when the enamel turns yellow or becomes covered with cracks, in order to restore the original appearance of the product with your own hands, it is enough to cover the bowl with a new layer of paint.

Features of cast iron baths

Cast iron baths are considered the most popular, as they have a long service life, wear resistance and impact resistance, and also do not require special maintenance. These sanitary ware are made by casting.

Cast iron is a material that is very difficult to process, since, with all its hardness and great weight, it has increased fragility. The greatest difficulties are caused by giving the alloy a rounded, curved shape, therefore the size and model range of bowls from it is not so diverse. The advantages of a cast-iron bath are:

Wear resistance... Cast iron washing containers withstand more than 50 years of intensive use, while the strength of the product does not decrease. The enamel breaks down a little earlier, however, if you repair the bath with your own in time, you can completely restore the appearance of the coating.
Low noise... The thickness of the walls of the cast-iron bath reaches 8 mm, so they have a low resonance ability. Therefore, when drawing water, there is no strong noise, unlike steel models.
Repairability... The cast iron bath enamel generated during operation can be restored with your own hands. The repair is carried out by enameling, filling with acrylic or installing an acrylic liner.
Slow cooling... Cast iron is characterized by a low coefficient of thermal conductivity, due to which the water drawn into the bath from this alloy retains heat for a long time.

Important! Modern models of cast iron washing tanks are electrostatically enameled. In production conditions, powder paint is applied to the bath, which is melted under the influence of high temperature and then baked. High-quality factory enamel lasts at least 10 years, if you follow the recommendations for the care and use of the product. When chips appear on the old coating, you can repair the enamel with your own hands.

Enamel damage

The enamel applied to the surface of a cast-iron bath in the factory is considered sufficiently durable and reliable, after 10-15 years of use, even if all the manufacturer's recommendations are followed, it will lose its original appearance.

To restore the top coat, you can repair the bowl yourself by applying new paint. Over time, the following defects appear on the inner surface of the bath:

Note! If minor defects appear on the surface of the enamel coating, then it is better to immediately perform an inexpensive but effective repair - enameling the bathtub at home. Timely restoration allows delaying a more global restoration with an acrylic liner.

Enamel technology

The technology of enameling a cast-iron bath at home differs from the factory one, since special equipment is used in the production. Coating the inner surface of a sanitary bowl consists of 4 main stages: preparation of the container, mixing the compound, applying paint and drying.

Each of these processes is important, the stability and durability of the result depends on the correctness of the operations. To do the repair of the bath cover with your own hands, you must:

Please note that it is better to repair the bowl with a special enamel designed for bath restoration. Some craftsmen recommend using cheaper yacht and sailboat paint, however, it will not last as long.

Technology features

Do-it-yourself enamel repair of a cast-iron bath is a simple and effective way to restore the appearance of a product. With minimal financial investments, it allows you to abandon the replacement of the old washing container, reducing the cost of repairing the bathroom.

This operation can be successfully performed with your own hands, if you follow the technology of applying enamel. Home enamel technology has the following features:

Experienced craftsmen claim that this method of restoration of a cast-iron bathtub has only 1 drawback - the drying time. However, this small disadvantage is offset by the inexpensive price, ease of application and durability of the result.

Video instruction

Despite the emergence and active use of modern materials for the manufacture of plumbing equipment, the popularity of cast iron baths still remains at a fairly high level. These heavy, cumbersome products easily bypass the more varied in shape and color acrylic and steel models due to their performance characteristics.

In addition to their low thermal conductivity, high strength and durability, they are famous for their maintainability, which makes it easy to update an old cast iron bath with affordable materials. In this article, we will show you how to restore a cast iron bathtub, without any extra hassle, returning it to its original cleanliness, smoothness and shine.

Features of the restoration of cast-iron bathtubs

A cast iron bathtub is a practical and durable sanitary fixture with a long service life, good strength properties and significant weight, which, depending on the size of the model, can reach 500-600 kg. Cast iron itself is black, while enamel gives the product a white color, on the surface of which minor damage, cracks, and discoloration occur during operation.

