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Repairing Crack In Fiberglass Bathtub

pirate_girl

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
FF Patron
Well, I fell in the shower a couple of days ago, came down with a bang.
This morning while taking a soak, I heard what sounded like leaking water running under the tub.
To my horror, I saw a crack at the back end of the tub, approx 2 " long and in the shape of a backwards question mark.
I bought a product called QuickSteel and applied it over the crack.
It said it's supposed to fix cracks on boats as well as a lot of other surfaces.
Do you think this will work?
If not, I'll have to replace the whole damned thing won't I?
The leaking also caused the linoleum to turn a slight blue underneath, in that corner of the bathroom.
Arrrrrrrrghh!!
 
What you did I don't know if it will work or not. Check your yellow pages. Most can be repaired.
 
I applied it an hour ago Steve, as soon as I got home.
It's completely dry now and has a really hard feel to it.
Hopefully this will work.
Doesn't look too attractive as it's a slate colour.
The guy at the hardware store suggested it, but I got the feeling he didn't really know what he was talking about for some reason.
Maybe I'll just have to stick to showering and not bathing so the tub never has to hold standing water.
Grrrrr
 
Just watch it so it don't continue to leak. In your yellow pages just look in Bathtub repair. A lot of small places/handyman guys can fix it for you fairly inexpensive.
 
thcri said:
Just watch it so it don't continue to leak. In your yellow pages just look in Bathtub repair. A lot of small places/handyman guys can fix it for you fairly inexpensive.
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Ok hun, I'll do that.
It's just so frustrating having to figure this stuff out on my own!:yum:

By the way, new furnace and stuff was installed yesterday.
When I found this freaking crack, I was thinking okkkkkkkk what next!!??? lol

Thanks for the advice.
 
You can purchase fiberglass repair kits. It takes a lot of elbow grease with sandpaper to remove the finish around the damaged area. It's messy and stinky because of the resin in the kit which you soak the fiberglass sheets, apply them to the area, roll out the airbubbles and wait for it to set up. You'll have to sand it smooth after it's cured and reapply a finish.
The resin stinks to high heaven, but the smell goes away after the cure, which is less than an hour. If you did the repair in the morning, you could do the sanding shortly before lunch and the refinish right after that.
Sounds like a job for your brother, doesn't it?:brows:
 
Trakternut said:
You can purchase fiberglass repair kits. It takes a lot of elbow grease with sandpaper to remove the finish around the damaged area. It's messy and stinky because of the resin in the kit which you soak the fiberglass sheets, apply them to the area, roll out the airbubbles and wait for it to set up. You'll have to sand it smooth after it's cured and reapply a finish.
The resin stinks to high heaven, but the smell goes away after the cure, which is less than an hour. If you did the repair in the morning, you could do the sanding shortly before lunch and the refinish right after that.
Sounds like a job for your brother, doesn't it?:brows:
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John was already here all day yesterday supervising the guys installing my new heating/ac unit. I doubt he'd be thrilled if he had to again come over and do something like this for me. :yum:
He's said to me before that I should go to some classes for single/widowed women and learn how to drive a nail in properly, the smartass.

I'll see how this thing goes, then if it doesn't work, I'll go to plan B.
 
Hope you were OK!

There is companies that make a replacement liner kit that will fit right in and make it look new.

Unless you have a lot of expertise with fiberglass, resins, and color you can make it stop leaking, but it will look like crap...

Is it a tub/shower or just a shower?

Here is a link to check out... http://www.nationaltubliner.com/
 
pirate_girl said:
Tub/shower Mark.
Thanks for the link!
Click to expand...

There is a number of companies that do that, you can google them and put your town in and it may give you someone really close.

The liners look ok too, just like a new tub with a lot less time involved in installing one verses a new tub and a lot cheaper.
 
fogtender said:
There is a number of companies that do that, you can google them and put your town in and it may give you someone really close.

The liners look ok too, just like a new tub with a lot less time involved in installing one verses a new tub and a lot cheaper.
Click to expand...
Cool beans!
Thanks again darling.
 
My sister had this done to her tub, looks good, included new shower fixtures. But the price was not reasonable, about 3K.
 
REDDOGTWO said:
My sister had this done to her tub, looks good, included new shower fixtures. But the price was not reasonable, about 3K.
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Was that for a whole new bathroom upgrade? A new tub is only a few hundred dollars at Lowes or Home Depot....

I bought a new jacuzze tub for about seven hundred with pump and heater... really nice too...
 
fogtender said:
Was that for a whole new bathroom upgrade? A new tub is only a few hundred dollars at Lowes or Home Depot....

I bought a new jacuzze tub for about seven hundred with pump and heater... really nice too...
Click to expand...

That was just for the tub and shower liner put on over the existing tile and tub with new faucets. I could not believe the price.

White does look a lot better than the 70's yellow.
 
PG ,
Let a pro fix it . Look in the yellow pages under Bathtub repair . They will match the color too . That way you will have a warranty too . Your damn lucky you were not injured .
 
If that stuff you put on was made to patch fiberglass boats I suspect it will work just fine for you PG. Might not be pretty but it will work.
When my daughters were teen agers and home from school one day, the younger one was showering and the older one turned on the hot water somewhere else in the house. In this particular house that caused the shower water to be very cold. So the daughter in the shower was yelling turn off the water. After a bit of yelling with no response she was getting madder and madder and she stomped her foot as she yelled. She must've stomped real hard cause she cracked the bottom of the frigging tub.
When I got home I was at a total loss as to what to do. I called hardware stores and they pretty much laughed at my situation. Nothing out there at that time for patching fiberglass tubs ....at least nothing that they knew of. Someone did come up with a fiberglass repair kit idea and that is the route I took. I had to patch a 3" x 3" area in the bottom of the tub. It worked like a charm and was actually stronger than original, but it was ugly. A bath mat took care of the ugly so, that worked for me.
As was suggested a pro would be able to patch and most likely match the color, or come close so it does not sitck out like a sore thumb. Good luck getting it fixed.
 
