Beginner’s Guide to Bathtub Refinishing: 9 Simple Steps

Bathtub refinishing gives your bathtub a facelift by painting a tough epoxy coating over the existing enamel, acrylic, or fiberglass tub surface. It’s not expensive compared to other options like replacing the tub, and it’s easy to do with a do-it-yourself kit instead of hiring a professional.

DIY bathtub refinishing kits include epoxy resin with hardener, etching powder, latex gloves, steel wool, brush, cleaning solution, cleaner or thinner, and safety goggles. The epoxy coating comes in white or a few other basic colors. The main steps for bathtub refinishing with a kit include cleaning, sanding, and coating the tub.

If your tub is functional but too cumbersome to move, an antique, or too valuable to replace, try to refinish and update it to cover deep stains, rust, cracks, or peels. Read on to learn how to refinish a bathtub on your own and when it’s best to call a professional to do it for you.

Cost to Refinish a Bathtub

The average cost of a do-it-yourself bathtub refinishing kit is $100 to $200, and hiring a professional for the project may cost between $330 to $630.

Refinishing a bathtub is significantly cheaper than replacing a tub. Bathtub replacement costs about $6,000, though costs can range as low as $1,565 or as high as $10,420.

Bathtub Reglazing vs. Refinishing

The terms bathtub reglazing and bathtub refinishing essentially mean the same thing: to refurbish the surface of a bathtub with a coating.

Technically, bathtub reglazing is a subset of the larger bathtub refinishing process. Bathtub reglazing refers to the application of the coating itself. Bathtub refinishing refers to the entire process, including repairing small cracks and holes, applying filler, sanding, glazing, and then buffing the bathtub.