The restoration of a cast iron bath has the following features:

The thickness of the walls of the cast iron washing tank is 0.6-0.8 cm, so models made of this material are considered more maintainable in comparison with thin-walled steel products. The restoration of a cast-iron bath is possible even with sufficiently deep damage.
The service life of high-quality cast iron plumbing equipment exceeds 50 years, but the enamel coating on the inner surface of the bowl wears out much earlier. If the enamel is restored, then the restored device will be almost like new, therefore, the restoration of a cast-iron bath with your own hands is economically profitable.

Note! High-quality cast-iron models of bathtubs are quite expensive, for a spacious product with a length of 160-170 cm you will have to pay at least 20 thousand, and corner bowls are several times more expensive. Therefore, do not rush to throw away the old bathtub, it is better to return its attractive appearance with the help of restoration.

Common damage

Before restoring a bathtub, you need to figure out what damage is characteristic of cast iron models, and also why they occur. Every experienced craftsman will say that the most vulnerable point of cast iron products is enamel, which over time loses its original appearance. The most common damage to cast iron wash containers are:

Please note that before restoring a cast-iron bathtub, you must carefully assess its condition, mark all existing defects, and then choose the best method and material with which it is best to perform the restoration. will fail if there is through damage on it.

Re-enameling

When people are wondering how to restore a cast iron bathtub at home, the first thing that comes to mind is to re-enamel the container from the inside. This is a rather complicated, time-consuming and painstaking process that allows you to update a product without serious costs. For re-enameling, a moisture-resistant epoxy enamel is used, which gives a stable, long-lasting result, subject to the technology of use:

Important! Full polymerization and hardening of epoxy enamel occurs within 5-7 days, during which you cannot use the bathroom. In addition, during the restoration of the washing container in this way, a pungent, chemical odor is emitted, so you can only work with a respirator.

Restoration with liquid acrylic

You can quickly and effectively repair a cast-iron bathtub at home using liquid acrylic. Thanks to the unique texture and consistency of this modern polymer, the restoration of the enamel layer is faster and easier than with epoxy enamel. Acrylic compounds consist of 2 components - acrylic itself and a hardener. The ingredients of the mixture are combined and then thoroughly mixed until a fluid, plastic mass is obtained. The restoration of cast iron products is as follows:

Important! In order for the restored cast iron plumbing fixture to last longer, it is necessary to observe the acrylic drying technology. Polymerization of this polymer takes 36-48 hours, during which time contact of the coating with water or dust should be limited.

Repair with an acrylic liner

If the surface of the cast iron washing container is in disrepair, if most of the enamel surface is covered with damage, it is problematic to properly repair it with epoxy enamel or liquid acrylic. To restore the appearance of heavily damaged products, a more radical method is used - the installation of an acrylic liner. In this case, the restoration takes place as follows:

Remember, the cost of an acrylic cast iron bath liner is higher than restoring an old cast iron bowl with liquid acrylic or epoxy enamel. But the use of the inlay allows you to repair products with through holes, with a severely damaged surface.

Video instruction

Ecology of cognition. Homestead: The restoration of a cast-iron bathtub can give an effect of no less quality than it would have if replacing an old bathtub with a new one. Let's take a closer look at how to update an old bathtub and why it's worth doing it.

After a long service life of plumbing, the question arises "how to update the bathtub so that it becomes beautiful, clean and durable again?"

The easiest solution to the problem is to purchase new equipment. Naturally, this option will save energy, but at the same time its implementation will negatively affect the budget. A worthy alternative would be to update the bath surface yourself.
To do this, it is enough to understand the main methods of carrying out the procedure and purchase the necessary material for repairs.

Choosing a restoration method

How to update an old bathtub with your own hands? To do this, you can use one of the methods: restoration of enamel, installation of an acrylic insert or filling with liquid acrylic.

Before giving preference to one of the restoration methods and getting to work, you should assess the condition of the product itself. The choice of the method of its renewal depends on the degree and type of damage.

The main reasons for the restoration of the bath:

The enamel lost its luster, became dull, rough, dark spots appeared, paint peeled off. Re-enameling the surface will help to solve this problem.
Rust has appeared on the product, which cannot be removed, cracks and chips have formed. An acrylic liner or restoration using the “pouring bath” technique is capable of repairing damage.
The steel bath began to cool down quickly, and a loud noise of the water being poured was heard. Such a product can only be updated by installing an acrylic insert.
Strong deformations of the bath body, large chips and cracks, mismatch of new pipes with drain holes. In such a situation, there will be only one way out - to replace the equipment.
No restoration technique can restore the aesthetics and functionality of a bathtub.

