DIY repair of chipped acrylic bathtubs

In detail: DIY repair of chipped acrylic bathtubs from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

Recently, expensive and massive cast iron or rapidly cooling and noisy steel bathtubs have been replaced by light, modern models made of acrylic. They perfectly retain heat, boast a wide range of sizes, a variety of colors and shapes.

High-quality acrylic bathtubs are quite expensive, the service life of such products, according to the manufacturer's warranty, is at least 15 years. However, in the process of use, a crack or chip may appear on them, which spoil the appearance or even violate the tightness of the container for washing. In this article, we will show you how you can repair an acrylic bathtub with your own hands.

Acrylic is a high performance polymer material. It is durable, durable and lightweight. Bathtubs made of this material have low thermal conductivity and a beautiful glossy shine. Acrylic models are produced in rectangular, oval, round, angular shapes, the width of which is 70-170 cm, and the length is 120-190 cm. The operation of acrylic products requires compliance with special conditions, if ignored, it may be necessary to repair acrylic bathtubs:

Acrylic melts at a temperature of 150 degrees, so it is not allowed to pour boiling water into baths from this material in order to avoid deformation.

Important! As a result of improper use, scratches, cracks or chips appear on the surface of the walls and bottom of the acrylic bath. These defects, as a rule, only spoil the appearance of the product, but do not affect the functionality of the container for washing. To bring the bath to its original form, you can make repairs at home.

Video (click to play).

If, during operation, cracks, chips or scratches appear on the acrylic surface that spoil the appearance of the product, they must be urgently repaired. If left unattended, defects will grow, spread, and then lead to failure of the bath. To repair cracks, chips or scratches in the surface, you can use the following methods:

The fastest but most expensive way is to replace the bathroom. If the product's service life is coming to an end, it can be replaced; in this case, it is more expedient than repairing it.
In the case of profuse, neglected problems, you can contact companies that repair acrylic bathtubs professionally. Without experience, it is impractical to make a major reconstruction of the product, since it will do more harm than good.
The cheapest way to repair a crack, or how much, is to repair acrylic bathtubs with your own hands. In this case, you only need a special repair kit and a little time, and the termination can be done at home.

Note! If you are going to repair an acrylic bathtub with your own hands, you will need a polishing disc or a regular sponge, bath polishing paste, sandpaper (with grains 800-2000), a mixture for making liquid acrylic, alcohol, a drill, and a spatula. To repair a small crack or scratch, acrylic is not needed, repairs can only be done with polishing.

In the process of improper use of the acrylic bath, small chips or holes may appear. Chips are of 2 types: shallow and deep. Minor scratches are removed by careful polishing. You can repair deep chips with liquid acrylic. If a chip is formed, proceed according to the following instructions.

The acrylic surface around the chip is carefully processed with 800 grit sandpaper.

Important! If you plan to do the restoration of an acrylic bathtub with your own hands, when buying a repair kit, pay attention to the composition of acrylic. It must correspond to the material from which the container is made for washing, since different compositions have different properties, including thermal expansion.

If a heavy or sharp object falls into the acrylic bath during operation, a crack will appear on its surface. To stop the further spread of the defect, it is necessary to repair the coating immediately. This will require a repair kit for acrylic bathtubs and a drill. You must act according to the following instructions:

First of all, all stress on the bath is eliminated. Drain the water, release the container from heavy objects, cool.

Experienced craftsmen say that if you accurately select the color of liquid acrylic to match the bath, as well as carefully and thoroughly sand, after repair the crack will be invisible even in bright light. It is better to purchase a repair kit from the same manufacturer that makes this bath model, otherwise the repaired places will look like dirty spots.

Acrylic bathtubs have become frequent guests of modern bathrooms, because they are much lighter than cast iron, aesthetic, with various types of design. But over time, such products can be damaged, losing their previous neat appearance. How to repair an acrylic bathtub with your own hands and without involving the services of professional plumbers?

Image - DIY repair of chipped acrylic bathtubs

Mechanical, arising from careless use of hygiene items.

Chemical, under the influence of strong detergents that leave stains and other non-aesthetic marks.

