How I Moved & Refinished This Clawfoot Tub (And Lived To Tell The Tale)
有两组人when it comes to cast iron tubs: those who believe in their preservation, and those who believe in the almighty sledgehammer. If you’re the latter, this post is not for you. For those of you who believe in preservation and love a good soak in a nice, deep tub, we think that tub should look its best. Here’s how we took ours from an eyesore to eye candy.
If you missed the eariler posts in this renovation series, first read:
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Our lovely tub was kind of worried about its trip down the stairs — as were we! Had our staircase been a few inches wider and a straight shot down, my muscly man-helpers would have been able to take it down with ease. Since we had those hurdles ahead of us we did some research to see just how people went about carrying a beast of a tub down a narrow flight of stairs. Our findings were a bit overwhelming in all directions: one person made a pulley system, one person made a slide of sorts, and many suggested it just wasn’t worth the effort. But it was to us, so at the end of the day we decided to muscle through it and get it done the ‘ol fashioned way: with sheer will and stubborn strength.
What You Need
Materials
- Rust-Oleum Gray Auto Body Low VOC Primer fromHome Depot
- Rust-Oleum Black Gloss Protective Enamel Paint fromHome Depot
Tools
- Painters tape
- Paintbrush and roller
- Sanding blocks
Instructions
Our tub had many battle wounds and looked to have been painted many, many times. Because we didn’t know if we were dealing with lead paint under one of those layers we decided not to scrape it down ourselves and took the tub to a local company to have it sandblasted. It came back in the condition below —which we were very happy with! The total sandblasting cost: $125.
Step 1:Start by taping off all areas of the tub you don’t want painted. We taped all around the edge where the paint would meet the porcelain, and around the holes on the end where the faucets would eventually be installed.
It isn’t really a huge deal if you get a bit of paint on the porcelain- it scrapes off with ease once it’s completely dried.
Step 2:We started by priming our tub withRust-Oleum Ultra Cover premium latex primerfromHome Depot. This specific paint is great for metal surfaces. Apply 2-3 coats, allowing each to dry completely before starting the next, being careful to smooth out any streaks or runs in the paint.
Step 3:For the topcoat we usedRust-Oleum Black Gloss Protective Enamel PaintfromHome Depotand ended up applying 3 coats. As you can see in the photo below, your tub won’t necessarily look brand new- you’ll still have a few bumps and ridges, but it will look a heck of a lot better than what you started with!
Step 4:For the legs we used Rust-Oleum 2x Ultra Cover spray paint. I wasn’t sure if brush strokes would show up, so we opted for the spray paint and were very happy with the results!
There is no photo of the tub going back up the stairs because I was hiding out in another room with a friend who was staring into my eyes, reassuring me that everything was going to be alright and no one would get hurt (including the tub!) on its journey back to the bathroom. To my delight and glee, the guys made it back up the stairs with the tub, completely unscathed, in less than 5 minutes.
Want to see what the tub looks like in its newly remodeled home?