Of course, the choice of the method is also based on the material from which the product is made. Acrylic bathtubs lend themselves well to renovation.

Scratches and minor imperfections can be removed with a special polish. And liquid acrylic and special repair compounds are able to eliminate even such serious damage as chips and through holes.

Renovation of steel and cast iron baths is carried out according to one of the above methods, depending on the scale of the damage. Repair is especially important for cast iron structures, as they have a long service life, while remaining very durable.

Bath enamel

The enameling process is a fairly simple procedure that allows you to update the appearance of the product. From a financial point of view, this method is considered the cheapest.

In addition, during restoration, you can significantly save on the services of masters, since even a person who has not done this before can even cover the bath with enamel.

Preparation for enameling

Before directly covering the bathtub with a new layer of enamel, it is necessary to carry out preparatory work. Their goal is to create a surface that provides the best adhesion of the two materials.

First, you need to clean the bath from the old enamel. To do this, its surface should be thoroughly cleaned with an abrasive stone, emery paper or a grinder using a cleaning powder.

Then the abrasive grit and soap film must be washed off with water. It is important to expand all cracks and chips with a working tool. After that, the surface must be degreased.

To remove the degreasing layer, you can pour hot water into the bath and leave for 5-10 minutes, then drain and wipe with a cloth. The preparatory work should result in a dry, smooth and slightly matt surface.

Before renewing the bathtub by applying enamel, you need to turn off the drain and overflow, remove the gaskets, clean the product from dust with a vacuum cleaner.

Enameling process

In a container, you need to dilute the enamel by mixing the base with a hardener. The composition should be applied with a brush from the edges to the bottom of the bath. The first layer is a primer, it is important to carefully level it with alternating vertical and horizontal movements.

The second layer, and, if necessary, subsequent ones, are applied after 10-15 minutes in the same way.

Surface painting should be carried out as carefully as possible. The service life of the enamel depends on the quality of the application.

If bubbles have formed on the surface during the restoration, they must be removed with a brush. Otherwise, in this place, the new layer will come off immediately after drying.

After completing the enameling procedure, you should check the condition of the product after 15 minutes. Smudges formed on the coating can be easily removed with a brush from the bottom up. After the new enamel has completely dried, which will take at least 4 days, the product can be safely used.

The renewed bathtub can last for about 5 years, subject to strict observance of the operating rules.

Renovated bathroom care

After the restoration of the product, you should adhere to the recommendations for caring for it, since renewing the bath is only half the battle. Neglecting the rules, the new coating will fail very quickly and lose its original appearance.

After enameling, the bath must not be cleaned with products containing acid, aggressive chemical compounds. For this purpose, you can use soap solutions, dishwashing detergents.

Do not wash in a bath with bleach; it is highly undesirable to soak colored laundry in it.

Bath restoration with liquid acrylic

Liquid acrylic is a modern restoration material that allows not only to eliminate aesthetic defects, but also serious damage. This technology has a number of significant advantages.

In order to update an old bath with acrylic, no special skills are required, just follow the instructions. The newly created coating is very durable, capable of withstanding even mechanical stress.

The water in the renewed bath will cool more slowly than in the cast-iron structure.

Acrylic does not change its appearance over time, the coating does not darken, and remains resistant to detergents containing aggressive chemical compounds.

The service life of a refurbished product can be up to 10 years or more. At the same time, the aesthetic and practical qualities are fully preserved.

Preparing to create a new coverage

Do-it-yourself bathroom renovation with acrylics should be started with its preparation. Stubborn dirt and limescale must be removed by thoroughly rinsing the product with cleaning agents.

To degrease the surface, you can clean it with baking soda.

After that, you will need to twist the covers on the drain hole and on the overflow and sand the bath cover with sandpaper.

This will help remove rust and loose old enamel.

If the bathtub has already been restored using the enamel method, you will have to remove the old coating.

After that, the surface must be thoroughly rinsed. It is recommended to heat the material to be repaired by drawing hot water into a bath. After 5-10 minutes, you can dry the surface; this can be done easily with the help of a construction hair dryer.

