I've painted a few bathtubs with the epoxy tub paint, both spray and rolled, and have never been real happy with it. At best I've gotten 3 years out of it before it starts peeling/chipping off. Always been cast iron though so I can't speak to fiberglass. Once it starts peeling it looks terrible and while you can put another coat on, there is nothing really that makes it look good or lasts much longer.

BillW,

We have done many.

We use the 2 part epoxy from Sherwin Williams. 1 kit for the tub, 1 kepit for the surround.

Surface prep is EVERYTHING. Must be perfectly clean including fingerprints. 30 Second Cleaner, Scrub scrub scrub! sand, wipe down with alcohol…

I prefer they spray but the the fumes are crazy bad. Roller works well and faster turnover without taping and draping the whole bathroom.

MUST where. chemical breather mask with chemical cartridges and a good fan blowing OUT.

Allow a few days to cure and reduce the odor.

BRAD

I echo the comments made by MikeA. The DIY product doesn’t last long enough to justify their cost.

I had some tubs, surrounds and shower stalls refinished by a vendor who does warranty work for tub manufacturers, two years in, his refinishing job appears to be as good as new.

I found the contact at my plumbing supply store as this vendor handled their warranty and repair work.

Thank you all for taking the time to write. Sisco and MikeA, don’t think it’s worth it to do. A good idea MikeA, just to replace the surround.

Steve and BRAD have good experiences refinishing and stress the importance of surface prep, i.e., cleaning and sanding and cleaning some more. The consensus is to use a roller, if you don’t have experience spraying and get a respirator (that fits good) and lots of ventilation.

I think what I’ll do is finish the bathroom refresh and see how it looks when done. I’m guessing the most important quality of a bathroom, at least when showing to perspective tenants, is that it looks clean. I’ve got pretty much all white/off white walls/vanity/fixtures, so the beige tub/shower surrounds look pretty “off” to me, but what do I know.

And a side note about respirators. I’ve got a big nose, and when I worked with epoxy 25 years ago making surf boards, the respirator didn’t fit well because of my nose, and I could really smell the resins when working with them. I was diagnosed with sinus cancer 23 years ago and I’m guessing it was my ill-fitting respirator that let those epoxy fumes into my sinuses, causing the cancer. Of course, I don’t know, but that’s my hunch, FWIW.

I ended up leaving it. Once the shower curtain is up you don’t see much of it.

Sir Walter, I wish I had read your post before I picked the paint. Good idea, just get some paint that works with the beige tub and look like you meant to do it that way.

Have a tub and surround at a place that I rehabbed a few years ago. Tub was an ugly blue and had some screw holes from the old shower doors that were gone.

Hired a crew from the big city to come in and refinish the tub. They looked like they did a great job. wet sanded, filled holes with bondo, washed it all down and sprayed the paint on it.

I let it set for a few days to be sure it was cured, then finished the rest of the bathroom.

Less than a year later the tenant mentioned the paint peeling off. It looks horrible. The tenants are ok with leaving it be because they don't want the only bathroom out of commission for a while.

Wish I would have gutted and replaced. That or looked into how the work should have been done so that it would last.