Bathtub breakage - how to fix

breaking_free

I swear this was not me! Partner installed a new bathtub a few months back and used a wooden mallet to "tap" it into place. You can see the result below. 

He's decided to live with the damage but it's not pretty and I wondered if any of you had a decent solution. Anything has to be better than this, surely?

ThisIsWeird

Do you have the bits that broke off?
A pretty decent repair should be possible - the bath is likely to be made of acrylic, so any joints can be sanded flat and then polished back to perfection, but I'm not sure what the best repair material can be.
If you have the bits and they fit back in place perfectly, then possibly a solvent adhesive might be best - this will chemically melt the pieces together.
Or perhaps a 'filler' type adhesive might be best, like those used for worktop joints and repairs.
Alternatively, you fit a decorative trim across there to hide it.
Either way, that's largely a cosmetic issue, and shouldn't affect the structure, provided it's been installed properly and is fully supported.
What colour is it - white?

breaking_free

Yep, it's definitely a cosmetic issue rather than a structural one so no problem there.

Partner was so annoyed with himself that the bits went straight in the bin despite my protestations that "Hey we might have been able to fill and sand those". 

I think it is acrylic - I didn't buy it or fit it   
I wondered about a decorative trim too: I guess he needs something that looks like it naturally should be there, rather than something that is very obviously covering up damage.

As for colour, I would say white.

400ixl

fibre glass and a white gel coat would make a half decent job of it.

FreeBear

You can get repair kits from Screwfix, Amazon, and other outlets - Don't know how effective they would be on such a large section though.

The alternative is one of the plastic surgeons out there - Can't comment on price, but I have heard that one or two can perform miracles on some surfaces. In the meantime hide up partner's hammers.

Emmia

Would an epoxy putty work perhaps, milliput or similar - put cling film over to get the shiny finish.

ThisIsWeird

breaking_free said:

Yep, it's definitely a cosmetic issue rather than a structural one so no problem there.

Partner was so annoyed with himself that the bits went straight in the bin despite my protestations that "Hey we might have been able to fill and sand those". 

I think it is acrylic - I didn't buy it or fit it   
I wondered about a decorative trim too: I guess he needs something that looks like it naturally should be there, rather than something that is very obviously covering up damage.

As for colour, I would say white.

Do you have the bits that came off?

Emmia

ThisIsWeird said:

breaking_free said:

Yep, it's definitely a cosmetic issue rather than a structural one so no problem there.

Partner was so annoyed with himself that the bits went straight in the bin despite my protestations that "Hey we might have been able to fill and sand those". 

I think it is acrylic - I didn't buy it or fit it   
I wondered about a decorative trim too: I guess he needs something that looks like it naturally should be there, rather than something that is very obviously covering up damage.

As for colour, I would say white.

Do you have the bits that came off?

The OP said they were already disposed of by the annoyed partner (and the OP presumably didn't fish them out and put them somewhere).

ThisIsWeird

Ah, yes, thanks Emmia.
Car body filler - in fact pretty much any epoxy, 2-part filler would fill this, and you'd be able to get it to blend in perfectly. But then there's the colour match...
If you could find a shade close enough, then you could aerosol paint it, and polish 'cut' the paint to feather and blend with the surrounding. But, there are more shades of white than there are of grey.
So, 'filling' isn't the issue, but colour match could be.

grumbler

breaking_free said:

... Partner installed a new bathtub a few months back and used a wooden mallet to "tap" it into place. You can see the result below. 

He's decided to live with the damage
....
Partner was so annoyed with himself that the bits went straight in the bin despite my protestations

Was it DIY installation? It's really hard to believe that a person capable of installing a bath can live with such damage and dispose the bits without thinking twice.

ThisIsWeird said:

Car body filler - in fact pretty much any epoxy, 2-part filler would fill this, ...

Make sure the filler doesn't stick to the bath panel - cover the panale with, e.g., cling film.

Postik

I think you could mess around with fillers, resins and repair kits but without sufficient practice I doubt it will ever look much good.  I think I would just bite the bullet and pay one of the plastic repair people (I expect it to cost in the region of £150 - £300).  As well as filling and sanding it smooth they will also paint it, and blend the paint in with the surrounding area.

I've read a lot of complaints where such a repair starts to peel and become visible again - I suspect when it's in a high traffic area or sprayed with acidic cleaning products.  However on the edge like that, I would expect a repair to last.

I have a hairline crack in exactly the same place as yours.  I was quoted £150 to fix it but as it's barely noticeable I didn't ever bother.