Refurbishing A Disgusting Old Clawfoot Tub

Back bathroom during demo. Talk about spa day am I right!!!

Dorsum bathroom during demo. Talk about spa mean solar day am I correct!!!

Remember that super problematic plastic surgery show called The Swan? This project is kinda like that!!

Recall that super problematic plastic surgery show called The Swan? This project is kinda like that!!

When we first toured our home, one of the things that made united states of america immediately say "yep god give thanks u king" was the 3 clawfoot tubs scattered throughout the business firm—one in each of the bathrooms at the dorsum of the home, and ane in the lawn. The bathrooms in the back of the dwelling mirrored each other equally office of a lean-to improver, meaning the ceilings were similar seven feet high and severely sloped, and the entire space but felt like the bath of a grunge concert venue. But the tubs! The tubs were cracking.

Well, I mean they were okay. They were sometime and caked with layers of fugly paint, sure, simply we dearest a low bar for a starting betoken, and nosotros're active plenty on Pinterest to know that these cast iron treasures can be stripped down and dolled back up. But there were some major things missing from all of the clawfoot tub DIYs I'd seen, similar an easy way to fix any damage on the interior, what to do nearly wonky legs, and how to retro-fit a tub that has predrilled plumbing holes with new plumbing fixtures that don't lucifer.

If y'all've seen our bath suite reveal, you know we somewhen figured information technology all out! Let's practise information technology, angel.

Check out more from this renovation, or keep scrolling for the DIY!

Featured

The Scoop On Our Pink Shower

Our Bedroom Suite Renovation Before & After (Open Concept Bedroom Suite!!)

DIY Clawfoot Tub Refurbishing

Cost: $100 - $300 / Total time: i calendar week / Active time: vi hours

Notes before we get started

  • Safety! Before stripping the exterior pigment, do a lead test! These tests give yous an firsthand answer as to whether or not lead is nowadays. We're not sanding the tub (we use a liquid paint stripper) so the presence of lead doesn't end you from doing this project, but if lead is nowadays you should wear a respirator and follow local protocols for removal and disposal, and like don't eat it.

  • Mess! Stripping the exterior of the tub with Citri-Strip is a disgustingly messy process. Lay down a tarp or painters cloth, wear overalls or wearing apparel you don't mind destroying, and be prepared to spend a expert chunk of time on clean-up. Brushes you use with the Citri-Strip will demand to be cleaned with Goo Gone adhesive stripper or mineral spirits.

  • Ventilation! The product nosotros're using to refinish the interior of the tub is pretty much super toxic. You'll want to brand certain you follow the instructions on the package extremely carefully, and most importantly, this needs to be washed in a well ventilated area! If the tub you're working on is in a bathroom without a window, you need to bring it exterior or to a room that is well ventilated. The fumes are strong and will linger for over 24 hours.

  • Fourth dimension Needed! This isn't a project y'all blitz. While there isn't a ton of active work fourth dimension, at that place is a lot of overnight curing and drying, then expect to spend an entire calendar week between starting this projection and taking your first bathroom in your new gorgeous tub.

Normally we'd listing the tools you'll need in the order you lot'd use them, but given that y'all may non require the exact items we needed—for instance, if your tub doesn't need interior repair or if information technology's already blank on the outside—we've listed the large ticket items in the start grouping and the accessory items like cleaners and safety gear in the second group.

Main Stuff

  • An old cast iron tub in need of some love

  • iii-4 quarts Citri-Strip Paint & Varnish Removal Gel + brush for application (for exterior paint removal). There are other potentially more than effective pigment removers, only Citri-Strip works well and its fumes are non toxic, so we adopt it.

