Conference 7.286::home_work

       
    I had a bathtub refinished. Came out awsome..
    
    
    /bd

    Denise,... why not DIY?  I did our fridge, which was an ugly pea green
    and a dishwasher, which was dark brown.  Spray painted them both to
    white using RUSTOLEUM W/ EPOXY spray paint.
    
    The cans were ~$4.00 per, and I probably used 4 cans.  I think I read
    some recomendations in here, as a matter of fact.
    
    Some tips I remember:
    
    	o clean surfaces very well
    
    	o clean again
    
    	o I used steel wool to smooth/clean things up
    
    	o spray in even strokes
    
    	o keep same distance throughout each stroke
    
    	o start spraying BEFORE appliance and continue until AFTER
    	  appliance.
    
    
    You'll probalby be able to find more/better tips in this notefile.
    Check out the directory.
    
    Good luck
    	-John

    RE: .1  Who did you use to have your bathbub refinished?
            I believe the same companies do appliances.
            Would you mind telling me how much they charged
            you?  How long ago did you have it done, and
            has it lasted?   You can contact me off line
            if you would prefer.
    
    RE: .2  I'm really nervous to have this done, I couldn't
            even think of doing it myself.  The frig we have was 
            very expensive and only 2 years old, plus it's
            huge.  I would hate to mess up on something 
            so expensive.  Maybe if we have had it for awhile,
            I might take a chance, but not this.
    
    Thanks for the replys back.  
    
    Denise

    If you can move the appliance, any auto body shop (MAACO even?) can
    paint it.  
    
    How about candy apple red with 40 coats of clear lacquer?  Tu tone?
    
    Maybe a padded vinyl top?   (just kidding, but I HAVE seen auto body
    places paint appliances)
    
    Carl

�    How about candy apple red with 40 coats of clear lacquer?  Tu tone?

On a sporty car, it's not "candy apple red", it's "arrest-me red" :-)

								-- Chuck Newman

    A few years ago we had our almond colored fridge painted white.
    The cost was $100 plus $18 to pick up and deliver. 
    
    We have the textured finish and they did a good job painting it.
    
    $118 is a whole lot cheaper than buying new.
    
    Jodi-

    I wuz thinkin' of the industrial duty Metalflake paint jobs they used
    to put on Kustom Kars, but AMR might look nice in the kitchen, too.  
    How about that teal blue/green color for the dishwasher?
    
    Earl Schieb

    Check with your local vocational school.  I have seen the auto body
    shops at the schools paint them.
    
    Wayne

    We've had a bathtub, refrigerator, dishwasher panel and stove/oven
    repainted, all done professionally by people in our (NY) area
    who only do this for a living.
    
    The bathtub guy came in, set up a makeshift paint tent with plastic
    drop cloths, etc.  Spray painted 8 epoxy coats, covered 1950-ish
    robins-egg-blue with stark white, came out great.  Only problem was
    when my young daughter dropped a metal tool on it, it did chip.
    I bought a bottle of appliance touch-up paint at Home Depot, painted
    many coats in the chipped spot and looked fine.  The touch-up
    paint bottle resembles nail polish with the brush.
    
    The refrigerator and dishwasher panels came out great, covered 
    avocado green with almond.  Again, they set up a paint spray tent
    around the refrig, let it dry 24hrs and remove drop cloths.
    The dishwasher panel was in another home at the time so we dropped
    it off.
    
    The stove/oven however was not as successful.  Again, they did the
    spray tent and it covered the previous brown with a nice-looking
    almond.  But we had tenants in that house, who must have heated
    the cooking element very high with a pan, then removed the pan
    and placed it on the spray-painted top (between the elements)
    directly, took the paint right off.  Also, they obviously used
    one of the elements the most and the paint peeled back around 
    that element a certain amount. 
    
    Good luck!  I would do it again, not the stove.

    
    I have heard the same ... ok for a fridge - don't bother for
    stoves. Between the heat and chipping (hit it with a pot) it
    is not worth it.. When I called a place they said not to
    do it..
    
    

    With our stove/oven combo, we ordered a replacement stove-top
    from the factory in the color we wanted (white) and spray 
    painted the sides and kick panel ourselves with an epoxy paint. 
    No regrets. 
    
