Bath Fitters

dss62467

dss62467

Cathlete
I wqas just cleaning my tub and getting very irritated over how I can't get rid of the mildew. We replace the caulk every so often, but the mildew comes back almost immediately. Obviously, it's in the wall and there's nothing short of tearing it out to stop it. The tub is an old porcelain job and a major pain to clean too.

I was thinking about calling for a Bath Fitter estimate. Has anybody replaced their tub/shower with Bath Fitter? I'm wondering if it's really expensive. Like...more than $1,000? I'd just want the over-the-old deal.
 
I had to google it to know what you're talking about. I'd never heard of them before. Very interesting. I'd love to do that to our upstairs shower. We are having recurring leaking problems with it. x(
 
I don't know anything about bath fitters, but I do have a cheaper solution. If what you currently have is in decent condition - clean the heck out of it - bleach,etc - then use the after shower spray stuff they sell at the store. Arm & Hammer makes some and so do the scrubbing bubbles people, too. I had the same prob, cleaned the heck out of it, recaulked, and started using the shower spray after every bath and shower, and no more probs!!! And we live in an older house with no bathroom fan, so I sometimes stays damp in there, especially if we leave the door closed for extended periods. The spray also makes it easier to do the weekly bathroom clean - nothing really to scrub, everything just wipes right off. But if your porcelain is old and worn out - ou might just need to replace. I've also seen on TV where the can sand and reglaze a bath tub, but obviously that won't fix a mildew prob. A shower surround is not that hard to install if you're moderately handy. You just need to be able to cut, glue, and caulk. My hubby did one by himself, just the surround, no tub fit-over, and replaced part of a water damaged wall behind. Ran around $200 for all the parts at the hardware store, but that depends on the price of the surround. Took 2 days - mostly drying time - I'd say 5 or 6 hrs of actual work.

Nan
 
I've heard of Bath Fitter, and I was wondering the same thing myself (how much is it?). My bathtub is beyond scrubbing-it's old and really nasty. Actually, my whole bathroom is bad. I even took pictures and submitted them to Bad, Bad Bath (that program on HGTV). Unfortunately, I did not get a call:-( .
 
>I wqas just cleaning my tub and getting very irritated over
>how I can't get rid of the mildew. We replace the caulk
>every so often, but the mildew comes back almost immediately.
>Obviously, it's in the wall and there's nothing short of
>tearing it out to stop it. The tub is an old porcelain job
>and a major pain to clean too.
>
>I was thinking about calling for a Bath Fitter estimate. Has
>anybody replaced their tub/shower with Bath Fitter? I'm
>wondering if it's really expensive. Like...more than $1,000?
> I'd just want the over-the-old deal.


Hi Donna,
I used Bath Fitter. Our tub was still in good shape, so we had them do only the walls and ceiling surround because all of our old tiles were moldy and falling off. To do the walls and ceiling cost us $3,290, that is with a supposed $250 coupon. That included the following:

Towel Bar $54
Shelf $96
Wall covering $1,450
Ceiling Covering $269
Valve $528
Chrome handle $225
Wall returns??? $300
Wall repair $150
Wall prep $200
Fee to cut out hole for the window in our shower $239

As you can see, we paid A LOT of money for this -- which is why we were so surprised by some of the issues that came up.

1. The salesman told us that they would tear out our tile and drywall and replace with new green board before installation. Luckily we made him write that in on our contract before signing. When the installation person arrived they said that they would not do it. That they only put the surround on top of the existing tile. They were trying to refuse to do it even though it was clearly written on the contract. They had their manager come out to our house and try to strong arm my husband. They finally agreed to do what was in the contract.

2. When the installation man was outside on his cell phone he did not know that my husband was in ear's reach and was badmouthing him. We felt that it was very rude and disrespectful.

3. Some of the seaming needed re-caulking immediately.

Overall, we are happy with the final product. We only have one bathroom in our home and could not afford to have it out of commission for longer than the day. They were at our house working from approximately 9am to 9pm. I think that it normally goes quicker, but the first problem that I outlined above caused it to take longer than normal.

Monica
 
Holy wow! You can pretty much do a whole new bathroom for that (well, I could;)). That's horrendously expensive considering they didn't even do the tub!
 
I have one of those Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner deals. It keeps the shower and tub pretty clean, though I do have to scrub it occassionally. But it doesn't really help with the mildew.
 
Some products that might help:
QVC sells a caulk resurfacer (I don't know what it's called). It's like a paint in a magic marker that goes over the caulk, seals the surface, refreshes the color, and is mold resistant.

They also sell a recaulking kit that has some special tools in to remove old caulk and to make a foolproof line of new caulk.
 
We had a Bath Fitter type company come out and give us a quote to cover the shower and tub. The quote was around $3,000 for the job. We politely sent him on his way.

We took our $3,000 and gutted the bathroom ourselves, replaced EVERYTHING...I put up the tile, we replaced the potty, vanity, sink, lighting, faucets in the shower and in the sink (now those are expensive) and I even ripped up the floor and put down new tiles flooring.

We had money to spare...even after picking out the stuff we really liked! My point, the bathfitters are WAY over priced and I know people who wish they didn't do it because the surface wears away...even when they swear it won't.

Another option...the Tilex mold and mildew remover...you spray and leave it...but it has a strong odor.
 
I've used these mildew sprays. They don't work well on the caulk.

I'm very glad I asked about Bath Fitter. I think I won't have them come for an estimate.
 
Donna- I am glad that you asked about Bath Fitter! I have been considering having them come out and change out our shower/tub combo to a 'walk-in' shower area for my DH. He's disabled and has a really hard time stepping over the edge of the tub to get into the shower. I guess that I will keep on looking!
 
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