The home I’m buying has a colored bathtub–kind of an aqua shade. I might be able to live with this, but maybe not. Is there a way to change the color of a bathtub? Is it a do-it-yourself project (and remember, I have no skills whatsoever when it comes to this stuff), or does it have to be done by a professional?
Just to keep this interesting–what’s the ugliest bathroom you’ve ever seen in someone’s home? Not just dirty or in need of repair, I’m talking “why in the world would someone put those colors in the same universe?” and “those towels are hideous” ugly.
I don’t think you can paint it, if that’s what you’re thinking.
There are companies that will simply cover old bathtubs with a new fiberglass shell. I have no idea what the quality is, though.
Look in the phone book under bathroom remodelers. I’ve seen them here in the malls, in a little kiosk.
We re-did our ugly bathroom (completely stripped to the studs and put in all new fixtures) for about $1,500 total. We did most of the work ourselves. The old bathroom was pretty hideous.
It had dusty-rose pink plastic tiles that were glued to the wall, no spackling in between, with black trim tiles in the corners and all along the edges. The wall paper was gold foil-marbley swirls.
The tub was white, with bright aqua green and purple fish things in the bottom so you woudn’t slip. Went real well with the dusty-pink tiles. :rolleyes:
The toilet was also dusty-rose, but was a different shade and clashed with the tiles.
The sink was bone (ivory) with gold glitter swirls.
The vanity cabinet under the sink was dark brown wood, the medicine cabinet over the sink was light oak.
The whole thing looked like something an acid-tripping Martha Stewart would do. It was just awful.
Is the tub:
Cast Iron (bitch to remove)
Steel (easy)
Plastic (easy)
I hired out the removal of the old (iron) tub - it came out in little chunks, after an absoutely HUGE guy was done with his sledge hammer.
The Plastic one went in easily, with just me.
I would’nt mess with any attempts to coat an old tub.
Also, If the house is old (steel pipes) ripping the thing up gives you the chance to re-plumb, re-wire, make building inspectors happy…
I have been looking at homes in Florida, and ran across a house that had a powder blue tub and toilet! Hideous, at best.
I have been looking at homes in Florida, and ran across a house that had a powder blue tub and toilet! Hideous, at best.
Sorry for the double post. It was hideous enough to post twice!!
I saw an episode of the Christopher Lowell show (shut up!) that featured a company that refinished old cast-iron tubs. I’m pretty sure they could do that in any color, since they stripped the tub’s finish off completely and then sprayed a new one on, but I have no idea what it would cost. The tub looked as good as new when they finished, and they did say that it was much cheaper than buying a new one.
I have an exceedingly ugly bathroom. Someone decided they’d prefer to have a shower rather than a tub, so they put one of those really cheap plastic pans into the space (plenty large enough for an actual, full-size tub) and surrounded it with matching cheap plastic panels, which they glued together with caulk. They then pasted a sheet of cheap (are you sensing a theme here?) linoleum with a butt-ugly blue, white, and black diamond pattern not only on the floor but up the side of the shower stall. The sink in that bathroom is also aqua (but no other fixture was).
The funny thing is that I’ve been making plans to completely redo that bathroom ever since we moved into the house last year, and as time has passed, that sink is the only element I find myself liking.
The tub is definately not cast iron, but I’m not sure if it’s porcelin or a more modern material, although I would guess that it’s not porcelin because I know at least some of the bathroom was re-done within the last 10 years. I wouldn’t be able to to spend much to have it refinished for a while at least, so I’ll be trying the camouflage method for a while–darn, there goes my idea of having a purple bathroom!
Y’know, if your aqua tub was 5 feet long and matched my aqua sink, we might just have a solution right under our noses. 
Damn those shipping costs, eh?