A high demand for the tub refinishing industry has opened the doors for a slew of new and upcoming service providers. While some of these providers may be well qualified there are those who are trying their hand at this process with only the knowledge that is supplied with the instructions that come with the DIY kit from Home Depot.

The DIY kit instructions only require you to clean your tub or tile with Ajax, wet sand, tack the surface and then paint with a roller, brush or low pressure sprayer such as an HVLP. If you were to follow these instructions the time frame it would take to refinish a tub would be approximately 2-3 hours, the total overhead for the job would be roughly $50.00 and if the refinisher charged a minimum of $225.00 he would be making a profit of $175.00. If he did 2 jobs a day $350.00 would be a good profit margin for one day.

The truth is this, these products would be satisfactory if some additional preparation steps were taken, and these steps would include acid etching and priming. Many refinishers will skip these steps for the sake of getting the job done faster so they can move along to the next job. Priming the tub with a quality primer is probably one of the most critical components alongside etching for a successful finish which will last beyond 5 years. Many tub refinishing companies use polyurethane primer which is OK but they will probably shave off 1-2 years off the overall longevity of the finish. Epoxy adhesive primer is above all the best and will yield the best results. The only problem is that polyurethane and epoxy primers take at least 1 ½ to 2 hours to be tack dry before the finish can be applied. This waiting time for the 2 job a day refinisher will not do so a more user friendly primer is used such as B.I.N shellac based one component primer. This primer dries in about 45 minutes or less and allows the refinisher to speed things up. The problem here is that this primer is not suitable for wet conditions and in a very short period of time the finish peels.

A proper tub refinish job should take at least 6 hours; this does not include the tile surround. With the surround included you are looking at 1 day and a follow up on the next to remove paper and possibly do any caulking necessary. So, let’s put this in financial terms so you can get a reality check on what the truth is behind the cost and this is per tub only.

• Quality epoxy or polyurethane primer - $20.00
• Polyurethane finish - $20.0
• Etching solution - $8.00
• Body filler for any repairs and filling inconsistencies - $5.00
• Solvent for cleaning and degreasing - $10.00
• Paper and tape - $5.00
• Caulking - $2.00
• Plastic - $5.00
• Labor – 6 hours @ $50.00 per hour = $300

TOTAL = $375.00

These are the minimum of estimates and does not include if the tub has ever been refinished before which would require additional steps and cost more. So, the truth is you can expect to pay between $375 and $500 for a proper tub reglazing job. These estimates do not include traveling cost because we assume the owner/operator is eating this cost from his profit?

You can rest assure that if your provider is taking less than 3 hours to complete the task he is surely cutting corners and you will definitely be paying to have it refinished again at a greater expense than to begin within a very short period of time.

This is the truth…

If you need a quality job done call Southern California’s AB Ceramic Tile Regrout and Reglaze Systems.  We specialize in tub refinishing; tile refinishing, countertop and vanity refinishing, re-grouting and grout cleaning and sealing.  Call us today toll free 1-866-722-3301 or visit us on the web at  http://www.regroutpros.com/