What do you think about tile refinishing?

Question

Some older homes with tile showers over time become functionally obsolescent.  I see 3 options to deal with this eyesore when flipping: 1) remove and replace, 2) clean the grout and tile, and 3) tile refinishing.

Has anyone had any experiences with tile refinishing?  Years ago it looked like a cheap coverup but I'm interested if the quality has improved.  Good bang for the buck?

Matt G. · Answer

I had some tile refinishing done in a master bath. It looks a lot better than what was there. It does get dirty pretty easily since I went with white, but it still looks a lot better. It has chipped in a couple of places but not super noticeable. The shower has not been used yet so I cannot speak for how it holds up with water.

Justin S. · Answer

@Mike Dmuchoski On lower end homes 150K.  Anything above that I would either do a new show insert or retile.  Just depends on the price point.

Mike Dmuchoski · Answer

Looks really nice, Matt G.   Couple of questions come to mind...

1.  How long before it started to chip and did you get a warranty (as ref'd in other posts) that covers it?

2.  What did you do with the floor?

3.  Why didn't you choose to reglaze the sink

Katie Neason · Answer

My experience with warranty is that it is void if you rent it and it is not transferable if you sell it.

Raven Parmer · Answer

Also, I lived in a rental with a reglazed tub, and there were strict rules on what I could do to it (no suction mats in the tub, specific cleaners, etc...) or the warranty would be void. We scratched it within a couple of weeks by using a baby tub in there. Oops. Now that I think about it, @Katie Neason is right about not using it on rentals.

Matt G. · Answer

The contractor team that I used has a one year warranty on all of the work they performed. The refinishing was only done a couple of months ago, so the couple of chips happened pretty fast.

The floor was done the same way. You can kind of see the floor below the shower on the photo I am attaching to this post. I do not have any better pictures of the floor. The floor does show dirt pretty easily and has a little stickiness to it.

I thought the sink was going to be redone as well, but they did not do it for some reason, but once I saw it I didn't think it looked all that bad and no one has made any negative comments towards it. Most people are fascinated with the revolving toothbrush holder right above the sink ha.

George P. · Answer

i hire a company that comes out and sprays the tiles and tub with special enamel. it's about $250 per tub and around 350 for the shower tiles.

they have 5 yr warranty and make it look like new. it's not FLAWLESS, but it's great and cheaper than a new bath.

used them about 5 times now.

Account Closed · Answer

I'm not laughing. I always pay attention to acceptable and affordable ways to use what's already there and "make it go".  Home improvements being so prevalent and people's tastes being so changeable, anything that works to get it sold and is durable for a few years is acceptable to me.  If certain finishes work at $200K and not at $500K, that's good to know too!

Mike Dmuchoski · Answer

Thanks for the replies and great advice!  Sounds like it works up to a certain price point but tread carefully.

What do you think about tile refinishing?

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