When we say no: honest advice on tub repair and reglazing in Orange County
Most of the calls we get about tub reglazing in Orange County end with a date on the calendar. A few end differently. We look at the photos, we ask a few questions, and when a repair won’t last, we tell the homeowner that we won’t take the job. That’s not the easy answer, and it costs us work, but we would rather turn down a repair than sell one we don’t believe in. A tub that fails again in a year leaves you out the money and leaves our name on a poor result, and neither of us wants that. Two situations bring this up more than any others: fiberglass cracks that were left too long, and rust that has gone deep into the metal.
A new finish can’t fix what’s underneath
It helps to be clear about what a finish does. Tub reglazing puts a new surface on the tub you already have. We fill chips, repair the damage we can reach and spray a finish that looks and feels like new. A coat of polyurethane on its own can’t strengthen a weak tub or stop a problem that is still going on beneath it, so when something underneath is wrong, the repair has to deal with that first. Sometimes we can do that, and sometimes we can’t. When we can’t, a good-looking finish only hides the damage for a while, and the damage keeps moving. Telling you which situation you’re in, before any work begins, is part of the job.
Fiberglass crack repair: why timing matters
A crack in a fiberglass tub can come from a hard hit, like a dropped bottle, but many start with flexing. When the support under the tub floor has compressed, settled or gone, the floor moves a little every time someone steps in, and in time the shell cracks. The crack is the symptom. If you only patch it, the tub keeps flexing and the crack comes back.
A crack that has just appeared gives us the best chance of doing the job properly. In some cases we can inject polyurethane foam underneath the tub to bring back the support, then patch the crack with fiberglass on top and refinish the surface. That deals with the crack and the reason it cracked, which is what makes fiberglass crack repair worth doing. If you’ve just cracked your tub or shower, our post on cracked showers is a good place to start.
The trouble starts when the crack has been there for a while. A cracked tub keeps getting used, and every shower sends water through the crack. That water doesn’t stay on the surface. It soaks into the fiberglass around the crack and into whatever supports the tub, which can mean soft flooring, damp framing and mold in the wall next to it. After several months of that, everything underneath can be rotten, and foam can’t bring rotten material back. Support needs something sound to rest on, and a fiberglass patch over a wet, weakened base won’t last, so in cases like that a lasting repair isn’t always possible.
You can check for some of this yourself. A floor that feels spongy or gives under your foot, a musty smell near the tub, soft or bubbling paint beside it, stains on the ceiling below the bathroom and a crack that returns after it’s been patched all suggest damage that goes deeper than the surface. Those signs don’t always mean the tub is finished, because sometimes the damage is limited and the support can be rebuilt. But when water has been leaking for months and the structure underneath has rotted, repairing it isn’t always possible, and replacing the whole unit is the better decision. It costs more than a repair, and nobody likes hearing that, but a repair that lasts a few months costs you twice. If water has reached the floor or framing, that needs to be dealt with first, whatever happens with the tub. Our post on reglazing versus replacement looks at that choice in more detail.
Rust repair: when it makes sense and when it doesn’t
Many tubs in older Orange County homes are porcelain enamel over steel or cast iron. The enamel is a layer of glass, and under it is metal. When the enamel chips or wears thin, usually around the drain, along the overflow or where something heavy was dropped, water reaches the metal and it begins to rust.
Light rust is often repairable. A small spot at a chip or around the drain can be cleaned back, treated and sealed under a new finish, and that kind of rust repair is worth doing.
Severe rust is a different matter. Once rust has worked into the metal, you may see flaking, pitting and rough patches, and rust keeps showing up on the surface even after it has been repaired. Rust is bulkier than the iron it grows from, so it pushes up from underneath, and a coating laid over it bubbles and peels. This is why, in severe cases, we may not recommend a rust repair at all. The finish would look good for a short time and then start to fail, and it makes no sense to sell you that.
Sometimes there’s a middle ground. In some cases we’ll do our best to repair the current condition of the rust, but we can’t offer our warranty on that work, and we’ll say so before we start. The reason is simple. Rust doesn’t stay on the surface. It lives in the metal itself, and nothing we put on top of the tub can stop it from spreading later. Some homeowners still choose this route, for example when a remodel is planned in a year or two and they want the tub to look better until then. That’s a fair decision when it’s made with the facts, and giving you those facts is our job.
What our warranty means
Our work comes with a 4-year warranty, and a promise like that only means something if we’re careful about which jobs we take. Our post on how the warranty works has the details. Turning down a tub we don’t believe in is what keeps the warranty honest. If your tub is cracked or rusted, you deserve to know before you pay whether the tub repair is likely to hold.
How we give an honest answer before any work begins
You don’t have to wait for a visit. Send us a few photos of the tub, including the crack or the rust, the floor of the tub and the area around the drain, and tell us how long the problem has been there and whether the tub has been used since. We’ll tell you what we see. If your tub is a good candidate for tub repair, we’ll give you a fair estimate. If it isn’t, we’ll say so, explain why and tell you what we think makes more sense, even when that means you don’t hire us.
That applies across the county. Older homes, such as many in Fullerton, Orange and Santa Ana, often have enameled steel or cast iron tubs, which can rust. Newer homes in Irvine, Lake Forest and Mission Viejo more often have fiberglass, which can crack. Whichever you have, and wherever you are in Orange County, from Anaheim and Garden Grove to Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa, you’ll get the same straight answer from us. When you choose Adamov Reglazing, you can be sure we’re looking out for your best interests, including when that means telling you not to hire us.
Get an honest estimate — send photos of your tub to (310) 401-4491 or sales@adamovreglazing.com, or call and we’ll talk it through.