These problems can be solved by replacing the damaged bathtub with a new one. Or repair an acrylic bathtub with your own hands, restoring the product at a reasonable price.

Before starting the "restoration" of the bath, it is important to determine the color of the product and the material from which it is made. A mismatch in tone can greatly affect the result of the work done, and you don't really want to redo one work twice!

During the restoration period, you will need the following set for the repair of acrylic bathtubs.

A pair of rubber gloves.
Polished disc or sponge.
Bath paste.
Emery sheet from 2000 grain to 800.
Liquid acrylic for deeper chipping.
Drill with a 0.5-1 mm drill.
Alcohol solution.
Soft, lint-free swab.

Professionals advise to expand the area of damage so that the adhesion of the old and new material does not differ visually, while the crack in depth and width must be increased by 2 mm.
The surface to be repaired must be degreased in advance with alcohol.
It is necessary to apply the mixture to the damaged area correctly, fresh acrylic should not rise above the old one and be deeper than it.
After the repair of the chips of acrylic bathtubs has been completed, it is important to cover the area with a film with tape and leave it to dry completely for 6-7 hours. It is advisable not to use the bathroom at this time.
After removing the protective film, treat the surface to be repaired with sandpaper, which is included in the repair kit for the repair of acrylic bathtubs.

If the damage is not deep, it is of a superficial nature, then it will be very easy and simple to repair the acrylic coating of the bathtub.

Emery paper of varying granularity is used to clean the damage, first large, at the end - fine.
After finishing sanding, it is required to treat the surface with acrylic bath polish.
In such cases, the repair of the plastic bathtub is completed, but if the scratch is deeper, then you will not be able to do without liquid acrylic.

Cracks on the acrylic bathtub appear due to the fall of a heavy object, wear or other force majeure.They must be removed immediately after detection, so as not to render the entire product unusable.

Cracks in an acrylic bathtub are repaired using epoxy putty. The actions are as follows:

First, sand the damaged side with coarse sandpaper.
Next, drill 1 mm holes on each side of the crack with a drill.
The "blank" is washed out with a soapy solution for the putty, with which the hole is closed after drying.

The applied composition is kept for about 12 hours, after which the area of the restoration is sanded.

How to repair an acrylic bathtub using repair tape?

The first part of the work, before the cleaned damaged surface dries, is performed similarly to the above method, but then a part of the repair tape is cut off, the length of which overlaps the crack by 1 cm on each side of the pothole. The protective film is removed and the sticky side adheres firmly to the crack.

It is important to remove all air bubbles inside the coating. Three hours for complete setting will be enough. It is forbidden to use the bath during this period, so that the liquid does not get under the tape and ruin the whole work.

How can you effectively put plumbing in order when chips and even holes have formed on the acrylic bathtub?

To fully restore the functionality of the device, you will need to perform

repair of chipped acrylic bathtubs in 2 stages.

The surface is cleaned with a coarse putty, the dried layer is sanded with sandpaper.
After the acrylic bath has been repaired, the entire surface of the product is polished. All corners are painted, the bath acquires a natural snow-white color, all cracks and falcons remain in the distant past.

When it comes to deep defects and serious holes, it is better to entrust the work to specialists so that the product will serve its owners for many years to come.

For those who are faced with a similar task for the first time, it will be useful to watch the video of the repair of acrylic bathtubs, where, using the example of one of the consumers, all the nuances and main technical tasks are described step by step.

How to repair an acrylic bathtub so that the layers of material do not come off after a while?

Such a defect is possible if the elementary rules for the installation and operation of the product are not followed, as well as an advanced stage of the manifestation of cracks can cause such troubles. When the edges of scratches or chips come off the bottom layer of fiberglass, you need to take a special glue and glue the base before starting the repair of the bath.

Instead of glue, you can use a fiberglass repair kit, which is sold at any store.

People say - the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing! May your bathtub be safe and sound at all times. To the question of how to repair an acrylic bathtub, you learned all the necessary answers thanks to the above detailed material.