For work, you will need a small container with a volume of 1.5 liters, from which acrylic will be poured onto the bath. You also need to prepare a wooden stick, which will be required for mixing the components of the solution, rubber gloves and a spatula.

A container must be placed under the drain hole, the remnants of acrylic will drain into it, and the tiles at the edges of the bathtub must be sealed with masking tape.

Acrylic pouring process

After completing the preparatory stage of work, it is necessary to prepare liquid acrylic by thoroughly mixing the hardener with a polymer base. It is very important to strictly follow the instructions in order to get a quality result.

It is quite possible to cover the bathroom with acrylic on your own. The process itself is a uniform pouring of the finished mixture onto the surface of the product. For convenience, you need to use a small pre-prepared container.

After completing the first circle, you need to start the second, starting from the middle of the sides of the bath. The result should be a thick layer at the bottom, which will need to be leveled with a spatula towards the drain hole. Excess acrylic will be removed this way.

It is highly undesirable to touch the sides of the bath with a spatula. If nodules have formed on the surface, they will be removed by themselves. Any impact on the new coating will compromise its integrity.

After finishing the work, the bath must be left so that the surface is completely dry. This will take at least a day, the exact time is indicated on the acrylic packaging. The final stage is the installation of a drain siphon and overflow, removal of masking tape from the walls.

To get a snow-white, even and durable surface, it is enough to update the bathtub with liquid acrylic. The new coating will have excellent adhesion and long service life.

Acrylic liner

How to update a bathroom quickly and easily? An excellent way is restoration with an acrylic liner. The main disadvantage of this method is its price, which will be higher than repairing equipment in another way.

First, you need to remove the dimensions from your bath and purchase a ready-made liner in a specialized store. The inserts have standard parameters, but are also made to order.

The main characteristics of acrylic are its strength, tightness, resistance to high temperatures, and environmental friendliness.

It is easy to clean, does not lose its aesthetic properties during use, does not turn yellow, and rust does not appear on it.

If a cast iron bath is restored, the result will be an excellent design that combines the advantages of cast iron and acrylic.

The order of work

How to upgrade your bathtub yourself by installing an acrylic liner? The main stages of work:

Bath surface cleaning.
Preparation of the liner, marking, determining the location of the drain holes.
Checking the joining of holes.
Aligning the liner, trimming the edges along the wall tile.
Application of a special adhesive to the surface of the bathtub and to the insert.
Installing the liner in the bath.
Pouring water into the product. The bath should be left full for a day to ensure maximum adhesion of materials.

How to update an old bathtub with your own hands, in order not only to eliminate defects, but also to make it beautiful? The acrylic liner will help you achieve the desired result.

The insert itself has a small thickness, so the usable space will decrease very slightly. The renewed bathtub is ready to serve its owner for at least 20 more years.

Thus, having decided on the restoration method, strictly following the recommendations and performing the work with high quality, it is quite possible to renew your bath on your own. published by If you have any questions on this topic, ask the experts and readers of our project.

Over time, cast iron or steel bathtubs, even covered with durable enamel, lose their original appearance, and it becomes necessary to learn how to renovate a bathtub with your own hands, the enamel of which is cracked, yellowed and covered with a layer of rust and deposits.

Enamel renewal methods

There is no need to rush to get rid of the old, but strong cast-iron bathtub, which has served faithfully for many years. You can renew the enamel coating, putty the chips and use the restored bathroom for a few more years, and in the case when the bath is embedded in the walls, the restoration of the coating is the only way to repair, without expensive dismantling work. Updating the font, as the reviews show, is available at a price and the prevalence of materials, and a not very complex technological process allows you to do the work yourself.

Renewal of the coating without significant damage

If the enamel of the bath does not have deep damage, but simply becomes cloudy and covered with deposits, you can restore its original appearance by bleaching and polishing. The thickness of the coating allows you to painlessly renew the bathroom coating two, and in some cases even three times.

For your information: The bath enamel, which is exposed to temperature extremes and aggressive chemicals, becomes covered with scratches and microcracks, in which dirt, rust and lime deposits accumulate. The color of the bathtub becomes yellowish or gray and the surface loses its appearance.

