Shower pan - is there a paintable coating I can use to "renew" my old one?

[Johnny-Canuck]

I'm re-doing a small existing shower I have in an old house (approaching the century mark). I've taken it down to the studs and am now thinking about what I'm going to do for the shower pan. When I built the bathroom (tub and separate shower) originally over 30 years ago, I installed an off the shelf type molded fiberglass (?) shower pan. I've never had any problems with it in terms of its durability, its drain etc. so it's still totally functional and serviceable from my viewpoint, but obviously not particularly attractive after 30 years (see the picture - particularly dirty now because of the demolition).

As well, I'm also 30 years older now (approaching 70) so the thought of the extra work involved in reworking the drain to install a new pan is also not particularly attractive to me. The basement ceiling area under the shower is no longer exposed like it was when I did the work initially, so it means additional work and mess that at this stage in my life I'd prefer to avoid.

So my question is, can anyone suggest a good paintable coating that I could apply to my existing pan to simply freshen it up and "renew" it for another 5 to 10 years. (I expect that when I sell the house in that period of time, it will be purchased by someone that will buy it strictly for the property and tear the house down so I'm definitely not looking for the best (/ most expensive) solution since I'm not expecting any payback).

I'm simply trying to see if I might be able to find something that's waterproof, won't end up peeling off in a short period of time and can stand some degree of occasional scrubbing. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Jadnashua]

Most things that tend to be durable as a paint are not available to a typical consumer because at least during installation, they're toxic. You might contact places that deal with fiberglass boats and see if any of them might offer a suggestion. There are places that deal with recoating tubs, and could probably do the same thing to a shower pan. Most do not last all that long. It really depends on the exact state of the existing unit and the materials and skill of the application. SOme find they last a few years, and some can last longer.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jacobsond]

No off the shelf paint thats going to help you. It will just peal off. There are however guys that will refinish your base. I special process not made for DIY. We have a guy that does it for our apartments. Looks great after he is done.The process is fairly involved with the prepping and then a spray on finish. I think some kind of 2 part substance. Not to spendy when you consider the cost of tearing out a built in tub/shower. Typically we get about 10yrs or more out of the process and it can be done again.

 

[Johnny-Canuck]

No off the shelf paint thats going to help you. It will just peal off. There are however guys that will refinish your base. I special process not made for DIY. We have a guy that does it for our apartments. Looks great after he is done.The process is fairly involved with the prepping and then a spray on finish. I think some kind of 2 part substance. Not to spendy when you consider the cost of tearing out a built in tub/shower. Typically we get about 10yrs or more out of the process and it can be done again.

Thanks. I suspected there wouldn't be a reasonable "paint on" solution and that the kind of solution you've suggested is what I need to think about. I'm in Canada (Toronto) and can't think how I'd track down somebody like your "guy" to check out a price ... what I mean, is if I was looking in the "yellow pages" what type of business would I be looking for?

PS: I did a bit of googling and this will sound pretty off the wall, but it appears that some people have had good results with "oven cleaner" (the fume free variety to make the job a little more palatable) and some elbow grease. Have you ever heard of that? It's obviously not a cadillac solution but I'll probably at least give it a shot before I possibly opt for some kind of professional spray on coating like you've suggested.

 

[Smooky]

This product claims : Rust-Oleum 1-qt. White Tub and Tile Refinishing Kit is a two-part epoxy acrylic designed to rejuvenate ceramic and porcelain surfaces like tubs, sinks and showers in just minutes.
Apply to ceramic, porcelain or fiberglass tubs, sinks and tiles

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Ole...PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-202058574-_-202246270-_-N

 

[Jadnashua]

If you try this yourself, let us know the end results...those that have, generally have not had great results.