How to close up enamel chips in the bathroom?

Changing a bath is a troublesome and costly affair. The landlord usually ventures on this if he decides to completely change the interior or the bath has developed its entire resource and has become completely unusable. But even with a new and good font, scratches, chips and dents may appear on the surface, which do not seem to interfere with life, but are quite annoying. It is best to get rid of them right away. How to close up enamel chips in the bathroom? Now you will know about it.

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What bathtubs are there?

The oldest baths were stone. And now, someone’s luxury apartment uses marble, porphyry, or something like that. The stone can be natural or artificial, but in any case it is quite an expensive pleasure.

Important! Designers also offer other materials - for example, in catalogs you can see exclusive models of glass or wood. It’s better to scratch the surface of such a luxurious bowl and not try to close it yourself. Only a master can cope with such delicate work.

Most Popular Materials

In ordinary apartments, bathtubs are made of much cheaper and more practical materials:

• cast iron;
• become;
• acrylic.

A little about each type:

• Cast-iron bowls usually last a very long time - even now in old houses you can see baths set half a century ago, or even more. The normative period is 25 years, but with proper care, the cast-iron font can last much longer.

Important! The main disadvantage of this material is fragility, chips and even holes can appear from a fall, for example, of a heavy object.

• Steel is a wonderful material. The surface of the bowl can also be painted, respectively - the question of how to fix the enamel chip in the bathroom remains relevant. The service life is even longer than that of cast iron.

Important! Through holes in such fonts are rare, but scratches periodically appear.

• The most modern are acrylic bowls. This material has a lot of advantages: it does not rust, is easy to clean, and does not lose its attractive appearance for a long time. But scratches on it are by no means a rare occurrence.

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Most frequent damage

Regardless of what material the bowl is made of, a defect may appear on it. Most often obtained:

• chips;
• Scratches
• splits;
• rust;
• holes.

Chipped and rust is characteristic of metal bathtubs. Sometimes there are scratches on the enamel. You should especially try to split a cast-iron or steel bowl or make a hole in it. But this still happens.

For acrylic models, scratches are the most dangerous. The deepest can split the cup.

Important! Rust on an acrylic surface is rare and only where it comes in contact with metal parts.

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How to prevent damage?

Thinking about how to remove chips in the bath, try to remember where it came from. This will help to avoid similar problems in the future. When using the bathroom, regardless of what material it is made of, simple rules should be followed:

1. Do not place heavy or sharp objects on the edges or in the bowl.
2. Avoid dropping heavy objects on the enamel.
3. Do not use abrasive pastes, although many still do. Detergent should be soft enough.
4. Do not use chlorine-containing bleach - for this it is better to have a special basin.
5. Do not attempt to clean the enamel with acids.
6. The cup must be closed during repair.

Important! The font itself should be thick enough and strong. But even if the walls and the bottom look reliable, you don’t need to jump in it, because even a small child can damage the coating. If you have to wash the dog - do not forget to lay something on the bottom. For example, a rubber mat.

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Enamel chip on the bathroom - what to fix?

Despite operating in a gentle mode, did a chip on the surface still appear? No problem. You can try to close it up. Just do not put the matter back in a long box, otherwise you will have to deal with other troubles:

• If a large chunk breaks, the metal may rust.
• Enamel chips on an acrylic surface are even more dangerous. If you don’t close it in time, a crack may go. In the end, the font will crack, and it will have to be changed.

You need to try to repair the defect.

Important! If you do everything right, the bathtub will look almost like new, and the patch can stand for several years. Make it completely invisible does not work, there are simply no such conditions at home. But to repair the surface so that the place of repair was visible only upon careful examination is quite possible.

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Repair Methods

So how to repair a chip on the bath with your own hands? There are several ways to deal with the problem:

• by installing a special liner;
• gluing a patch;
• painting with a special composition;
• by applying new enamel to damaged areas.

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Acrylic liner

The easiest (but not the cheapest) way to deal with the problem is to put an acrylic liner in the bowl. This option is especially good if the chip is large and it is difficult to make it invisible in other ways.

Important! In stores you will find inserts of all grades and types. Surely there is one that fits perfectly into your bath.

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China patch

To the question of how to eliminate enamel chips on the bathroom, a broken porcelain cup will help you. This is a very old method that was used back in the days when fonts with enamel just appeared.

Prepare:

• porcelain fragments of a suitable color;
• petrol;
• small skin;
• mortar with pestle;
• epoxy adhesive;
• putty knife;
• respirator and gloves.

Important! The fragments must be exactly the same color as the enamel, otherwise - the patch will be too noticeable. It is better to work with epoxy in a respirator and protective gloves.

Instructions on how to seal enamel chips in the bathroom this way:

1. Wipe the chipped place with gasoline to degrease it.
2. Thoroughly clean the place of the future patch with fine sandpaper.
3. Grind the fragments of porcelain and grind them, turning them into powder.
4. Apply epoxy adhesive to the cleaved area.
5. Apply a layer of powder.
6. Level the place with a spatula.
7. Wait two and a half hours.
8. Grind the surface.

Important! If you are dealing with an acrylic bowl, all surfaces that can be scratched with a skin must be covered.