    Jodi-

    
    	We had a guy named Jim from A1 Refinishing (found in yellow pages)
    do out frig. We called a few places and they were all within 5-10
    dollars of each other. Our side by side cost us $140.00. What Jim did
    was to use an electromagnetic field to paint our frig. By magnetizing the 
    frig somehow he was able to paint the frig right where it was and the
    paint clung to it like magnets. He gauranteed it againt chipping. Did
    an excellent job. This was done this past December right in our
    kitchen.
    
    As an aside, the frig was negotiated in the sale of our house, rather
    we said the frig stays, and one day the guy we bought from came by to
    get some mail that had been delivered to his old address. When he
    walked in the kitchen and saw the frig he became visibly peturbed and
    asked if we had replaced his frig with a new one, don't foget we were
    adamant about keeping it in the sale. When we told him it was the same
    one he had for years just painted he couldn't get over it.

    I believe that was electro-STATIC painting.  You might want to be
    careful using this method on appliances with electronic displays.  My
    relatively new reefer has one of those status panels, and I would be
    reluctant to put the high voltage charge to the cabinet required for 
    this paint techique.  
    
    Carl

    
    	re: .13  That could very well be it. You get the picture.

re :  .12

     Hi Denise.  Hope all is well.

     We also had A1 (Jim Wilkinson) do our refridgerator.  It was almond and now it's white.  
     He came to our house, masked everything off and painted it (electro-static).
     It looks great and it cost about $140.  The only thing that's still almond
     is the door seal, but that was expected.

     The number is (he's in your area):

          1-800-446-6181
            603-641-9577 

We are thinking of having a tub re-glazed/re-finished (painted).   Any
recommendations for the Ayer/Littleton/Fitchburg area?  What price should we
expect to pay?  Thanks.

    The previous owners of my house had a pink tub reglazed with white,
    however a section on the bottom of the tub failed and now there's a
    rough spot right where one stands to take a shower. I wished they'd
    left the thing alone.  I tried to reglaze it with some potent stuff
    you get at the HW store that takes a week to cure. It lasted for
    a few months, and then it also failed.  So in my humble opinion,
    tubs should be put on the don't-do-it list along with stoves.
    

    Bathtube Genie TM charges about $400 to reglaze a tub.  I would
    think about getting new tub instead, unless you have an old claw-
    footer.

    

If your tub is surrounded by tiles set in mud, it's impractical to replace it.
This is another situation where refinishing makes sense.

The tub I'm looking to have re-glazed is in fact surrounded by tiles and set in
mud.  The tub itself is in fine working order and the tiles around it are fine. 
I would however like it reglazed and am thus still looking for local (Ayer area)
recommendations as to who could do this work.  Any pointers would be 
appreciated.  Thanks.

    I'm trying to decide to reglaze or replace my tub.  We'll be retiling
    our floor soon, and regrouting the walls.  
    
    The tub is 28 years old and is rough to the touch and is difficult to 
    clean.  
    
    The problem I see with reglazing for me is that we plan to stay in the
    house for a very long time!  (20+ years).  How many times will we have
    to pay to have this done?  every 10 years at best?  That's atleast 
    twice.  
    
    Also, could I do things like wash screens in the tub?  Sounds like I 
    shouldn't if it's reglazed.
    
    What would you do if you were looking at staying a LONG time?
    
    Thanks for any opinions.
    
    Lauren
    

RE: .16, .20

We had Porcelain Patch and Glaze convert our almond refrigerator to white.
They did it, in the kitchen, for $140.  Took about 5 minutes of painting
and 3.5 hours of masking and other prep work.  It looks great.  I know they
also do tubs.

    Porcelain Patch and Glaze
    140 Watertown St.
    Watertown, MA
    617.924.9100

We're in Framingham... not as far as Ayer from Watertown, but they might
come out.

Or, try searching the web!  Perhaps www.bigyellow.com, and specify
"refinishing".

By the way, I'm thinking about doing a tub too.  But I'm also thinking I'd
like to get one deeper than the usual ~14 inches.  I don't think the
refinishers can do that!

						Good luck!
						  Dan S.