Claw foot tub question

My house was built in 1890, and was remodeled down to the studs about 16-17 years ago. It's got a claw foot tub in the upstairs bathroom that the finish is starting to crack/peal, plus the outside was finished in some textured paint. We want to redo the bathroom as the wallpaper and fixtures are very mis-matched. Couple questions:

1. How do I know if the tub is cast iron or steel?

2. We've looked at a couple different places that refinish, and they each seem to use a differen method - what's best?

3. Is it worth re-finishing?

Thanks,
Mike

A clawfoot tub would not be steel. It is cast iron. The fact that yours is showing problems probably means it was refinished before and they did not do a good job. It should be sandblasted to bare metal, and have oven-fired porcelain applied. Find a shop in your area that does porcelain refinishing ( not sprayed-on epoxy paint) and check references. This job will require taking the tub to the shop. A job done in place will last a year or two, as you may already have discovered.

Thanks! Checking with local companies, most seem to use a enamel finish or a urethane or polyurethane. Thoughts on those? We haven't found one that does a porcelain finish yet.

My wife also found this bath tub and might be leaning that way. Any issues with an acrylic tub?

Thanks!
Mike

What ever the want to call that finish, it just peals like a poor paint job. It looks ok if you don't use it and are selling your house to an unsuspecting buyer. I don't recommend that, but people do it.

Go looking at antiques at a large open air mall or find a farmer that waters stock with one and see if he will sell it. Probably in better condition than the one your speaking of. Ha

The last time I looked Kohler made a tub that resembles an old leg style tub. I wouldn't buy one just because it's Kohler and knowing them, they charge a lot of mu-la. They are still trying to charge on the good name they had 45 years ago.

plumber1 said:

What ever the want to call that finish, it just peals like a poor paint job. It looks ok if you don't use it and are selling your house to an unsuspecting buyer. I don't recommend that, but people do it.

Go looking at antiques at a large open air mall or find a farmer that waters stock with one and see if he will sell it. Probably in better condition than the one your speaking of. Ha

The last time I looked Kohler made a tub that resembles an old leg style tub. I wouldn't buy one just because it's Kohler and knowing them, they charge a lot of mu-la. They are still trying to charge on the good name they had 45 years ago.

Click to expand...

Excuse me, but you post isn't very clear. Are you saying that the enamel urethane finish will peel off?

Also, very much dought that a tub a farmer waters his stock with would be in better condition than the one I have, at least based on the farms I've visited (both my parents grew up on farms, still have farms in the families, and most of my cousins, aunts/uncles, etc are farmers).

So I'll ask the question again - lacking anyone willing to do a oven-fired porcelain finish, which would be better: enamel or urethane? This is given proper prep. The tub will be removed as I am going to redo the floor anyways.

Thanks,
Mike

If you can't get it refinished with a new porcelain finish, buy a new one. My personal opinion. The air cured finishes in the real world of that tough environment won't last.

Wrong answers!!!

If you do not know the process of refinishing, you really should not answer the question. Failed refinishing jobs on most occasions are the process of DIY products and or a person that has no clue of what they are doing. The process is an actual reglazing and not a painting of the tub. It is not porcelain it is an areospace epoxy much like what is found on the space shuttle (not the parts that keep falling off either ).
Re-pocelaining the inside of a tub is not an option as porcelain is applied and then baked at 2500 degrees.

Clawfoot tubs should go through this process:
Sandblasting the outside after all plumbing parts are taken off. Next you should start with 360 grit sandpaper and an orbital sander and sand outside of the tub, then 300 all the way to you get to 220. The exterior finish only looks textured due to the pitted cast iron. This process will take care of it and it will smooth the outside of the tub. Next the tubs best exterior finish is not expoxy and you should never clean the tub with water nor use stripper on the outside of the tub. The best possible finish is POWDER COATING. This is the same process that is on the outside of semi and truck rims and you know how much abuse those take.

The interior of the tubs get cleaned 100%, the washed again with an idustrial cleaner and followed by an etching process. This prepares the porcelain and opens the pores of the tub for a new finish. Then there is 3 coats of aerospace primer followed by 3 coats areospace HSLD topcoat. The process then needs 24 hours to cure. The finish is new and I dont know about the rest of refinishers but I give a 5 year written warranty.

The replica clawfoot tubs are cheaply made in my opinion. Its like comparing a moped to a Harley. Go with the original you already own it. the cost of refinishing will be less than the new one.

You can also have and acrylic liner installed in a claw foot tub for about $1000.00. This can be completed in 3 hours and will have a lifetime warranty. Let the refinished do the outside first.

I have been in this line of work for about 9 years and I have nver heard of a acrylic liner for a clawfoot. There is companies that make acrylic liners and tubs such as BCI but nothing for the interior of the clawfoot.

Hey Refinisher,

One question, in your original post you said to start with 360 grit sand paper and work your way to 220. Shouldnt that be the other way around? 220 will leave more scratch marks than 360.

When you do powder coating on a tub, do you bake it in an oven or do you "heat it".

Yes you are right, my bad....

I ran into a good one today. Customer dropped off a antique clawfoot 1920's which was in his house and he had done 8 DIY kits on it over the last 15 years of living there. He stated it would look great for about 2 months and then start to peel. Here is the unbelievable part, he is paying to get it restored! I charged him $1000 just to strip the tub not including anything else. Total tub bill $1700

Claw Foot Bath Tubs

I have ran accross a web site everyone may be interested in that offers acrylic claw foot bath tubs at reasonable prices.
http://www.bathtubsfactorydirect.com/servlet/the-Claw-Foot-Bath-Tubs/Categories