Before you clean the enamel of the bathtub, you must choose a suitable product available in a nearby outlet. For cleaning, citric or oxalic acid, table vinegar, and oxygen or chlorine bleach are often used, at a concentration slightly higher than when bleaching fabrics. Good results can be obtained with car cleaners, but they must be applied very carefully.
Before bleaching the darkened enamel of the bath, we put on gloves and wash off all possible dirt with a cleaning powder, and then dilute the selected agent and apply it to the enamel surface in strict accordance with the instructions.
After maintaining the required time, wash off the product with plenty of water. When using acid-containing preparations, it must be remembered that any acid can be neutralized with a weak solution of baking soda. For light contamination, one treatment may be sufficient to obtain a satisfactory result. If local foci of contamination remain on the enamel surface, the treatment can be repeated exactly in these places.
When the dirt is removed, the surface must be polished. Renovation of the bathroom in this case requires the use of a rotary or vibration sander.

Note: Grinding begins with 800-1000 grit waterproof abrasives. As the surface is smoothed, the grain size decreases to 1500 and is sanded until an even matte surface is obtained. Final polishing is carried out with abrasive pastes used in the repair of car paintwork.

Before renovating an old bathroom with polishing, you need to try to work on a small, most contaminated area, and if after polishing a visible network of microcracks remains, then the enamel coating is worn out and needs to be restored or completely replaced.

If the enamel is worn out ...

If the old enamel is damaged and cracked, how to renew the enamel bathtub in order to extend its service life by several years.

Tip: Significant chips and damage can be putty with a mixture of liquid glass (office glue) with the required amount of white nitro-enamel, which is most suitable for the color of the main bath coating. Automotive nitrocellulose putty or epoxy-based compounds can also be used as a repair compound. The difference lies in the preparation of the working mass and application technology, which are described in detail in the instructions.

After repairing cracks and chips, several methods can be used to repair the old coating:

It is impossible to update the bath with enamel using factory technology at home, therefore, the repair consists in applying special nitrocellulose and epoxy enamels to the prepared surface, both in conventional and in aerosol packaging. The application technology does not require special skills and can be easily done independently. Before renovating an old bathtub, you should carefully study the instructions that came with the selected materials and try to coat any small surface set vertically. If you can avoid drips, you can safely get to work. But it should be borne in mind that such a coating will last no more than five to seven years, depending on the intensity of use.
How can an old bathtub be renewed for a longer period? This is where acrylic resin-based pouring compound comes to the rescue. The special composition is applied to the cleaned, degreased and sanded surface of the bathtub by pouring the compound evenly onto the sides of the bathtub. Under the influence of its own weight, the resin flows down the walls to the bottom and forms a fairly thick and durable coating that has the excellent gloss of acrylic and the strength of a metal bath. Renewing an old bath in this way gives acceptable results without major damage to the base coat.
How can you update a bathtub when the old coating has significant damage. If it is a steel bathtub, then it is better to replace it, and if it is an old cast-iron bathtub with a large wall thickness, then using it as a basis, you can order from a specialized company an acrylic insert made in the shape of an old bathtub and glued to the prepared surface with special glue. It is impossible to do such a bath renovation with your own hands, and it costs more than enameling, but the service life of the liner without losing its appearance is about fifteen years.

How to upgrade an acrylic bathtub

To renovate modern acrylic bathtubs, which are also subject to wear and tear and are not immune from damage, only specialized formulations are used. Renovation of old bathtubs, where the acrylic coating has lost its luster, can be done using abrasive polishing compounds and independently, but there is a danger of local overheating of the surface and irreversible loss of the appearance of the product, so it is better to entrust this work to professionals.

There are many ways how best to renovate a bathtub, but the possibility of their application depends on its initial condition, the economic feasibility of the repair and the possibility of obtaining the desired result.

During the renovation, I want to put things in order everywhere, including in the bathroom. A brand new wall covering, a beautiful ceiling, fresh plumbing ... But there is only one important nuance - an old bathtub with a terrible yellowed and cracked coating, on the surface of which there can be rather terrible black chips. It is not so easy to change this element of convenience in the apartment, as it seems, and it is also an expensive pleasure. But there is a way out. A coating that has lost its appearance can be restored, and quite quickly and cheaply. In this case, it will turn out to be easy to cope without the help of professionals. Restoring the enamel coating of the bathroom with your own hands is quite realistic and does not require frenzied cash costs.

