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Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Sometimes A Bathtub Resurface Makes More Sense

By Betty Brown


Home improvement projects have become a vibrant element in popular culture. There are a number of television shows focused on the subject, and any of a number of videos online that will show you how to do just about anything. In our zeal to make the old like new again, some very valuable tubs get thrown out with the bathwater when all they really needed was a bathtub resurface.

Porcelain tubs used to be the standard in all construction, going back to the days before most people had running water. During the 1970s and 1980s, porcelain was replaced by acrylic and fiberglass. There were some benefits to this change, one of which is that old houses with porcelain tubs are highly valued items within a home now.

Porcelain was a baked-on glass glaze which was actually covering a cast iron tub. These were extremely heavy, and over time they could sag to the point that they were dangerously heavy when filled with water. The manufactured housing industry introduced acrylic garden tubs in their fancy glamour bathrooms, and this trend traveled easily into the rest of the construction industry.

Many people never make use of bathtubs these days, so the demand for that item in a house is not the same. Newer homes usually have only one full bath, with the others having a shower stall only. Newer apartments often have no tubs at all, favoring the small showering enclosure that allows more space for a sink or other vanity options.

With home improvement being a popular concept, many people will replace these old tubs and sinks with acrylic Jacuzzi tubs. In fact, getting a kit that fits over an existing tub/shower combination just might save a lot on a refurbishing budget. With this push to make everything new, many of these antique tubs have been tossed, left in the yard, or otherwise forgotten.

Anyone who owns a home older than 1965 just might have a larger, porcelain tub underneath what appears to be their bathroom. Sometimes these very rare antiques have been walled in or covered up in prior remodeling. If you find such a thing in a home, it can be brought back very close to the original beauty with a kit that one buys in home improvement or hardware stores.

Should your tub turn out to be highly valuable, it can be taken to an artisan who will sandblast and re-coat the entire tub. This includes making the outside match the inside utilizing techniques that differ from the past, but the results are better than ever. Old-fashioned ceramic was baked onto the iron, but now they can use many other materials to make a fancy old tub the center of the room.

Anyone guilty of throwing out one of these gems is probably regretting that decision now. A simple Internet search easily reveals that these old washtubs are going for thousands of dollars now. Should your refurbishing project not include keeping the old tub, then you may find an eager group of antique collectors online, ready to take it off your hands.




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