How To Fix A Dip In A Bathtub

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Fixing a chipped bathtub is a exercise-it-yourself project that will save y'all from hiring an expensive professional person. Whether your tub only has a few pocket-size chips, or it is badly damaged and needs to exist refinished, these are both projects that y'all will find kits for at your local dwelling comeback store. With a little elbow greasy, your tub will look similar new in only a matter of days!

1. ane

   Buy a ii-component epoxy kit for bit repair. Look in the agglutinative or bath repair section of a home hardware store. Buy a kit that comes with both the catalyst and hardener that you volition mix together to create the epoxy.^[1]

   • Nigh epoxy scrap repair kits come in shades of white to match the most common color of bathtubs. Try to choose a kit that will closely match the shade of your bathtub, or 2 kits that you can mix together to create the right color.
   • Epoxy repair kits piece of work to fix chips in all kinds of bathtubs including ceramic, porcelain, acrylic, fiberglass, and enamel tubs.

2. 2

   Scrub the damaged area with a sponge and soap or tub cleaner, and then dry it. Use warm water and dish detergent or a household tile and tub cleaner to make clean the chipped area. Thoroughly dry out the area with a clean rage after you finish cleaning it.^[2]

   • You lot tin can also use acetone or rubbing alcohol to clean the area. Whatsoever production that removes grease and soap scum will piece of work to make clean the chip.

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3. 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 use. Mix the epoxy in a disposable tray with a toothpick or matchstick if your kit didn't come with the mixing supplies.^[three]

   • It's a good idea to set the tray on a piece of paper-thin or some scraps of paper to grab whatsoever spills.

4. 4

   Apply the epoxy to the scrap with a small spatula, paint brush, or bottom of a matchstick. Scoop up a pocket-sized amount of the epoxy with your chosen utensil. Spread it carefully in a thin layer over the chip by working in ane direction and smoothen out whatever spots where it pools.^[four]

   • Make sure that anything you lot use to apply the epoxy is disposable. Information technology will exist hard to become the epoxy off of anything it touches.
   • It's easiest to start with a small corporeality of epoxy and add more layers than information technology is to put too much on and remove it.

5. v

   Allow the epoxy dry, then sand downwardly the surface with 400-600 grit sandpaper. Follow the directions on your epoxy kit to let it fully dry. Gently sand the surface with 400- or 600-grit sandpaper until it feels smooth similar the rest of the tub.^[five]

   • Some epoxy will set in two-3 hours, at which point you lot can sand. Other kits may advise yous to wait up to 24 hours before sanding.
   • You tin can add another layer of epoxy after sanding if yous can still feel the chip. Then repeat the process.
   • Keep in mind that while this is volition help hibernate small fries, y'all may nevertheless exist able to notice the patch. This volition be especially obvious if you endeavour to make full a number of chips with the epoxy.^{[half dozen]}

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1. ane

   Purchase a bathtub refinishing kit at a home improvement center. Relieve yourself fourth dimension by ownership a whole kit that has everything you need to refinish your tub. Most kits come with tub cleaner, sandpaper, primer, refinishing paint, a paint tray, a brush, and a roller.^[seven]

   • Check that the kit comes with a durable resin coating for your tub. Some cheaper kits come with an epoxy coating, which chips and discolors faster.
   • Refinishing kits tin can toll from about $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. 2

   Ventilate the bathroom, cover the floors, and put on protective gear. Open upward all the windows and put a fan in the bath to ventilate it. Cover the floors with heavy-duty plastic sheets to go on them safe during the refinishing process. Put on a face mask and goggles.^[8]

   • You tin can also drape plastic sheets over fixtures like the toilet and sink to protect them.

3. iii

   Clean the bathtub with the cleaner from the kit. Read the directions on the cleaner to apply it to the tub and apply a sponge to scrub the tub make clean. Rinse the tub out, then get over it with the sponge and cleaner 2 more times to remove any soap scum and stains earlier yous refinish it.^[9]

   • If your kit did not come with cleaner, then purchase an industrial strength bathtub cleaner to use.
   • Let the tub completely air dry out, or speed upwardly the process with towels and a hair dryer.

4. 4

   Sand the whole tub with the sandpaper in your kit to remove the old terminate. First 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 electrical sander. Work your way upwardly to the highest-grit sandpaper in your kit until the tub is completely smooth.^[ten]

   • Your refinishing kit should come with sandpaper to use. If your kit didn't come up with sandpaper, and so commencement with 400-grit sandpaper and work your way up to 2000-grit. Increase the dust of the sandpaper in increments of 200 until y'all reach thousand-grit sandpaper, and then go up in increments of 500 until you finish using 2000-grit sandpaper.

