Wherefore art thou Rustoleum? - Bathtub Refinishing

Oh Rustoleum, Rustoleum! Wherefore art thou Rustoleum?

No but seriously.  If Rustoleum was a person, we would be madly in love.  He's so dependable. He's so diverse. He's so reasonably priced.  I think about him when I'm doing laundry (using my chalkboard painted cabinets).  I think about him when I'm touching my oil-rubbed bronze painted hardware. I even think about him in the shower.

Errrm... weird enough for you yet?  Sorry.  Let's recap.

Last week I left you with the ugliest tub ever seen...
                                                                         

              

   

    . . . And this week, I will leave you with this image.

We ended up just buying a new tub.

JUST KIDDING!  This "new" tub made possible by my next-to main man, Rustoleum.

After finding my favorite brand with stellar reviews, I ordered Rustoleum Tub & Tile in white ($26 on Amazon).  I followed the surface prep directions to a T, which is the most important step in any project.  This included Comet, Lime-a-Way, 400 grit sandpaper, removing caulk, dusting, etc. - the prep took just over an hour.  Here is how to apply it, but the video leaves out a crucial piece of information - this stuff STINKS.  It smells like a very strong bug spray... it's weird, and not pleasant, and sticks to you.  And I am unsure if it actually protects you from bugs.

I was supposed to be volunteering at 10am, so I started this process at 6am (I was pretty motivated).  Plus, I was leaving town for a couple days later that afternoon, which I why I scheduled this project on this precise day... but I underestimated the amount of time it would take me.  I arrived to volunteer late, with paint on my tights, in my hair, covering my hands, and reeking of bug spray.  But I think everyone there is used to seeing me like that (although hopefully not smelling me like that).

I should also note that while I feared that my roller would be shedding into the paint, I had only my own head to blame, even though my hair was up.  I will wear a hair net next time... haha?

Anyways. The first coat:

Minor heart attack.  WHAT HAVE I DONE?!

The paint is almost like applying milk.  It's very thin and drippy.

The second coat, applied an hour after the first, was thicker and easier to apply:

Better, but we still are going to need a new tub.

Because of my time crunch, I just waited an hour and applied a third coat.  (If you were refinishing an already-white tub, 2 coats would probably be fine).  It didn't look that great, and I didn't get a picture, but here it is dry a couple days later.

Because I wanted to show you the rest of my bathroom items...

Wowza!  It took a little getting used to a white tub instead of yellow, but it definitely updates the small room and makes it feel a lot cleaner.  And footprints? What footprints??  It really is like a brand new whirlpool tub!

The total for this tub transformation came out to $65 ($31 for Bondo, $26 for Rustoleum kit, $4 for Lime-a-way, $4 for the rollers - we had everything else on hand).  For this small surface area of tub, I only needed one kit, and still had about 1/4 of it left over.  The paint didn't adhere to the Bondo very well at first, so I kept applying paint to those areas, and so far haven't had any issues.

It's been almost a month now, and my only complaint (other than my ongoing tendinitis and paint still in my hair) is that you can see my shed hair and dirt a LOT better against the white than the yellow.  So I guess I've just created a more frequent chore for myself Stephen (hence the liquid Comet, now a permanent fixture in our shower).

And so concludes the bravest project I have ever attempted.  Have you ever had a project you thought might not turn out?

Post by Emma