Why "save" the bath?

Before you know how to reanimate an old bathroom coating without completely replacing it, you need to figure out why you need to restore it at all. Why isn't it easier to buy and install a new one?

A new bathroom costs a lot of money, and especially a high-quality cast-iron bathroom. Of course, you can buy an ordinary metal one, but it brings some discomfort to the tenants living in the apartment: filling with water is accompanied by a loud sound that even neighbors hear in thin-walled houses.

The new bathtub still needs to be installed, while dismantling the old one. And this is not as easy as it seems. Such work will entail a large amount of waste, moreover, heavy. At the same time, women will not be able to cope with it - in any case, strong male hands are needed and those who dismantle everything will endure. And probably everyone can just apply a new enamel coating.

Fortunately, the factory enamel in the bathtub is quite durable, and some apartment owners do not even face such a procedure as its restoration. This can be achieved thanks to a special technology by which the application takes place. The bath blank is exposed to strong heating and only then is it covered with a protective coating, that is, enamel. In theory, it can last for centuries, but due to the constant cleaning and treatment of the bath, this does not happen. On the contrary, the bath slowly but surely loses its appearance, the enamel turns yellow and becomes not smooth to the touch, but rough.

Yes, enamel is needed not only for beauty - it also protects the bath from the effects of various aggressive factors (for example, cleaning agents, water of different temperatures). Without enamel, the metal loses some of its qualities - for example, in the place of damage, cast iron will begin to rust, and rust will spread further and further, destroying the product.

Attention! If the damage to the enamel is not repaired in a timely manner, then rust can destroy the entire product or radically change the appearance of the bath.

Of course, it is impossible to create factory conditions in an apartment and it is also impossible to perfectly restore the enamel. But it can still be reapplied, which will help restore a beautiful and tidy appearance to the bathtub. And this - without unnecessary financial and physical costs.

Note! applied at home on its own will not be able to serve as long as a factory one, but it is still capable of turning your old bathtub into a new one for a sufficiently long time. But you need to handle it with care - it is less resistant to mechanical / chemical influences and is even able to change color due to contact with certain substances.

In general, there are now the following methods of restoring the appearance of the bathroom.

Acrylic coating- the so-called bulk bath. The interior of the structure is filled with liquid acrylic.
Acrylic liner- sold in hardware stores or made to order. Fits in the bath.
Replacing an old bathtub with a new one.
Enamel coating- simply put, the application of special paint on the inner surface of the bowl.

What do you need?

In order to carry out restoration work, you will need certain materials and tools:

respirator;
brush, roller for applying enamel;
old clothes or apron;
rubber gloves;
sander or sandpaper;
old rags;
primer;
acetone;
bath restoration kit - simply put, bath enamel.

Now on the construction market there is a large selection of various enamels for baths, aimed at both professionals and home craftsmen. At the same time, if you are a beginner, then it is better to purchase the simplest option - it does not require special skills when using. Such enamels are sold both in aerosol cans and in cans (applied with a brush or a small roller).

Note! It is best to use the composition that is intended for application with a brush - it perfectly covers the old coating, it is easy to work with it. Aerosol products are chosen when it is necessary to restore a small chip - in this case, the enamel lays down unevenly.

A bathtub restoration kit usually contains two components - a hardener and the enamel itself. There should also be a preparation that will help prepare the bath itself for painting. By the way, replacing the enamel is a great option for choosing a new bath color. The latter can be painted in blue, red, green and other colors using special colors.

Table. Bath restoration kits.

Name	Description
"Reaflex-50"	This set is aimed at professional use, it is very fluid, so it will be difficult for a beginner to work with it. To close the old coating, you will need to apply the composition several times. Bathtub restoration will take at least a week, as each layer must be thoroughly dried. But the coverage is excellent.
"Svetlana and Fantasy"	These are enamels of medium thickness, they are easy to apply without too much spreading, which is optimal for an inexperienced restorer. Easy to apply with a brush. The kit also includes a preparation that is used to treat the surface of the bath before starting work. You can use special colors.
"Epoxin-51"	A thick, rather viscous enamel, which is applied with a brush - in the thickness lies the whole complexity of the work. At the same time, the enamel spreads perfectly without leaving streaks. Does not require preliminary filling. Dries for at least 2 days.
	A group of drugs that are essentially not enamel. They cover the surface well, are easy to apply - you just need to water the bath with this product.