Using the video during the repair of acrylic bathtubs, you can view in detail all the stages of preparation and the technical characteristics of the features of the plumbing restaurant.

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Affordable prices, good consumer properties, light weight and ease of installation explain the growing popularity of acrylic bathtubs in recent years.

Plastic products can be used actively and for a long time, subject to the precautions that you need to familiarize yourself with before purchasing.

If the trouble does happen, you should be aware of the possibility of restoring an acrylic bathtub, which is actually feasible at home.

There are several types of models made of polyacrylic materials, which differ in the characteristics of the top layer, its mechanical and chemical resistance.

A coating with a thickness of more than 5 mm is intended for use for a quarter of a century. Bathtubs with a thinner inner layer can last from 10 to 15 years without repair if handled with care.

The main thing is not to damage the polymers by mechanical action, processing with chemically active reagents. Hygienic care can be carried out with mild detergents without the use of strong oxidants.

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Wipe the surface gently with brushes or sponges that do not have hard lint. Do not place heavy objects near the bathroom, do not place metal containers in it.

It is not recommended to bathe domestic animals in acrylic bathtubs, because even the most affectionate and obedient animals do not always like water procedures, from fear they can scratch the surface with their claws.

Compliance with simple rules increases the chances of long-term safe use of the bath without repair. However, troubles do happen, as a result of which damage of varying degrees may appear:

rough areas and small scratches;
chips and slight scratches;
cracks;
through holes;
stratification of plastic.

At home, you can repair acrylic bathtubs, using the recommendations of experienced craftsmen, a set of unpretentious devices and tools.

With prolonged use, the washing surface sometimes loses its original shine, which is due to the appearance of multiple small scratches. In this case, the restoration of acrylic bathtubs is done by hand in a certain sequence using polishing agents.First, the area with small scratches should be rubbed with an emery cloth with the finest grains. The procedure must be done carefully, not too zealous, so as not to aggravate the damage to the surface.After leveling the scratches, apply a polish containing fine grains of abrasive action to the prepared area.Rubbing the product with felt will allow you to get an absolutely smooth surface, which you need to bring to full shine with a wax composition of a polishing nature. Both types of polishes are often on sale in one set, which allows you to qualitatively repair a scratched acrylic bathtub.After applying the wax, the surface is rubbed with a soft cloth, which is included in the kit with the treatment products. At the end of the repair, the bath is washed, rinsed and allowed to dry.You can independently restore the shine of a surface that does not have noticeable scratches only with wax polish, without using products with small abrasive particles.

Chips and large scratches are somewhat more difficult to repair; this will require liquid acrylic preparations. It makes sense to buy a repair kit right away, which includes:

composition for layer restoration;
an applicator that allows you to apply the product gently;
polishes for glossing the surface;
pieces of emery cloth with the required grain size;
napkins.

Before covering up a large scratch, it needs to be widened a little so that the paste to restore the polymer fits into the cavity. You will have to work with the assembly knife carefully, since the bath can burst from the effort.After that, wipe the gap with an emery piece, clean, degrease and apply a mass of liquid acrylic into the recess with an applicator.

Note! The repair tool should completely occupy the cavity, the procedure for the execution technique resembles filling the walls.

When the mass hardens, the polymerization process is completed, the area must be rubbed on top with a polish until shine appears. It is possible that the shade of the restored fragment of the bathroom will be slightly different; this can be noticed only with close examination and good lighting directed precisely at the place of the former defect.

