Well, it had to happen eventually. The worst DIY EVER! A DIY project that I describe as AWFUL and HORRENDOUS and A TOTAL NIGHTMARE! What did we do? We spray painted our standing tub. Yes, you read that right – we used spray paint on our tub! “I’ve never heard of that”, you’re probably thinking! Well, there is probably a reason – because it was the WORST! Read on, I’ll tell you all about it.
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So yes, we spray painted our tub. Our first floor bath was a total 80s nightmare when we moved in. I’m talking vinyl floors, rusted out yellow sink, rusted yellow toilet, wall paper, and to top it off – a yellow standing tub. If you’ve been around here awhile, you know we have put a lot of work into this little space!
Here’s what we STARTED with…
Since, we have removed the wallpaper, replaced the sink and the toilet, and even stenciled the floors (this was one my favorite DIY projects, so make sure you check that out). Here’s what we ended up with after all that.
Related: What You Need to Know About Stenciling Floors: The Mistakes I Made
After a fresh vanity, painted walls, and updated floors there was only one more thing to do – the tub. We looked into replacing it, but we figured it would be too expensive. Money that we don’t have to spend on our guest bath, to be honest. So, we did our research and came across a tub and tile paint. It looked like it would work! Then we discovered it came in spray paint, and we thought – perfect! The coverage will be smooth, no roll lines and no messy brushes to deal with. So we bought one box (which included 2 spray paint bottles) and drove home.
Prep Work
First, we had to remove the old hardware: faucets, drain, the works. I’m not going to talk through this, but James did it all and I was super impressed.
Here’s what we started with…
brace yourself…
NASTY. Here’s how it looks now (minus the yellow)!
Side note: I was outside with River and all of a sudden I hear what sounds like Niagra Falls coming from inside the house. Then I hear James yelling, “BROOKE COME HERE NOW!” I ran inside to see water SHOOTING out of the tub like a fire hydrant into the bathroom. I did my best to direct the shooting, hot water into the tub while James turned off the water. It was quite hilarious looking back. I guess James was just tampering with the faucet slightly to see how easy it was going to come off, and surprise: it came off pretty easily. Moral of the story, turn off your water first.
Anyway.
The prep work for any DIY project is usually the most important part, but also usually my least favorite. With a sigh, I got to work. First, to clean. I scrubbed every inch of the tub and walls with bleach and scour pad. This tub hadn’t been used much except to wash the dog, and we hadn’t cleaned it in awhile. It was nasty.
After cleaning it thoroughly and then allowing it dry, I used steel wool and sandpaper to scuff the surface. I guess the purpose of this is to allow the paint to adhere better to the tub surface. The box came with steel wool, but I found that the sandpaper was definitely better for removing rust and buildup. Either way, I kind of used a mixture of both. Then I cleaned the tub AGAIN with a special cleaning solution that came in the box. After drying, I repeated the sanding process, and then another clean with that special solution.
I’m not sure if you have done much sanding in your life, but it is a workout. Oh, and did I mention that I wore a mask and my glasses for both the sanding and cleaning? Yeah, definitely wear protection with dust and chemicals flying everywhere. Before I started cleaning, I had taped off the sides of the tub with black trash bags. And after only sanding and cleaning, the black bags were already gray with dust. Ew.
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Finally, I rubbed down the whole surface with rubbing alcohol and a rag, and allowed it to dry. I have to say, the shower already looked better with a few hours of elbow grease!
Like I mentioned, the next step is to make sure the hardware and the areas surrounding the tub are all taped off to protect the areas from paint. I used trash bags and painters tape. As we started painting, I realized the over-spray was going everywhere and I quickly ran to get more drop clothes for the new vanity, toilet and painted floors. More on that soon.
Time to Paint
After everything was covered (or so I thought). We shook up the cans, and started to spray. James started first. We could not believe how small the spray radius was. It was like the size of a golf ball. We groaned, this is going to take FOREVER. But we decided to commit. We thought it would be worth it.
