[Greenbuilding] renewing a cast iron tub

[JOHN SALMEN]

Actually there is nothing wrong with an old pitted cast iron tub complete
with iron (or blood) stains - it holds water and if I have a bath I am going
to either try to read a book (without getting it wet) or stare out the
window. It is just not shiny and 'nice' looking.

To be honest I would prefer that aesthetic to a bunch of tiles added. The
old cast iron tub (unimproved) with some old cracked marble tiles, some
peeling plaster (or badly applied 'american clay'). Those roman mosaic tiles
might be a nice touch on a shower wall or by the mirror but don't glue them
in the tub. I think you can make a nice aesthetic out of old things. it is
what bathrooms look like after a generation goes through it - even better if
it has survived 5-7 generations.

Every finish is sacrificial. I've been on job sites where the 3k fibreglass
soaker tub was badly scratched during construction and voila the touch up
crew comes in with the gel coat touchup, some fine grit polish and buffer
and good as new.....probably get away with a few more similar polishes
before you are down to the fibreglass. It is the same deal with the
composite counter materials. They look pretty lame after 5-10 years but then
the washer dryer, dishwasher, stove, fridge has also packed it in. Basically
everything gets to looking as bad as the countries economies that were
ripped off to produce it as cheaply as it could be made...

We like things shiny. It wasn't that long ago that an acceptable wood floor
finish was sand spread over the floor and swept out. 

Powder coating a tub - sure why not. You have a 1/2 day tub removal and
delivery - 500-1000 powdercoat - another 1/2 day getting it in place. You
have created some local labour with local business and recycled something
from the past and made it acceptable to the present...and it is shiny and
new looking...

Will it last? Will it be durable? - what are we comparing it to - a stock
portfolio?





-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of RT
Sent: July-19-11 5:47 PM
To: Green Building
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] renewing a cast iron tub

On Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:17:00 -0400, Stephen Collette  
<stephen at yourhealthyhouse.ca> wrote:

> What kind of sharp objects do you bring with you into the tub?
>
> Hopefully none, so durability, is typically not as big a concern as with  
> a counter top.

> On 2011-07-19, at 3:00 PM,  
> greenbuilding-request at lists.bioenergylists.org wrote:
>
>> Anyone know much about the durability of powder coating for this
>> application?

As anyone who has had to surreptitiously dispose of a body knows, a  
bathtub is the workspace of choice so to answer Stephen's question re:  
"What kind of sharp objects ... ?" -- saws, cleavers, lopping shears etc.

Even if one is not in the habit of disposing of bodies,  tubs are subject  
to lots of things that can scratch, abrade, nick and chip otherwise  
smooth/polished surfaces, just in the course of daily use and cleaning up  
afterwards.
(ie You never know when you might need to hop into the tub in a hurry with  
a pair of cleated golf shoes on, with a very muddy  Weimaraner hound in  
tow (ie on a chain)and who just happens to have a fondness for spiked  
collars. Right ?

I'd venture that unless the power coating consists of a hard stone (ie  
granite) dust as the pigment and the coated tub is put into a kiln for  
firing afterwards to melt some sort of silicaceous glazing compound, then  
the durability of the finish will be that of the resin binder ... and I  
think that one just need to look at plast-echhh! tubs to see how well that  
works. (Not very, IMO).

I think that I'd be looking at using mosaic (ie small, so as to easily  
conform to the small radius curved surfaces of the tub) tiles (either  
glass or fully vitrified porcelain (and such-like) to provide a surface  
that would likely last for a long, long time and withstand all manner of  
abuse.

The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether or not an isolation  
membrane would be necessary and there's only one way to find out --  
experiment.




-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  C A >
(manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit REPLY)

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