Damage that leaks through is more difficult to repair, but you can also do it yourself.Such cracks should be glued in the same way as deep scratches. The difference is that not far from the damage on both sides, it is advisable to drill small holes, into which then also place liquid acrylic.Such holes will prevent further expansion of the gap and further strengthen the repair area. As a result, a tightening fastener is formed, the presence of which will increase the strength of the seam.It is much more difficult to repair an acrylic bathtub that has a hole in it. You can make a quality restoration only by removing the structure and turning it over with its back side. Such a prospect will please very few people, it will urge users to take good care of plumbing. Nevertheless, anything happens.To repair holes on the back, the area around them at a distance of at least 20 cm must be completely cleaned and degreased. Cleaning is carried out with sandpaper, the layer of oily dirt is removed with organic solvents or special detergents.Then a patch of fiberglass is applied to the area to be repaired, which is larger than the size of the hole. The linen is sold separately in building supplies stores or as a kit for repairing acrylic bathtubs.The reinforcing flap is fixed on the defect area with epoxy resin so that the hole is closed with an overlap. After gluing the fiberglass, you need to wait until the glue is completely dry, then return the bath to its original position. During this time, you need to turn on the exhaust ventilation in the bathroom.The rest of the repair steps are carried out from the inside of the washing container, which must be prepared in the same way as it is done when restoring ordinary cracks. The site is sanded with fine sandpaper, poured with liquid acrylic agent, wait for it to dry, polished with a wax mass until shine appears.

In fact, these bathtubs are as practical to use as cast iron or steel, do not be intimidated. And yet the troubles that can occur are worth knowing by sight. This will save you the time and money it takes to fix them. Traditionally, damage is divided into two groups:

Deep damage to the surface of the bath

Chemical "burns" are caused by improper care and use. Ugly marks on a snow-white surface can leave not only dyes and caustic substances, but also low-quality washing powders or bleaches, if you decide to soak your laundry in them right in the bathtub.

Mechanical damage is much more common. The most common defect can be minor scratches. But deep damage to the surface layer, cracks of various sizes and even through holes also occur. But even a hole of about 100x100 mm can be safely repaired by yourself, without having much experience in this type of repair. This is the main advantage of acrylic bathtubs, because it is much more difficult to restore enamel on metal cases, and it is almost impossible to imagine repairing a hole in a steel bathtub.

Before heading to the store, do a good job of researching the problem you are about to fix. For each case, you will need its own repair kit, why spend too much or run after the missing several times?

Special formulations for the restoration of the bath surface

The main thing is to know exactly how your bathtub is made. Most often there are two types on sale:

vacuum or injection molding,
extruded with a thin spray.

It's pretty simple to define. If the new product was protected by a special film, and on the edge cut the acrylic layer (it differs in color and density) reaches several millimeters, you have a bathtub made using vacuum technology. In this case, the repair will require liquid acrylic made from PMMA.

The extruded coating is not protected with a film, and on the cut it will be seen that the layer is very thin, up to one millimeter. With such baths, the repair kit is often sold together, if not, you need to buy a polyester resin cleaner. Give preference to quality products from trusted manufacturers. These will have high adhesion and the repair will go like clockwork. Otherwise, the acrylic applied to the repair site will peel off pretty soon.

By the way, for small scratches or subtle chips, you only need sandpaper and felt for polishing. You just need to mechanically wipe them and restore the gloss again.

For deeper scratches, it is enough to purchase

... In the case of a major repair of cracks in an acrylic bathtub, you will need:

suitable acrylic of the right shade,
a special degreaser for treating the damaged area.
sandpaper of different numbers.
acrylic hardener (without it, you cannot make repairs).
polishing paper for finishing the repair site or grinding wheel for an electric drill with a special paste.

Ideally, it is better to purchase a set of materials for repairs from the same manufacturer that made the bath itself. This will make it easier to get into the desired acrylic shade.

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Pay attention to your own safety. The polymer is often sold as a powder and dilution liquid. To protect your eyes and respiratory tract, use a respirator and plastic goggles. Hands will be protected by rubber gloves. Provide room ventilation.

Small defects in the surface layer appear as a result of careless use. For example, from a regularly falling shower head. It happens that unattractive cigarette stains remain inside the bathtub over time. Eliminating such troubles, as a rule, is not difficult:

1. Take a few numbers of sandpaper.
2. Start sanding the damaged area with the coarsest emery cloth, trying to level the surface.
3. Move to smaller numbers.
4. Having eliminated the defect, polish the place of repair with felt or a grinding wheel using grinding mastic.
5. Wash the bath and you can safely use it.

