Clawfoot tub refinishing - synthetic porcelain vs. thermo-glaze?

12 years ago

We are nearing completion on our gut rehab in Chicago, and need to make a decision about what process to use to refinish the interior of our 100-year old clawfoot bathtub. The widely used industry standard seems to be "synthetic porcelain", which as best as I can tell is paint, essentially. My research has shown that there is no way to actually "restore" porcelain, but there is one refinisher here in Chicago that uses a process called "thermo-glaze", which he purports to be as close to original porcelain as possible. If that is the case, then I think it is the way to go. Does anyone have any knowledge and or experience with this technique and how it compares to the standard synthetic porcelain? Here is the website of the thermo-glaze company and the description of the process:

http://www.aarcobaths.com/services

We have taken such care with this tub, and we don't want to "cheap out" now! We had the feet sandblasted and chrome-plated. You can see the beautiful results, and other pictures of the renovation, here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20595563@N06/6858500531/

Any and all advice/input will be greatly appreciated!

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Comments (4)

sevillanasol
8 years ago
I know this post is pretty old. But I am in the same situation right now and I was wondering if you went with aarco for reglazing your tub and what your experience was like. Has the finish held up? I too am worried about the reglazers that just "paint" the tub.
kimrisek
Original Author
8 years ago
Hi there. I ended up using Ugly Tub?, Inc. for my interior tub reglazing, uglytub.net. They did a really beautiful job. I take baths almost daily, and it has held up very nicely over the last three years. Honestly, it looks exactly the same as the day it was done. You can see the final result in my flickr photostream at the link in my original post. I didn't use the original faucet, and needed to retrofit the existing holes to fit the new overflow. They used bondo to fill in the old holes from the original faucet, and then glazed over it. It is seemless - you can not tell where the original faucet was. The technician also skimmed bondo over the side "lip" edge of the tub, which had quite a few nicks and dings in it from 100 years of use. With the glaze over it, it looks and feels brand new. I am extremely pleased with the end result. There is nothing quite like sinking into a deep, clawfoot tub. Good luck with your tub renovation!
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H Briz
last year
Hi, I know this is a really old thread but I am about to refinish my old tub and wanted to find out how the tub reglazing is still holding up? Would you be able to post pictures? And if it is still holding up, what material did they company use? I did another tub about 30 years ago that never looked great and didn't last so I am so nervous since the finish on the tub I want to reglaze is still pretty good and we just want to change the color.
HU-978745299
7 months ago
Hi, I spoke with Thermoglazing.com and they said the difference in the Thermoglaze process is the porcelain is HEAT applied making a strong bond to the original surface.