How is the old bath painted
Repair in an apartment is always a difficult and expensive undertaking, and this is especially true for such fundamental objects as a bathroom or sink. Replacing them can pull a huge plume of new repair tasks, but what if the bathroom is still quite solid, but over the years has lost its appearance?
In this article, we will talk not only about how and how to paint the old bath, but we will also analyze several methods that can be done by hand.
The content of the article
Is it possible to restore the bathroom
Someone may say that the restoration of the bathroom is a complicated and thankless task. It is much easier to buy and install a new one, but, as a rule, this is associated not only with difficulties, but also with financial costs that will inevitably follow. And if we are talking only about redecorating, then such radical interventions are best avoided.
One of the semi-polar methods of restoration today is the manufacture of a liner made of thin plastic, but this method has several significant disadvantages, namely:
- The price of a plastic insert is comparable not only with the price of a new bath, but also with a new repair of the entire room as a whole.
- It will not be possible to do the work on their own, since the manufacture of the liner takes place at special enterprises and by specially trained people with a set of tools that is unlikely to be in the arsenal of a home master.
- Despite the fact that the plastic used on the liner is thin, the bathroom in any case loses precious millimeters, which are often already lacking.
- The terms of production of liners are very high, and the entire installation can take up to several weeks or even months, which is not always possible to wait.
- You will have to protect the new bathroom like the apple of your eye, since plastic, although it has increased strength, is easily damaged by contact with sharp objects.
As you can see, this method of restoration is not the best option, and for a bath, painting is more relevant, especially considering that all the work can be done independently and without involving specialists, the main thing is to decide on the choice of restoration material and clearly follow all the points that are described below.
Bathroom preparation
Before painting the old bath, it must be carefully prepared, since the quality of all further work will depend on this. First of all, this, of course, is a thorough cleaning and removal of all obvious chips and damages, among which, by the way, there may also be through cracks, which often appear as a result of long-term operation, and on thin-sheet bathrooms.
Thick cast iron is much more practical in this regard. Firstly, it practically does not rot through, and secondly, it is easier to clean it, without fear of wiping a hole in the bottom.
That is why, if the apartment has an old cast-iron bathtub, do not get rid of it. Its cover can be restored endlessly many times, but finding, buying and installing a new one will be very problematic.
Chip removal
Chipped old enamel is the most common problem, they can appear as a result of several factors:
- Heavy objects falling into the bathtub.
- Frequent accumulation of water.
- Washing items in the bathroom with buttons or zippers.
- Free or involuntary use of solvents on bathroom enamel.
- Frequent cleaning with alkaline products such as Pemolux.
In order to get rid of chips, you will need a small grinder or drill with high speeds. As a nozzle, a felt disc or plastic abrasive is used, which must be processed not only the place of the chip, but also about 15 cm around it.
Important! If the bathtub is covered in chips and scratches, then it is necessary to process the entire area, to a characteristic metallic sheen, so that there are no drops.
When the bath is cleaned, the cleaved areas must be treated with solvent or acetone, but in no case should you use white spirit or turpentine, since they have increased fat content and leave stains behind. It is advisable to carry out degreasing with a solvent 3-5 times, each time allowing the entire bath to dry completely.
The next stage is the application of the first latka. It is made of fiberglass fabric, pre-welded for 20 minutes. This is necessary in order to remove wax particles. The welded and dried fabric is impregnated with epoxy resin and laid on the damaged area, after which the patch should be well cured and you can move on to the next layer.
There should be at least three layers in total, but depending on the size of the damage, they should be applied until the surface of the patches does not become slightly higher than the level of the bath itself. After all the layers have dried, the bath is once again cleaned, but with the use of thin and soft felt, which will smooth the surface and will not leave any drops on it.
Advice! In order to determine the presence of differences, you can use the LED flashlight, the beam of which must be directed along the bathroom. In the light of a lantern, all irregularities and defects will be very clearly visible and should be removed.
