There’s a lot of confusion in the marketplace between traditional “refinishing” and the so called “eco” or “no-spray” refinishing. The later isn’t refinishing at all, but rather a “restoration”. Companies that solely offer tub restoration, tout their “lifetime warranty against peeling”. They can make this claim, because there is no new finish on the tub. Its a bit disingenuous in our opinion. Let’s be realistic and unbiased. And we can do this because we offer both services. There are good candidates for restoring, and there are bad candidates for restoring. Since restoration is basically a good, industrial cleaning of the tub, followed by the technician hand wiping a polymer sealant, a tub that is already in awful shape probably should just be refinished. On the other hand, a relatively new tub that is just dirty, but has the factory enamel still intact is a fantastic candidate for restoration, and we would encourage it because there’s no sense refinishing a tub that doesn’t really need it. There’s pros and cons to everything, and if a company tries to tell you different, they are probably lying. So to sum up the pros and cons of restoration:
Pros:
– No odor and only mild chemicals used (although our new water-based coating doesn’t have odor either)
– You can use the fixture immediately (although our 2-hour coating is nearly as fast)
– No peeling to worry about
– Generally more affordable than refinishing
Cons:
– Can’t change the color of the fixture
– Low shine, as opposed to a nice glossy new-looking shine with refinishing
– Any imperfections that can’t be removed will show through
– Owner must reapply polymer sealer every 3-6 months
– No