Bath restoration with special compounds

This method works for both shallow scratches and chemical damage to the bath. But a large, well-visible chip is eliminated differently, using acrylic:

1. The place is sanded as described above.
2. Then washed with soap and left to dry completely.
3. It is processed with a degreaser.
4. The acrylic diluted according to the instructions should be applied with a rubber spatula (usually included). Level the surface, eliminate the chip.
5. Make sure that the patch does not form a bump, it will be difficult to remove it.
6. After drying, polish the repaired area with felt or a polishing wheel with mastic.

Cracks are also mechanical damage, and the stronger the impact, the more significant the damage. At the same time, they have an unpleasant feature - to grow and let water pass. So if you notice even a small crack, it is best to stop using the bathroom until it is repaired. The load - more than one hundred kilograms of water, plus your weight, can lead to irreversible consequences. Repair will not take much time, but then the bathroom can be safely used for many years.

one.Using a drill and a thin drill, we expand the crack to one or two millimeters and deepen it to half a millimeter. Otherwise, even after the repair, she will do it herself, without our participation, under the influence of the load.
2. Grind the crack and the place around it with sandpaper, going from coarser to finest.
3. We treat the place of repair with soap, wash it off, let it dry.
4. Next, we repeat all the stages of chip repair:

degrease
dilute acrylic according to the instructions (usually 50 parts of acrylic and 1 part of hardener),
apply with a rubber spatula, observing the surface geometry. There should be no bump, but leave some stock of material for subsequent grinding, otherwise there will be a dent,
leave for about 6-12 hours to dry. You can cover the place with polyethylene, protecting it from dust and debris,
polish.

Serious scratch on the bottom of the acrylic bathtub

After you have managed to update the bath with acrylic, you can use it in a day. By the way, high-quality grinding at the first stage provides not only optimal adhesion of the surface of the renewed bathtub to the patch, but also avoids loss of whiteness at the place of repair.

Some experts recommend airbrushing the acrylic, citing that it makes the layer smoother. But for the sake of a one-time repair, it makes no sense to buy expensive equipment. With a rubber spatula, with a certain amount of effort, you can achieve not the worst effect.

Another point, if the bathtub is of poor quality or is installed incorrectly - with distortions and the formation of cracks, then acrylic peeling may begin around the crack. Then you need to buy a special glue, drill the exfoliated area, pour glue into the hole and fix it. Once dry, the repair can be carried out as usual by taking in the glue hole as well.

We have already said above, at home and on your own you can even close up a through hole in the bathroom 100x100 mm in size. How it was formed, we will leave it on the conscience of the owners, but it should be eliminated like this:

1. We buy enough acrylic.
2. We clean the place of repair with sandpaper, going from coarse to fine.
3. With my soap, removing fine dust, let it dry.
4. Degrease.
5. We dilute acrylic in the required amount - one layer will require about 50 milliliters. There is no need to do the surplus, they will have to be thrown away.
6. Close the hole with fiberglass and carefully, without haste, saturate with acrylic on both sides with a brush or spatula, going into intact areas.
7. Leave to dry for several hours, protect with cellophane.
8. Repeat the process of creating a patch at least two more times.
9. Be sure to let each layer dry well.
10. Grind the place of repair with a grinding wheel with mastic.

Of course, there is a risk that, doing this for the first time, you will not be able to achieve ideal coverage and the update will be noticeable. But it’s better than buying a new bathtub, especially if this one hasn’t been used for that long. Image - DIY repair of chipped acrylic bathtubs

Posted: April 25, 2012 | Updated: May 29, 2017 | Views: 41008 | _title> ”> Plumbing and heating

How to repair a crack, a chip in an acrylic bathtub, so that after the repair not a trace of restoration remains, and the bathtub takes on its original appearance.

If you have an acrylic bathtub of a European manufacturer and you have found a real liquid acrylic with the color number of your bathtub, because You have all the papers left from buying it - you are very lucky. Use the instructions (translation into Russian is not a problem) and eliminate the defects that have arisen. If you do everything correctly, then after the restoration you will not even find the place where you had a problem.

But what to do if you yourself do not know what kind of bath you have, what manufacturer and when it was produced, and it’s hard for you to remember the color (shade) number of liquid acrylic without knowing?

