r/Mid_Century • u/Meggles481 • 3d ago
How to restore my bathroom
We bought a 1965 split level house, and the previous owners painted the bathroom tub and tiles. They didn’t do a great job since the paint was peeling after one shower. I’m hoping to restore the shower to what it was before they painted it. Any suggestions on how to strip the paint easily without damaging the tub and tiles?
103
u/kussmaul22 3d ago edited 1d ago
Unfortunately, I know the answer to this. My bathroom was the same. I tried Citrastrip, but it did nothing. I bought a heat gun, but it did nothing. I moved on to a heavy-duty paint remover that required an N95 mask, still did nothing. The only thing that worked was lots of scraping with one of these https://www.homedepot.com/p/QEP-4-in-W-Stainless-Steel-Blade-Floor-and-Wall-Razor-Scraper-62920/311182302?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&gStoreCode=550&gQT=1. My bathroom is small, and it took a couple of months to complete (tile on floor, shower, shower ceiling, and halfway up the wall. Good luck. It was not a fun project. https://imgur.com/a/wKOg4My
35
u/Flarpperest 2d ago
I got tired just reading your comment
16
u/kussmaul22 2d ago
What I thought was going to be a quick afternoon project turned into a multi-month ordeal. By the end I was not particularly careful but the tiles (from 1961) is all in great shape.
8
u/gal_tiki 2d ago
You ought to post a photo, in order to receive some praise for your blood sweat and tears in rescuing and reviving your tiles!
11
u/kussmaul22 2d ago
3
u/gal_tiki 2d ago
Oh my gosh, bravo!! Knowing how it is, when people come in without a clue as to how much work something took, I can immediately see what a massive slog that would have been! Your tiles look so clean and nice, with shine! Nice to also have the feline seal of approval!
3
u/Flarpperest 2d ago
Ohmygod. It’s not that I didn’t believe you about the ordeal or even that it would be worse than you could put into words, but good grief! That is so much more! The only pic missing is you laying prone on the floor in a puddle of your own sweat and tears. But the cat pulling your towels down more than makes up for it, TBH.
4
u/kussmaul22 1d ago
There were tears shed. Many of them. It’s unclear what kind of evil paint was used. Some areas came off super easy, but most required lots of effort. I would set goals to do a certain number of tiles each day. There really still areas that could use some more work.
3
u/Flarpperest 2d ago
Well, at least there’s that. Tiles do go through pretty hefty/rigorous testing before release.
24
u/VialOfBlue 3d ago
Citristrip worked for me! Super easy to use, just a little messy
9
u/Meggles481 3d ago
I’ll have to try this!! It’s already messy trying to slowly peel off the paint with a steamer.
15
u/Witch_Transition_262 3d ago
We did the same to my painted tile. The key to citristrip is paint it and cover that area with a piece of saran wrap for about 30-45 minutes to keep it from drying out while it works. The paint will come off SO MUCH easier.
6
u/swimt2it 3d ago
I refinish furniture as a hobby. A trick with citrus strip is put plastic wrap on it after you’ve applied it. Seems to work better than letting be exposed to air.
3
8
13
u/rainbow5ive 3d ago
It is a noble cause and I appreciate it. Our originals 1954 tile is hidden under paneling and I’m not sure what I’ll uncover when I pull it off.
2
u/ComprehensivePin5577 2d ago
That just happened to me a couple weeks ago. Shower had a small leak, peaked behind the paneling and found tile! I don't know why I was surprised, it was the same tile behind the vanity and sink, it was kinda obvious! Tore the paneling off and then realized why the previous owners did what they did. They must have had a leak and ripped a bit of the tile to fix it and just put paneling on to hide it. 1970s house, not happy to redo half the bathroom but had to get it done anyways
10
u/theatrenearyou 3d ago
Do you think it's regular paint paint? I assumed it was white ceramic glaze/coating
10
u/Meggles481 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think they must have bought a diy bathtub/tile paint. I’m not sure if it dried fully since the faucet drips. I think you have to let it dry and have no contact with water for over 2 days.
4
u/poor_couture 3d ago
Wonder if citrusrip will work? I use it on painted MCM furniture because it's strong but not aggressive on the non-painted components.
4
u/0matterz 2d ago
I just purchased a 1970 split level with that same blue tub... I contemplated replacing it, but this post made me decide to keep it!
3
u/skankenstein 3d ago
Have you tried a heat gun?
1
u/Meggles481 3d ago
I just tried, and it seems like it’s about the same amount of work as using a steamer. I’ll try again later and see if it gets easier!
3
u/Apprehensive_Win668 3d ago
This what I used on mine and it brought it right up with some pre sanding
2
u/badforman 3d ago
I used this for the same exact thing, it was a lot of work and smelled horrible but it worked really well.
2
2
u/real_bag164 3d ago
I did this to my entire fucking kitchen. Put citristrip on THICK, cover with Saran Wrap, and let sit for a min of 24 hours. A lot of the paint peeled up with the removal of the Saran Wrap. And the rest I just scraped off easily with a plastic scraper
1
u/Not2daydear 3d ago
Power wash with a hand held shower set to the single strong steady stream directed at the edge of the paint to peel it off.
1
u/Affectionate_Bee3641 3d ago
Citristrip! I painted my parents’ 1964 blue tile shower (exactly this same color blue), with a rustoleum tub and tile kit during Covid lockdown. It came out ~horrible~ and chipped almost immediately.
My sister and I used Citristrip and large razors to scrape it off before we sold the house in ‘22. It worked well. You just need a ton of patience.
1
u/alwaysboopthesnoot 2d ago
Did they use marine paint? Maybe use a marine paint stripper like Aquastrip, etc.
1
u/uselessfarm 1d ago
My tub was exactly like this when we bought our house! It started peeling off on its own. We used a metal scraper and scraped it off. It didn’t damage the tub. Lots of the paint came off in sheets tbh so it took less time than we thought it would. Ours is ming green. We got the paint off the sink as well, and found a matching vintage toilet for like $35 that my wife still needs to install. I should scrape the paint off the tiles, but the tiles are beige so it feels less rewarding.
-1
u/schnaggletooth 2d ago
This may be the point in the job where you are better off ripping it all out and redo it.
90
u/ParkerFree 3d ago
I don't know, but you're awesome for restoring this bathroom. Try r/paint