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Repairing chips in the bath with dry whitewash

For the patch, you can choose other materials, for example, white paint. You will need:

• dry white
• glue BF-2;
• brush:
• wand;
• small capacity.

Option 1

The cleaved place, in this case, must be degreased and sanded, and then:

1. Pour glue into the container.
2. Add dry white.
3. Stir it all until the consistency of a thick paste.
4. Apply the paste to the cleaved place.
5. Wait for the patch to dry.

Option 2

In this case, they act in the same way as during the repair with porcelain powder:

1. Prepare a cleavage site.
2. Apply a thin uniform layer of glue BF-2.
3. Fill the cleaved area with dry white.
4. Level the layer with a spatula.
5. Let it dry.
6. If necessary, repeat the procedure.

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Other formulations

You can use different building mixtures to repair chip in the bathroom was effective.

Putty

Chipping enamel in the bathroom can also be done with putty.

Important! Choose the one that matches the surface color of your bath perfectly. It is best to choose an epoxy putty.

In this case, proceed as follows:

1. Prepare the bathtub for repair - remove rust spots, if any, wash it, degrease the place of cleavage.
2. Mix resin and hardener in a ratio of 30: 1.
3. Apply putty on the chip immediately as you mix.
4. Tamp the substance well.
5. Align the layer.
6. Allow substance to solidify completely (time is indicated in package instructions).

Special enamels

On sale you can also find special enamels for bathtubs. Using them is easy and convenient. The main difficulty is to choose a color that perfectly matches the color of the enamel. But if the bathtub is white, there will be no problem.

Important! The advantage of such enamels is that they are designed just for baths, that is, they can withstand high temperatures and water.

At the final stage, in this case, you can use abrasive paste. It will play the role of sandpaper, that is, it will polish the repair site.

Important! It is not at all necessary to buy all the funds separately - a special set for repairing enamel chipped chips can be much cheaper.

Useful Tips

Repairing small areas is a simple matter, but it must be done carefully. Little tricks will help you:

1. If you are not very sure that you can apply a patch evenly, make a stencil.
2. It is better to start using the bath four days after the repair - this will provide good grip.

Stencil patch

The stencil is best made from a dense plastic film:

1. Apply film to the chip.
2. Circle the chip with a ballpoint pen.
3. Cut the hole exactly along the stroke.
4. Re-apply the stencil.
5. Secure it with tape.
6. Close the hole in one of the described ways.
7. Carefully peel off the film.
8. Wait for it to dry.
9. Grind the surface.

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Crack repair

Small cracks (not more than 1 mm deep) are quite common, especially on acrylic surfaces. Therefore, take on board this instruction on how to repair a chipped enamel bathroom:

1. Strip a small area - approximately 0.5 cm from the crack in each direction.
2. Drill small holes at the ends of the crack with a depth of not more than 1 mm.
3. Rinse the cleaned area, degrease and dry.
4. Apply the compound (epoxy putty, enamel or porcelain paste) to the crack, closing and holes.
5. Align the layer and remove the excess.
6. Wait 12 hours.
7. Grind the surface.

Deep cracks

They will have to tinker with longer than with thin and shallow ones, but the principle of repair is the same. Among other things, you will also need construction tape.

We act as follows:

1. Sweep the surface around the crack.
2. Make holes at both ends, degrease the area and dry.
3. Seal the crack with construction tape - it should completely cover it.
4. Smooth the tape and remove the air bubbles.

In principle, the repair is completed, but you can cover the adhesive tape with a layer of putty or porcelain paste.

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Through holes

Alas, bath holes sometimes appear too. Do you always need to change the font? Not necessarily, sometimes you can do repairs.

You will need an electric drill, and not only with thin drills, but also with a thick one:

• Restricted holes with a diameter of 2-3 mm are drilled thin. They are needed so that the hole does not creep further.
• Thick drill - the crater with flat edges is attached to the hole itself.

Important! The repair site, as in previous cases, must be washed, wiped with gasoline and dried. By the way, the most useful thing for drying is a regular household hair dryer.

This hole is sealed with epoxy putty:

1. Mix the components according to the instructions.
2. Putty on the edges of the hole.
3. Make a layer of reinforcing mixture.
4. Apply another layer of putty.
5. Repeat the procedure until there is no trace of the hole.
6. Wait until the putty dries, and then sand the surface.
7. If the putty and the bath are of different colors, put enamel in place of the hole.

Important! Epoxy putty and reinforcing mixture can be bought together, they are included in the kit, designed for the repair of bathtubs.

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Point enameling

This fairly simple repair method is applied when there are slight scratches on the surface. You will need an “enamel restorer”. You can buy it at a plumbing store.

Important! These are universal compounds, in principle they are also suitable for repairing large damage. Such “restorers” can tidy up the surface not only of the bathroom, but of any other objects where there is enamel.

Mode of application:

1. The tool is applied with a brush to a non-fat dry clean surface.
2. It must be distributed in a very thin and even layer.
3. Then allow to dry and apply another layer.
4. For the final drying takes 24 hours.

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Stock footage

In this article, we told you about all the means and methods to eliminate enamel chips in the bathroom. You just have to choose the suitable option, based on the scale of the damage, your financial capabilities, repair skills and the amount of free time.