Using Fiberglass wont the best secure way be to apply in the bath and the underside too for a securer and more water tight finish??

Shame im all the way over here i could have changed that bath in no time...baths are cheap the labor costs are the killer(i would not charge).


As mentioned a pro would be best.
 
Changing one out in manufactured housing is a PITA. I have done 3 and it is a total wrestling natch with small doors. If you have 36 inch doors it is easy. The plumbing is easier than getting the dang thing in and out of the place. If you can repair it that is the route to go.
 
If it is in a manufactured home, it may not be fiberglass, but more likely PVC. The repair may work though.
 
Hell PG, if everyone is going to rake you over the coals to install or repair it, just go and get the Jacuzzi tub, that way you can bubble your way to feeling better about being zapped by the contractors....

Where in the tub is the crack at, the sides or the bottom?

"IF" on the bottom, you could get a large rubber mat of some color or design and place it on the tub's bottom with rubber glue on it, should be waterproof and look like it was suppose to be there....
 
muleman said:
Changing one out in manufactured housing is a PITA. I have done 3 and it is a total wrestling natch with small doors. If you have 36 inch doors it is easy. The plumbing is easier than getting the dang thing in and out of the place. If you can repair it that is the route to go.
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It seems to have worked MM! :smile:
I ran a tub of water, just enough to go over the patch and let it stay there all day while I was at work.
No sign of any more leaking.
 
fogtender said:
Where in the tub is the crack at, the sides or the bottom?

"IF" on the bottom, you could get a large rubber mat of some color or design and place it on the tub's bottom with rubber glue on it, should be waterproof and look like it was suppose to be there....
Click to expand...

I found a pic of a tub to illustrate.
It's sort of right where the bottom of the tub begins to slope up.
I suspect when I crashed, it cracked then. :doh:

Bathtub-install.jpg
 
pirate_girl said:
I found a pic of a tub to illustrate.
It's sort of right where the bottom of the tub begins to slope up.
I suspect when I crashed, it cracked then. :doh:
Click to expand...

PG, the problem will come when you get in the tub, and it flexes. A cheap repair probably will not hold up with the tub flexing.

As others have suggested, I would get it professionally repaired.

Bob
 
When I bought the two matching 2007 Jet Skis last year that were wrecked I got to 're-learn' about what happens if you don't wear good airtight goggles when sanding fiberglass. I laid down plenty of glass and mesh and the Skis have held up great for two summers now, but I sure had a case of extremely painful red eyes for a couple of days. Dang that hurt!

I glassed in some extra blocks and braces from the inside and jumping barge waves all year never even put a stress crack in any of the repairs. How the damage got there? The guy who bought them new in 2007 got all liquored up and didn't tie either down on the tandem trailer and lost both of them on the way home when they only had about 20 hours on them.

Anyway, as others have said, fixing fiberglass is pretty easy. If you haven't done it before it may save you some time to pay someone if you want it to look perfect. Otherwise, an "ugly" patch sometimes works just as well as one you can't see.
 
PG,

The quiksteel should work fine. Hopefully you made it relatively smooth as that stuff is a real bugger to sand.

It can be painted but if you're up for a slightly larger project to make it look better, consider getting some gelcoat. This is the product that goes on the finish side of most fiberglass applications and is what your tub most likely has now. You're not doing mesh or anything, just a finish coat with a pasty material. You color to suit when applying so the color goes throughout. If you take this route, read up on the finishing process so you can get the appropriate sanding/finishing tools (mainly sandpaper) while at the store.
 
bczoom said:
PG,

The quiksteel should work fine. Hopefully you made it relatively smooth as that stuff is a real bugger to sand.

It can be painted but if you're up for a slightly larger project to make it look better, consider getting some gelcoat. This is the product that goes on the finish side of most fiberglass applications and is what your tub most likely has now. You're not doing mesh or anything, just a finish coat with a pasty material. You color to suit when applying so the color goes throughout. If you take this route, read up on the finishing process so you can get the appropriate sanding/finishing tools (mainly sandpaper) while at the store.
Click to expand...
Thanks Brian!!!:smile:
 
pirate_girl said:
I found a pic of a tub to illustrate.
It's sort of right where the bottom of the tub begins to slope up.
I suspect when I crashed, it cracked then. :doh:

View attachment 39653
Click to expand...

That would be a hard place to do the patch if you aren't into glass work then, and it should be done on the outside to give it strength so it won't crack again, then a filler should be used inside with a gel coat of the same color.

I would either get a new tub, or get an insert for it.

Pretty cheap tub, or you really hit hard... which would be a good Ouchie...

Most of the repairs we have suggested are going to be mute since that is where the bottom is "Suspended" from the sides. So fixing it from the "Outside" (water side) is going to be mostly a waste of time.

Would take a good plumber guy about a day to change out the entire liner/tub and install a new one.

When I installed my tub, I put foam all under it as I set it, so the bottom isn't moving at all and when I use the jacuzzi part, the water stays warm from the insulation from the foam.

Can the tub be accessed from the other side of the wall? If so, a cut in the Sheetrock could be made to access that part of the tub and do a fiberglass repair there, sheet rock is much easier to fix than replacing the entire tub assembly.
 
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