Preparing the bath for the procedure

Before you start covering the bath with new enamel, it is imperative to prepare the surface to be treated. It should become smooth and as light as possible.

Step 1. The bath is cleaned of rust. Special preparations based on acids will help with this. Many of them are quite effective. For example, a preparation based on hydrochloric acid will remove reddish spots in just 10 minutes, but it will also destroy all the remaining enamel in whole pieces. It is also important to rinse this product well from the surface of the bath and be sure to follow the instructions for use. There are also more gentle preparations that do not so quickly, but still effectively deal with rust. Oxalic acid-based products work well, acting more accurately than hydrochloric-based products. Preparations of the latter type are washed off with water after 30-40 minutes.

Step 2. Next, you need to make the surface of the bathtub rough from the inside - for this, either sandpaper or a sander is used. The latter will significantly speed up the work. It is important to clean up all chips and cracks well.

Step 3. After working with a sander, it is necessary to wash off all dust and dirt from the surface of the bath. After that, the surface is degreased with acetone.

Step 4. The next step is to apply a primer, for example, GF-020. The layer of this substance should be well dried for about two days.

Advice! A reflector will help speed up the drying process. And by the way, it is not necessary to apply a primer.

Step 5. Now you should warm up the bath well - hot water is drawn into it. But you can also use a building hair dryer - in this case, you will not need to additionally dry the bath.

The bath is now ready to be refurbished.

Bath enamel

We continue restoration work. Now we move on to covering the bath with enamel from the inside.

Step 1. The restoration kit is prepared for use according to the instructions. The enamel should be well mixed until smooth.

Step 2. Using a brush, the enamel is applied in long or short strokes. Long from top to bottom and from bottom to top, and then to the right-left or short from bottom-up-right-left. The corners and areas near the drain holes are carefully painted over.

Step 3. In this way, the enamel is applied several times. Each of the layers must be thoroughly dried in accordance with the instructions.

Bath enamel prices

bath enamel

Video - Bath enamel

Chips and scratches

To restore the former beauty of enamel, it is not always necessary to resort to drastic measures and paint the entire bath. Sometimes it is enough to just repair chips and scratches. This is not so difficult to do.

For example, a mixture of dry white with BF-2 glue will help get rid of small scratches. It is simply applied to areas where there is little damage. In this case, it should be applied in several layers so that the latter does not protrude above the surface of the main enamel coating. It is convenient to apply the substance with a regular brush.

For deeper chips, a preparation based on nitro-enamel is suitable, to which "Supercement", a special construction adhesive, is added. The mixture is prepared in a 1: 1 ratio. The resulting substance is also applied in layers, each of which is given a drying time (approximately 24 hours).

Also, a mixture of white zinc and epoxy (1: 2) will help to cope with severe damage. After mixing the epoxy resin according to the rules, the remaining components are added to it. Zinc white can be easily replaced with shards of porcelain. Such a mixture, applied to the place of the chip, will dry out for at least 5 days, but it will last for many years.

When carrying out these works, it is worth making sure that the color of the enamel and paint, which will be used to restore the scratch, match. Otherwise, the bath will be spotty.

And finally, some valuable and useful advice.

Attention! All chemical preparations with the help of which restoration work is carried out are poisonous and hazardous to health, therefore, personal safety measures cannot be neglected. If the work is carried out incorrectly, there is a high risk of getting to the hospital.

Bathtub restoration with the replacement of the old enamel with a new one is a completely independently feasible way to return the product to its former beauty. At the same time, the new coating will serve for at least 5 years with a careful attitude towards itself. Of course, then you will have to paint the bath again, but considering how much cheaper this type of work is than all the others, it is definitely worth it. By the way, an important factor influencing the long service life of the enamel is the chemical composition of the water. It is advisable to take this into account when choosing a bath restoration method.

Restoration is a great chance to change the color of the bath