After complete cleaning, remove all debris and dust from the bath and rinse thoroughly several times under running water.
Painting
Dealing with the question of how to paint the bath, first of all, you need to determine the degree of damage and old age.
There are two materials in total:
- Epoxy paint, which is prepared independently and is able to close even obvious and severe damage.
- Acrylic paint for Bath. A simpler and more convenient material, which is easier to work with, but which creates only a decorative look and is much inferior to epoxy in quality.
But not depending on which paint for the bathtub is chosen, you will need the same set of tools:
- Brushes, always with natural bristles and in the amount of at least three pieces.
- Personal protective equipment: strong respirator, apron, rubberized gloves, goggles.
- Tweezers or tweezers to remove bristles from brushes from the surface.
- Scissors with which you may have to cut the brush from strong raking.
- Container for dissolving paint and hardener.
Epoxy resin
Epoxy painting is a more complex and time-consuming process, and it is not only the painting itself, but also the proper preparation of the solution. The first and most important rule when working with such materials is that the resin must be harvested in small fractions, so that the finished mixture is enough for about 10-15 minutes of work, since after this the accelerated hardening process begins, and the paint will have to be thrown away.
First of all, pour a certain amount of resin into a separate container to a mark, so that for the second time, accurately repeat the measured quantity. Add the white color paste to the resin, also in the proportion that you need to remember.
Thoroughly mixing the resulting paint, add the hardener to it, and quickly begin to apply. Paint is applied with a brush from the bottom of the bath, towards the edges.That is, first we draw one vertical line in a thick layer, after which we begin to smear the paint with a "Christmas tree".
The next vertical line is drawn about 10 cm from the previous one and the whole process is repeated. In the process, bristles from the brush may remain on the paint, they must be removed immediately with tweezers, and paint over the mark.
Epoxy resin is very viscous, so it itself will close all the bumps, but it is better to get rid of possible streaks immediately, since later they will have to be cut with a knife.
After the first batch of paint has been used up, the brush must be cut with scissors and after that it is ready for use again. When the entire bath is painted, you need to close the door and leave the room like this for several hours.
When the surface of the paint is slightly set, we open the door to the bathroom and all the windows in the apartment, as a stable smell can absorb into any surface, and that is why it is advisable to remove all household members for about a week beforehand.
After drying, the bath can be checked for coating quality and overall evenness. If everything is in order, then you can safely use it, but if the inspection revealed any flaws, then the whole process will have to be repeated. And in order to clearly understand how the bath is painted with epoxy paint, you can watch a video on which everything is described and described in detail.
Acrylic paint
Before proceeding to the description of the process, it should be noted right away that acrylic paint for bathtubs is not the same material with which the walls in an apartment are painted. Common to these paints is only the main binder component, that is, natural acrylic resin.
Incidentally, the acrylic resin itself is completely harmless to health, but in its pure form, it is completely soluble in water. And in order to prevent this from happening, manufacturers add special plasticizers and additives to the paint, which improve the quality of the coating, but at the same time are synthetic, which means that in liquid form they can be dangerous if they get into the mucous membrane and even on the skin.
As we said above, the instructions for working with acrylic paints for bathtubs are much shorter and simpler than when working with epoxies. Moreover, acrylic paint is sold ready-made and the maximum that it may require is a slight addition of a solvent or diluent.
The paint itself, simply poured onto the sides of the bath and spreads to the bottom. The main thing is to correctly calculate the poured amount, so that the paint completely covers the walls, but not the glass to the bottom with a thick layer.
You can smear the paint with a brush to get a more uniform even coating, but the consistency of the material is such that it flows around all the irregularities on its own, and does not create any differences.
Summarize
As you can see, independent painting of the bath is a painstaking but quite feasible task, and you can save a lot on this. This saving concerns not only the payment for the services of workers, but also the replacement of the bath itself. The main thing is to approach the work with all responsibility, and not to skip any of the steps described above, since redoing all the work is long and very expensive.
