After a day’s long work, you go for a relaxing shower. But after pouring the warm water on your bathroom when you go taking a bath in it, you realize your bathtub feels like sandpaper.
Will you feel good about it? No, right?
But this is very common when it comes to the resurfaced bathtub. Let’s dig deeper into knowing what causes this problem and how to solve it.
Why Your Bathtub Has Rough Surface?
The most common reason behind the rough bathtub surface is mostly due to the refinishing work of the bathtub of the house.
There will be a time when your existing bathtub will not be workable, and you will think about getting it replaced.
It is not necessary to replace the bathtub entirely, there are some other options available as well. You can choose to do refinishing work for your bathroom.
This bathtub refinishing job is also known as bathtub reglazing, resurfacing, and re-enameling. No matter what you name it, it is the process of smoothing or refreshing the surface of the bathtub to give it a new look.
Once this process is complete, your bathtub will look like newly purchased most of the time. However, if the refinishing job is not nicely done, then the outcome may disappoint you.
Why Pick Refinishing Over Replacing With A New Bathtub?
This is a valid question to ask, why refinish instead of doing the replacing your bathtub?
Well, there are several reasons behind it.
First of all, it would be a total wastage to throw away a perfectly usable bathtub rather than working on it to make it usable again.
That is why this refinishing work comes in. It can make your bathtub look just like before when you first purchased it.
Secondly, it costs very little amount of money compared to the entire replacement of the bathtub. If you have a budget constraint, then choosing the refinishing option is suitable for you.
Though, it is not easy to do the refinishing job. The needs to be done with utmost care. As the complications may arise later due to the lack of sincerity in the work process.
The surface of the bathtub may feel very rough despite looking new. So, to avoid further disappointment and to avoid extra cost, the refinishing job has to be impeccable.
How Refinishing Work Of Your Bathtub Make It Feel Like Sandpaper?
Refinishing work is the only way in which you can make your bathtub new without spending thousands of money. Still, the only risk factor is the job remaining incomplete or improper.
It requires an experienced professional to do the refinishing work without any fault. But not every individual is a professional in this regard.
If you are not lucky enough, you may end up hiring an unprofessional individual to do the job. The result will not be unexpected.
So, it is essential to keep your eyes on the products and the refinishing job process.
However, there could be several reasons behind the roughness of the bathtub surface of your bathroom. Now, let’s get to know how your bathtub surface may feel rough.
- Bubble In The Surface
If the workers are not careful enough, then there could be the presence of air between the layers of coatings. It may end up developing a solvent reaction with the former layer of coating.
There is no way out other than stripping off the former layer of coating from the previous refinishing job. But this process is crucial. If it is not perfectly accomplished, then there will be bubbles on the surface of your bathtub.
As a result of this, you will not get this smooth feeling on the surface of your bathtub.
- Textured Finish
It is the most found problem on the surface of bathtubs. When it happens, the surface of your bathtub feels not so smooth, pointy, uneven, and you will start having a sandpaper-like feel.
Whereas, you were supposed to be feeling smooth whenever your skin touch your bathtub.
Mostly, it happens when the dust and debris inside your bathroom get caught between the layers of the coating during the refinishing process.
- Fading Finish
The reason for fading finish has a very common reason. It will not feel smooth on the surface of the bathtub, on the other hand, it will also look very unappealing in your bathtub.
The fading of the refinishing job may occur when coating during the refinishing job is mixed very thinly. Or, there could be another reason for the incorrect mixture of materials during the coating.
Usually, it happens due to the work being finished in a hurry. The workers need proper curing time to get the job done. Also, the quality of the cleaner plays a vital role.
- Presence Of Sticky Residue In The Finish
You would feel this some time passes after refinishing the job. When you find the surface still feels sticky, then be sure that the coating did not cure perfectly.
You may wait for some time. If you still get that tacky or sticky feeling on the surface then it will mean that you need to respray the surface.
Be sure that it is not a very obvious occurrence in many households. It would only happen when an unprofessional will have an improper ratio of mixing the materials during the coating.
When you realize it is recommended that, not to touch the surface to make it worse.
How To Avoid Enamel Bath Rough Surface?
In different ways, you may get that uncomfortable rough feeling on your bathtub surface.
Now the question is, how can you get rid of those? It’s essential to know to solve this problem.
- Bubbling Problem
If the resurfacing job is done before for your tub, then you have to make sure that the refinishing worker is stripping the former coating before the new one.
Once the new coating is complete, give at least 24 hours of cure time and make sure there is no contact with water.
- Fading Problem
Choose professionals who have the needed knowledge of proper mixing of the coating materials.
Also, before hiring, make sure the worker will take care of the surface once the job is done and solve the problems later.
- Rough Texture Problem
Before the refinishing work, make sure the surface is dust or debris-free. So, proper cleaning of the surface is crucial in this regard.
- Sticky Feel Problem
After the cure time if the surface still feels tacky or sticky then call the refinishing technicians to solve the problem and meanwhile make sure no one touches the surface.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
When your bathtub is not very old, workable, and overall in a good condition then it would be better to do the refinishing job instead of replacing it.
The answer depends. When you get the work done with a professional refinish worker, then it could last up to 10-15 years. But there could be other factors involved in determining this time.
The average cost would be around $400-$750. It is much cheaper than the bathtub replacement.
Wrapping up
Who wouldn’t want to have a new bathtub in the bathroom to have a long relaxing shower?
When the bathtub feels like sandpaper, then that most desired relaxing time becomes a challenging thing to have.
As they say, prevention is better than cure, staying cautious during the refinishing job can lessen this problem to a great extent.
The problem of …feels like sandpaper…. Never addresses how to fix it after the job is complete.
I did everything according to directions and the tub look great but feels like sandpaper.
How do I fix it?….