As James was spraying, I realized that behind him the overspray was going EVERYWHERE! Cue all the extra drop cloths. Not to mention the SMELL was horrible. Like, so, sooo toxic smelling. I put on two masks. James and I switched spray painting because we honestly couldn’t handle the smell. Even though we had the bathroom door shut (we didn’t want the spray and smell escaping throughout the whole house) we could still smell it in the kitchen. Even River, our german shorthair pointer, was sneezing! We cracked windows on the opposite ends of the house to create a bit of airflow through the first floor, because we don’t have a window in the bathroom. When we got to the end of the second bottle, we were no where close to being done. This is what we had at the end of the first coat.
Like I said, HORRIBLE.
But after you start the painting process, you can’t stop. The coats dry really fast in between, like 10 minutes. But you can’t let them dry longer than 6 hours because I think it cures too much. The instructions said “DO NOT ATTEMPT ANOTHER COAT AFTER 6 HOURS”. It was 7pm on Sunday night. We were out of spray paint. I went to Home Depot and grabbed another 2 boxes and a special mask for odor. This was crucial and helped so much with the smell. My dad always taught me to buy more than enough. So I thought another 4 would be PLENTY.
Off we went home to continue painting. Not only was the smell horrible, but you guys, dusty white over spray was going EVERYWHERE!! It was like spray paining in a snow storm, you could hardly see! I didn’t take a picture for fear of getting sticky paint all over my phone or GoPro!
As we painted, the spray became really sticky on the floor, which stuck to my feet and then pulled up my trash bag which was covering my beautiful stenciled floors and trim.
Related: Removing Wallpaper: Using Items You Probably Have in Your Pantry
Can you see all the white paint dust on the black trash bags? Everything was so sticky, white, and foggy I couldn’t fix the trash bag. I tried covering it with with a drop cloth but it was already too late. Not to mention, the spray-fog was so thick, it was hard to see and fix the paint drips on the shower.
Also one area of the shower became quite bumpy?! Thankfully, this is only in one area behind the toilet, so it’s not super noticeable.
We finished the four bottles. And still, we had some spotty areas. Home Depot was closed. Our 6-hour window would be closed by tomorrow. We threw our hands in the air, washed the paint out of our hair, and crawled into bed. I still felt like I could smell the paint. I blew my nose, and out came white paint. Seriously. James and I were both coughing. We both could smell it in the room though, and that’s when we realized. We didn’t cover up the vents! The smell was going through the whole house! Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse.
The Finale
Okay, you’re probably wondering, after all that, HOW DID IT TURN OUT?
After removing the trash bags, the drop cloths and wiping down alllllll the surfaces (walls, doors, trim, everything). I had to use a dry scour pad and rough rag to elbow-grease the white over-spray off of the trim, the floors, and the toilet and the counter tops. Finally, I could really see what our finished product looked like.
Remember what we started with…
Here’s what we have now!
Well, I have to admit, the finished product looks better than what we started with. Anything was better than what we started with.
It’s still a bit spotty, and it could use another coat. But can we do another coat? I don’t know, apparently I need to call customer service; and from what I have read the manufactures say don’t do it.
I will still need to touch up the trim and areas of our stenciled floors which are now white. And we’ll need to figure out what to do with the spotty-ness of the paint.
For now, with the shower curtain and a strategically folded bath mat I think I can cover up our DIY fails.
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Here’s a few tips if you are thinking about spray painting your tub…..
DONT.
I don’t think I would do it again. But if I were, I would roll on the paint. They do have a paint that you brush or roll on, and I wonder if this would be better. Also, I would definitely prime the tub with a primer before painting it with the special tub and tile paint. This project might be better for a small sink or other very small tile project. And if you can, do it outside.
At least our worst DIY project ever made for a good story. And at least we can be a lesson to all you other DIY-ers out there. But I do love painting and I love DIY projects. This won’t stop me. Thankfully, I don’t think our next project could be worse than this spray painted tub.
*This post contains affiliate links. That means, I may receive a commission for some of the links in this post- at no cost to you. See our Disclaimer page for details*