Refacing a Cast Iron bath

mp7125

Hi was contemplating getting my old cast iron bath resurfaced. Having read advice on this and other forums not sure whether it is worth £250-£300 given the possibilty that few years down the road I might be back to square one. Spoke to one local company today who actually reface the bath - see link for more details - basically grinding and polishing - like T-cut on a car. Has anybody had experience of this or any advice? They also claim to give a 10 year guarantee as long as you follow their cleaning instructions. Thanks

robowen

I had the resurfacing done to my bath.......absolute poo !!

What more can I say !

"The new coating is easily chipped, and like painting anything, will, after time, lift and peel"

They tell you this themselves !

rob

helen21_2

I too had one done years ago and within no time at all it was cack, save ya dosh and buy a new bath cause you'll have to even after having it done

moneysavingplumber

For it to be done properly the bath would have to be removed and taken away. Needless to say this doesn't often happen (and certainly not for £300!), and I've even seen guys using car spray paint and put heaters around the bath in situ' in the past, which does not constitute re-enamelling! Buy a new bath. New cast-iron baths will be very hardy and will not chip unless whacked with something, it's pressed-steel that has a delicate finish. Failing that, compromise with a Carronite coated acrylic bath, sturdier than ordinary acrylic and if you chip that you can rub it out with Brasso :beer: .

mp7125

Thank you all for you frank and honest advice. I had another bath resurfacer around today who was very honest. Unless I had the bath sandblasted it would not cure the rust. The cost of this is around £450 - might as well get a new bath. He also mentioned a company in Preston that restores cast iron baths to their original state using sand blasting, furnacing and then coating with vitreous enamel. I made some enquiries but the cost is around £500-£700 plus the transport from here to there – another £200. So a new bath it is.

odowdchr

It's very expensive. The old pockmarked enamel bath which needs resurfacing can be bought for around £150. A friend of mine imports them to the US from here, get's them blasted, treated and re-enamelled, then sells them on to "Ye Olde English" housey types for about $3500 a pop. He does the old rectangular Doulton kitchen sinks as well, get's about $1500 each.

Just think of all these old Victorian sinks sitting in English gardens planted with begonias..