Greetings!
Today we will restore a very old bath do it yourself in home conditions. She was found in a terrible state on the street. Thus, we will demonstrate to you that even such a trough can be turned into a work of art with little effort and a little imagination.
For this, we don’t need any special tools, except perhaps an airbrush, a pair of brushes and a spray of colorless heat-resistant varnish, and some other tools to a minimum. But still, everyone can do it at home.
First you need to evaluate the scale of the work, because the option is really not an easy one. It is not known how many years this bathtub stood on the street. In appearance - long enough. Looking at it, it is not difficult to guess that the bath was not used for its intended purpose - it seems that concrete was mixed in it, and maybe not concrete. In any case, we have some fossils on the surface of the bath.
Therefore, the first thing we have to remove all the large stones formed during these difficult (for the bath) for many years, the appearance of which is due to the use of "hard" water (concrete). But if, nevertheless, your bath is in a less neglected state, then you can safely skip this rough and rather hard stage.
In this case, one does not need to be afraid to damage the enamel. It is necessary by any means to repel all these adhered pieces of concrete or what was mixed in it. I had to use a hammer.
Bathtubs are mainly of 2 types: steel and cast iron. Of course, bathtubs are not made of anything now, but there are two basic materials. Comparing steel and cast-iron bathtubs, both the pros and cons of both were identified. Firstly, the steel bath is relatively light and heats up pretty quickly - this is certainly a plus. That’s probably all. On the downside, it can be attributed to the fact that it can be skewed, the manufacturing material is quite thin, so the steel tub rattles and tends to cool off pretty quickly. In cast iron, in my opinion, there is only one drawback - it is really unbearable. Such a bath has rather thick walls. She can keep the water poured into her warm for a long time. You can say about the cast-iron bath - a thing for centuries.
Next, it is necessary to clean the entire surface with available methods.Excellent for this purpose, a brush with metal bristles is suitable for us, which will remove all the slag from the surface of the future cosmos. Of course, all chips and deformations that remain after brushing must be puttied auto putty and sandpaper over the entire surface so that after applying the paint composition did not appear various artifacts (surface flaws). Unless of course in the end you want to get a perfectly smooth and even surface.
The next step is to wash all the dirt, and it is not enough on this instance. Instead of a brush, the same coarse emery paper and detergent were used, like for floors, but in general it is not so important for which surface this agent will be. The main condition is one - the product should foam abundantly. If you have a special bath cleaner, you can try using such a detergent. We clean all surfaces.
The next step was decided to attach the legs of the future bath. They will be made of a piece of reinforcement. It must be bent.
It is necessary to strip the enamel to metal at the welding spot, otherwise nothing will work. This can be done with a grinder with ordinary sandpaper, since hardness allows.
Next stage. Weld the legs. Keep in mind that from high temperature the enamel on the inside with a high degree of probability will crack and fall off. Therefore, we putty on the formed chips and cracks if such appeared.
Further, the most interesting thing, where to start if this is your home bath, and not from a street like this. Wipe the surface with any solvent. It is necessary to completely degrease the surface. For acetone, use acetone.
We cover the floor under the sides because the paint composition will drip a lot from them. We proceed to kneading this very composition for restoration.
This two-component composition is black. It consists of a mixture of epoxy resin and shungite (rock, found in black, dark gray and brown). His viscosity is designed in such a way that it would be possible to apply even on a vertical surface without any tools. It is also designed for use with hot water and does not stink terribly in curing chemistry, such as polyester epoxy.
We mix the base and hardener strictly according to the instructions. The base is quite viscous, so get ready to mix in the area of half an hour. You do not need to do this with a construction mixer, of course, you will speed up the mixing process significantly, but put a bunch of bubbles into the mixture. Stir carefully, you may have to spend a little more time, but the result is worth it. Do not hurry.
Fill should be from the sides trying to immediately close them without gaps. Smudges should immediately be leveled and smeared on the surface, otherwise a stratification will form and this will affect the final appearance of the bath.
Then we continue to cover the rest of the bath and cover the bottom of the bath so that the layer spreads evenly. Honestly, I doubted that I would be able to do everything right the first time, but viscosity should be given credit. It turned out great!
After 10 minutes, smudges and large irregularities are still visible. Within an hour and a half, the composition will drain and self-level. Let's wait.
The next day, the composition spread, but dents appeared. So again, if you want to achieve a perfect surface, putty and grind dents and chips before pouring.
In principle, the repair (in this example, full restoration) of the bath can be completed and in another day it can already be used (only not for mixing cement / concrete). Judging by the excess that has expired in the hole, the solidification of the coloring composition has not yet ended, so you can optionally roll along the bottom with a relief roller and get a good massage surface. But in our case, the drawing of the distant galaxy Kin-Dza-Dza will be worn. Although in the process of creative restoration, if you have children, you can cover the bathtub with white enamel and draw some cartoon characters so that the kinder does not stubbornly go to take water procedures.
In general, you can decorate the bath as you like.We applied nebulae with an airbrush, and the large stars themselves will be sprayed with the good old.
There were no brushes for this. Therefore, an ordinary brush is taken, the paint is diluted thinner, but not too much, and we begin to spray the "starry sky" on the "galactic" surface with an ashes-shaking movement. This will work especially well for smokers with experience, I think so.
After applying the paint, we will use a special wear-resistant varnish, which can be used to close the paint without fear that it will peel off, crack, or somehow change from hot water. Before use, read the instructions. Do not forget to arrange a spray for a good shake before applying the varnish.
Then you should apply a couple more layers of varnish, the benefit of one cylinder is more than enough to cover one bath, maybe even more than once.
Next, you need to paint the lower side, if it is not hidden by a screen or board with tiles. Black color.
First, we thoroughly primed the surface, and then we cover the base without varnish. I want a matte effect. Here it is - the Cosmos bathtub!
Thanks to all! See you soon!