  • 2 bottles Goo Gone Adhesive Removal Spray (this removes any adhesive residue left from the Citri-Strip)

  • Rust-Oleum Tub & Tile Refinishing Kit + castor or roller for awarding (for interior refinishing)

  • JB Weld Marine Weld (for extra security on any wobbly legs, optional)

  • Rust preventing metal primer (old standby Rust-Oleum Clean Metal Primer works perfectly fine hither)

  • Exterior paint in the color of your choice + pigment castor, roller, or sprayer for application (we used Pure White SW 7005)

  • Simple Green Cleaning Spray

  • Prophylactic gear: safe goggles, cleaning gloves, grit mask

Accompaniment Items

  • Steel wool

  • Terry towels or quondam rags

  • 400 grit moisture/dry sandpaper

  • Paint scraper

  • Wire brushes

  • Painters Tape

PREP YOUR WORKSPACE & TUB

Remove all existing plumbing fixtures and (if they're non welded on) clawfoot legs from your tub. Use your Elementary Green, steel wool, and terry cloths to wipe down your tub's interior and exterior to free it of loose grit or gunk. You lot don't need to go in hard here, nosotros'll be doing that subsequently. Just give it a adept thorough wipe down.

Lay down your tarp or piece of work cloth and place your tub upside downward. In the industry, we only call this "confront downwardly ass up" (no nosotros don't). Use painters tape to tape off the lip of the tub where the interior enamel meets the outside pigment. Repeat anywhere that the stripper may bear upon the interior, similar the pre-drilled plumbing holes, to protect your interior enamel from the damaging furnishings of the paint stripper. Nosotros knew we'd be refinishing the interior then weren't super concerned with it, only if you don't plan to refinish the interior this step is critical for protecting the enamel!

Legs removed, horror movie vibes activated.

Legs removed, horror picture vibes activated.

STRIP THE EXTERIOR

Put on your gloves, and use a varnish brush to glob the Citri-Strip onto your tub and tub legs. Proceed extraaaa heavy. Like, it should look similar the tub is melting when you're done. Brand sure to cover every single bit of the surface with this stuff, then allow information technology to sit for 24 hours.

Time to get gross. After 24 hours, prepare a trash bin lined with a trash pocketbook. Employ your paint scraper to accept off whatever of the easy-to-remove chunks of paint and excess Citri-Strip. Some bits will come right off while others may require a little actress effort. Then, go in with your Goo Gone adhesive remover and wire brushes for the hard-to-go spots. You may demand to also bring in your steel wool besides. Information technology's messy and it takes a while, but eventually all of the paint and paint stripper will exist removed. If the stripper wasn't able to take off all the paint, you can echo this process or try your mitt at sanding with a twoscore or threescore grit sandpaper, assuming there is no lead present (sanding atomic number 82 based paint can produce toxic paint dust which is most as horrible for y'all equally it sounds. Check out HUD'south guidelines for more than info).

When all the Citri-Strip residue and former paint is removed, you tin can give your new bare cast atomic number 26 tub a thorough wipe down with Uncomplicated Green cleaner.

Globbing on the Citri-Strip.

Globbing on the Citri-Strip.

24 hours later, removing the Citri-Strip.

24 hours later, removing the Citri-Strip.

Yum! (obligatory /sarcasm)

Yum! (obligatory /sarcasm)

REFINISH THE INTERIOR

If your tub interior has just pocket-size stains, endeavor steel wool and different cleaning solutions to see if anything works (some folks just need white vinegar and baking soda, others may need heavy duty tub cleaners). If this does the trick, lucky you lot, leave it at that and movement on to painting the exterior!

If null gets those stains out, or if your tub has visible damage like peeling enamel, we're diving in with a tub & tile refinishing kit. Information technology's very smelly and kind of annoying, only the result is a pearly white tub interior that looks adept as new. I'm not going to but read the package instructions to you because that would exist a waste of all our time, so follow the Rust-Oleum Tub & Tile Refinishing Kit package instructions exactly. Information technology'south not complicated but it's a multi-stride process and you don't wanna mess this up!

Some tips on using this product:

  • Y'all do not desire to take your workspace anywhere near where yous'll exist sleeping (like in an ensuite bathroom) considering the odour permeates for over a full day following use. A garage, or workshop with good ventilation would exist ideal.