5. five

   Repair whatsoever chips or cracks in the tub with a two-component epoxy chip repair kit. Follow the instructions to mix the 2 parts of the epoxy in a small tray. Use a small brush, spatula, or the bottom end of a matchstick to apply thin layers of epoxy to whatever chips. Wait two-3 hours until the epoxy dries and sand the patches down with 2000-grit sandpaper to match the stop of the rest of the tub.^[11]

   • This will ensure that the tub has no fries or cracks and seal the surface before you apply the new finish.
   • Get a 2-component epoxy flake repair kit from the bathroom remodeling or adhesive department of a home improvement store if your kit did not come with it.

6. 6

   Put painter'south tape on the walls and around whatever plumbing fixtures. Tape along the edges of the tub where they bear upon the walls and effectually the faucet and other fixtures. Even if you have a steady hand, information technology's easy for pigment to become astray!^[12]

   • Painter'southward record is the blue masking tape that yous tin find at hardware and paint stores.

7. 7

   Employ ane glaze of primer with a brush and roller. Use a roller to roll on the primer onto the big, flat sections of the tub like the floor and sides, and so use a brush to get into the corners and curved parts. Let it dry for at least 2-3 hours before you showtime to paint on the new end.^[13]

   • Priming the surface is an important role of ensuring that the new finish adheres correctly so that you end upwardly with the right texture. Make certain that the primer is completely dry to the touch before you paint over information technology.

8. 8

   Paint on 2-three coats of the new finish with a brush and roller. Always paint in 1 direction when you apply the new coat to your tub. Roll on the new cease to the floors and sides in even back-and-along rolls until the flat area is completely covered. Fill in the corners and curves of the tub with even back-and-along brush strokes. Let each coat dry out for at to the lowest degree 30 minutes earlier you put the next glaze on.^[14]

   • Some kits may come with a spray-on terminate. If you utilize a sprayer instead of a brush or roller, endeavour to spray evenly and in 1 direction. Brand sure your walls and fixtures are well-protected by record where there is a risk of pigment spray hit them.

9. 9

   Let your bathtub sit for two-3 days before you employ information technology. The new finish needs to set completely before you run water over it. Consult your kit'southward directions for the exact drying time for your specific finish.^[15]

   • If you don't let the finish dry long enough, you could terminate up with streaks and bubbles in the new coating and you lot will demand to kickoff the process over again.
   • Your new DIY cease will last for years, merely keep in mind that professional finishes will last fifty-fifty longer.
   • The chemicals used in this process can be dangerous, so it may exist a skilful idea to stay somewhere else for a few days while the tub cures.^[xvi]

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Add New Question

• Question

  How do you set up a chip in a porcelain tub?

  

  Art Fricke
  Home Renovation & Repair Specialist

  Fine art Fricke is a abode 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. 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 flooring and wall tile.

  

  Home Renovation & Repair Specialist

  Expert Answer

  

  Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

  If you just accept a small, isolated chip, you lot tin can get enamel fix from a abode improvement shop. Simply dab a little on, then permit it dry. However, keep in listen that you'll probably still be able to see the patch, especially if you lot're trying to embrace a number of chips.

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Things You'll Need

• ii-component epoxy chip repair kit
• Sponge
• Soap or household tub and tile cleaner
• Disposable tray and mixing stick
• Small spatula, castor, or matchstick
• 400-600 dust sandpaper

• Bathtub refinishing kit (tub cleaner, sandpaper, primer, refinishing paint, a paint tray, a castor, and a roller)
• 2-component epoxy chip repair kit
• Modest spatula, castor, or matchstick
• Face mask
• Goggles
• Fan
• Heavy-duty plastic sheets
• Painter'southward tape

• If you don't want to refinish your bathtub on your ain, you can hire a professional who's specialized in refinishing tubs, instead.^[17]

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Commodity Summary X

If you lot accept a small scrap in your bathtub, you can set it with an epoxy kit. Earlier you kickoff, scrub the damaged area of your tub clean with a sponge and some soap and water. Follow the directions on your epoxy kit for mixing the two components together. One time they're mixed, employ a small spatula or a paintbrush to spread a thin layer of the epoxy over the chip. Wait for information technology to fully dry, which should take at least 2-3 hours, and so employ sandpaper to vitrify out the dried epoxy until its smooth. If your bathtub is badly damaged, you can utilize a bathtub refinishing kit to restore the stop. You'll need to sand the whole tub to remove the quondam cease, repair all the cracks with epoxy, then paint on new primer and end. To acquire how to prevent paint from getting on you lot tile, read on!

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