Yes, and it is 1 of the most common things we are asked. Refinishing applies a completely new surface to the tub, so an older coloured bathtub, the greens, pinks, blues and beiges that were popular decades ago, can be refinished in white. The tub stays where it is, the plumbing is not touched, and the colour you have outgrown is replaced rather than painted over.
Why do so many older homes have coloured tubs?
For a long period coloured bathroom suites were the fashion, and plenty of Bermuda homes still have the originals. Many of these are good cast iron or steel tubs that have plenty of life left in them. The problem is the colour, which dates the whole room, and often the surface as well, which has dulled over the years.
Refinishing deals with both at once.
How does a colour change work?
The process is the same as any full reglaze. The room is masked and ventilated, the tub is cleaned and prepared, chips and rust are repaired, and a new finish is applied in even coats across the whole tub. Because the new finish covers the entire surface, the old colour does not show through. You can see each stage on our process page.
What about the tile around it?
This is the question worth thinking about before you book. If your coloured tub sits in a surround of matching coloured tile, a white tub on its own can look out of place. Tile can often be refinished at the same time, so the tub and surround end up as one clean look. Our tile refinishing page explains what that involves, and we will tell you what we recommend when we see your photos. Sometimes the tile is neutral and only the tub needs doing. Sometimes doing both together makes far more sense than doing one and living with a mismatch. Either way it is still a single project carried out in the room, without lifting a tile or taking anything out, which is a very different undertaking from stripping out a coloured suite and starting again.
Is white the only option?
Ask us. White is by far the most common request, because it suits almost any bathroom and makes a room feel brighter, but tell us what you have in mind when you send your photos.
Does a colour change carry the same warranty?
Yes. A full bathtub reglaze carries a 1 year written warranty whatever the starting colour.
Will a white tub show marks more than a coloured one?
A clean white surface shows dirt sooner than a dark or patterned one, which is true of any material. What it also does is show that it is clean, which is most of the reason people want it. A dated coloured suite tends to look unclean even straight after cleaning, because the colour reads as old rather than as dirty.
In practice a refinished white bath is easier to keep looking right than a worn coloured one.
The surface is smooth and sealed, so dirt sits on top and wipes off rather than settling into a worn, slightly porous finish. That is the actual difference people notice, more than the colour itself.
Can you match an existing white?
Usually close, and it is worth being realistic about it. Whites vary, and a basin, a toilet and a bath from three different decades are rarely the same white even when they all look white. Where the aim is a consistent bathroom, refinishing the pieces together gets a far better match than trying to match one existing item exactly. We will tell you honestly which of those two you are looking at when we see your photos.
Can you change the colour of just part of it?
Not sensibly, and it is worth explaining why. A new finish goes on across the whole fixture so that it is one even surface from end to end. Treating half a bath would leave a visible line exactly where you least want one, and the two halves would age differently from that day on.
The same logic applies across a room.
Where a bath, a basin and the tile around them are all the same dated colour, doing one and leaving the rest tends to draw the eye to what is left rather than away from it. That is the most common regret we hear from people who did it in stages.
Does the colour affect the price?
Not in the way people expect. The preparation is the same whatever colour is going on, and preparation is most of the work.
How do you get started?
Send two photos, one of the tub and one showing the tile around it, with a quote request. We will come back with a written price and an honest view on whether to include the tile. SimPro has refinished bathtubs in Bermuda since 2008. Read more on bathtub refinishing.
If you are weighing the colour up, photograph the room at two different times of day and send both. Bathroom light shifts more than people expect between morning and evening, and seeing the room in each is what makes the decision straightforward rather than a guess.
Common questions
Can a pink or green bathtub be made white?
Refinishing applies a completely new surface to the tub, so an older coloured bathtub, the greens, pinks, blues and beiges that were popular decades ago, can be refinished in white.
Should I refinish the tile as well as the tub?
Our tile refinishing page explains what that involves, and we will tell you what we recommend when we see your photos.