  • If there are whatever large chips of previous enamel, advisedly remove them and sand down to shine with a block sander. This product gives a good-as-new-expect just it'due south not going to conceal sharp breaks or large lumps.

  • Make sure you thoroughly sand the unabridged interior surface with 400 grit sandpaper, which will allow the product to adhere. If there is any spot along the tub where the product doesn't adhere correctly, h2o could get into the seal and result in peeling over time.

  • After all of your sanding downward, give the tub a super thorough wipe downward to remove any dust, which would prevent proper adhesion.

  • You can use a brush or roller for application. We tried both and prefer a castor because the angles of a tub'south interior make using a roller unwieldy. If y'all are using a roller though, make sure it's low-nap and free of lint or fuzzies that are bound to admittedly ruin your application. Roll the roller effectually on painters record until y'all no longer see fuzzy stuff coming off. Then you're good to go. If using a brush, piece of work in strokes going entirely the same direction.

  • The product is pretty easy to work with and more or less acts like paint, but it volition bubble and look gross at first before settling into its new smooth end.

  • We did three coats and recommend you programme to do the same, though assess equally yous become; you may just demand two. After the second coat look carefully with a flashlight to see if you can spot any imperfections or spots where the blanket is sparse. If necessary, follow up with a third coat.

  • After your terminal glaze, your tub needs 24 hours to dry before you can handle the enamel surface, and 72 hours to fully cure before information technology can come in contact with water (So no premature bubble baths! Promise information technology'south worth the wait.)

clawfoot tub refurbishing

PRIME & PAINT THE Exterior

Once yous've stripped and cleaned the exterior and refinished the interior, it's time to prime number and pigment the exterior! The fun part! We chose to practice this afterward refinishing the interior, but this pace could technically exist done beforehand in one case you've stripped the previous pigment job. Prime the tub and legs with a rust-preventing metallic primer, and then paint with an exterior paint or an enamel paint. You can use a roller, castor, or pigment sprayer. The sprayer will give you the most professional finish, only we used a roller and are very happy with the consequence. If you lot removed the legs in the previous step, put them back in place once your paint has dried. For any legs that seem wonky, give them added security by applying JB Weld Marine Welder where the legs come across the tub, then follow up with another coat of primer and paint in this surface area.

clawfoot tub refurbishing

clawfoot tub refurbishing

clawfoot tub refurbishing

And now you have a new pretty tub prepare to be installed!

Troubleshooting Questions

  • My tub has pre-drilled holes from previous plumbing but the plumbing fixture I want doesn't match upwards with them!!

    • A swing arm coupler volition do the trick! These allow yous to match new fixtures to previously drilled plumbing holes if they don't line upwardly. If you desire to get with a freestanding tub faucet like we did, the coupler is unnecessary, just run across the next question!

  • My tub has pre-drilled holes from previous plumbing, just I desire a freestanding faucet, damn it!! What do I do virtually the holes in the side?

    • Woah arctic babe, we got you lot! You lot can merely purchase a freestanding faucet (nosotros have ours linked below), and then utilise these fiddling pigsty covers to cover the holes! It'south a funky piffling look that isn't for everybody, but nosotros like funky :) The hole covers themselves aren't water-tight, so you'll want to put a sealant lining the interior of the cover as well for added leak-security. The back of the hole covers (which will be visible on the exterior of the tub) can be painted to lucifer the exterior and blend right in. Look closely at the prototype above to meet them.

  • Tin I place a tub anywhere in my home? You guys put it on hardwood floor on the second floor and aren't you scared it's gonna like fall directly through and then you die?

    • This is a question for a plumber, contractor, or architect, but in full general: anywhere y'all want to put it in your abode will likely exist fine, so don't cross anything off the listing prematurely. Nosotros have super thick cantankerous beams beneath our floor which tin handle the weight with ease, only ever make certain you cheque with a pro.

clawfoot tub refurbishing