I will share my experience in this area, becauserepaired acrylic bathtubs, shower cabins, bath screens and acrylic liners (inserts) for more than a dozen.

To eliminate chips and cracks of European bathtubs (or acrylic bathtubs made from European sheets), I used German liquid acrylic from Roehm Gmbh.

Recently I have been using BYsan3000 liquid acrylic (as I wrote about earlier).

Instructions for use are also provided. In very rare cases, the color matches the color of the bath. Some are satisfied with an insignificant shade, especially if it is not in the most prominent place, and not everyone wants to pay extra for color selection.

In order to 100% match the color of the restored surface, it is best to use the material of the same surface. To do this, you need an acrylic thinner. You can purchase acrylic thinner BYsan 4000 or highly purified dichloroethane. Previously, dichloroethane was often used for bonding plexiglass (PMMA). But I do not advise you to buy dichloroethane, which is sold in radio stores, because it has a yellowish tint, and after using it, you get a yellow spot. Dichloroethane dissolves acrylates (ABS, PMMA) well and after evaporation these polymers become solid again. Be careful, dichloroethane vapors are harmful to health, try not to inhale its odors.

If your bathtub is made of acrylic sheet, then find the part of the surface that is not visible when the bathtub is installed. These are most often the outer sides of the bath, which are pushed against the wall, or are hidden from the eyes by objects in the bathroom. Take a drill with a diameter of 8-10 mm and drill the acrylic chips of the surface layer of the bath, being careful not to drill to the fiberglass. Drill at low speed. Prepare a container in which you will create the dissolved acrylic. It can be a cork, a cap or something small, preferably metal or glass. The main thing is that this container is clean and free of paint (dyes). By the way, dichloroethane does not dissolve polyethylene. It is advisable not to use very flat containers, because the solvent (dichloroethane) evaporates quite well.

Prepare a paintbrush for ease of application. It is very important that the hairs of the brush do not fall out and do not remain with you during restoration on the surface.

Pour solvent into a container and slowly add acrylic shavings, stirring all this with a stick (match) or other clean object. Add shavings until you achieve a sour cream consistency.

Apply the resulting mixture to the part to be restored in thin layers and leave a period of time between each layer so that the solvent can evaporate and the surface hardens. As you can imagine, the shrinkage will be significant after the solvent has evaporated. If you apply a large layer at once, then voids (bubbles) may form inside the layer, because the solvent evaporates from the surface. Please note in advance that the acrylic sheet (from which the bathtub is made) has some light transmittance and your solution does not have the same coverage as ordinary paint. If you apply a very thin layer, your crack (chip) or previous putty will probably be visible after drying and polishing. Therefore, before starting the restoration, make a small indentation (0.5 ... 1 mm) in the place of your restoration surface. If you have a through crack or chip on an acrylic surface, then it is better to putty it with liquid acrylic first, and reinforce the reverse part with fiberglass, if possible.

After you've applied the dissolved acrylic, it's best to wait a couple of days for the solvent to completely evaporate. A few hours after the restoration, the acrylic will already be hard and the bath can be used, but with polishing it is better to wait, because the hardness will only be superficial. If you applied a layer of 1 ... 3 mm, then after two days you can smooth out with polishing paper 1500 and 2500 and polish your bath.

If garbage and dyes have not got anywhere, then the end result should be perfect, there should not be a hint of former problems.

From experience I will tell you that there are acrylic bathtubs and trays that do not lend themselves to this method of restoration. I have seen Chinese bathtubs and trays made of sheet acrylic, when, when the acrylic shavings are dissolved, it becomes a greenish tint. These sanitary ware initially come with a bluish purple tint, i.e. they seem to be white, but if you apply a very white color to them, you can see the difference. I don’t know what kind of components the Chinese add, but there is some kind of reaction with the solvent. In order not to drill out shavings, try applying a couple of drops of solvent to an inconspicuous part of the bath and see if the surface layer underneath turns green or not ...

Video (click to play).

I would be glad if my advice would help you in the restoration of acrylic sanitary ware. Good luck.

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