Sanding a Ceramic Shower Base to apply Ekopel - Advice on Sanding Media Please

atacama40

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Feb 29, 2016
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Afternoon all,

I've been putting off doing this job but having watched a little Youtube, it seems not so complex as I thought.

Ekopel is a 2 pack resurfacing solution to recoat a marked or chipped bath or shower base. We have a decent quality ceramic shower base that is massive deep and would be horrible job to remove. This product looks promising and fairly low risk in a shower base.

But after cleaning, the ceramic needs sanding. I'm unsure what would be best to use to take a gloss finish off the existing white ceramic finish and could use some expert advice.

I have an ETC 150 and a Rotex 150 and can use either for the job.

For those not familiar with the product or it's application, here are a couple of Youtube videos, there are quite a few of these. In the second one, the guy is using a Rotex in fact, but they do not elaborate on the best type of grit / type of disk to use. I tend to use Mirka Abranet as a rule. It's what I first started with and to be honest never tried anything else so far. But then I've never sanded a shower base
:) ......

Many thanks in advance for your help
.....



 
looks like a contour pad and some fine grit to remove old paint. doesnt sound like you have any? in their video they said the owner already painted the tub with a different material
 
I hired a professional ($500.00) to re-finish my bathtub. It took him about 6 hours to do, with most of that time spent masking and building a tent and using a blower to blow in fresh air while he was spraying.

He did not sand. Instead he used acid solution to etch the surface. I assumed it was muriatic acid, but I never asked. You can probably find it online. Muriatic acid is going to be available locally.

He had goggles, and a face mask and the blower and long cuff rubber gloves. I think you have to be careful with that stuff.

But he also used the blower when he sprayed the finish.

In any case, I recommend an acid etch over sanding. (Actually, I recommend hiring a pro. Mine was done about 18 months ago so you can probably still find someone to do the job in the $500.00 range.)
 
looks like a contour pad and some fine grit to remove old paint. doesnt sound like you have any? in their video they said the owner already painted the tub with a different material

Yeah I think the nature of these products can be very variable ..... from the rubbish to the near decent. Hopefully the one we have is at the decent end of the spectrum.

I think they suggest 120 grit but wondered if there is a Festool product (or any other come to that) that's more suitable for finished ceramic than others?
 
I hired a professional ($500.00) to re-finish my bathtub. It took him about 6 hours to do, with most of that time spent masking and building a tent and using a blower to blow in fresh air while he was spraying.

He did not sand. Instead he used acid solution to etch the surface. I assumed it was muriatic acid, but I never asked. You can probably find it online. Muriatic acid is going to be available locally.

He had goggles, and a face mask and the blower and long cuff rubber gloves. I think you have to be careful with that stuff.

But he also used the blower when he sprayed the finish.

In any case, I recommend an acid etch over sanding. (Actually, I recommend hiring a pro. Mine was done about 18 months ago so you can probably still find someone to do the job in the $500.00 range.)

Acid etch .... interesting. Will take a look at that Packard. Nice one.

I had the same concerns but I think the nature of our tray and space lends itself fairly well to the attempt. I'm realistic to the fact that it could need a fall back plan :) .... but hte Muriatic acid option is interesting and will read up on that one. Thanks for the steer.
 
Acid etch .... interesting. Will take a look at that Packard. Nice one.

I had the same concerns but I think the nature of our tray and space lends itself fairly well to the attempt. I'm realistic to the fact that it could need a fall back plan :) .... but hte Muriatic acid option is interesting and will read up on that one. Thanks for the steer.
According to Google, a special formulation, but readily available.

Home Depot, Lowes and Amazon all carry a version.

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And this search for more information:

 
if i watched the same video as you i don't think you have to acid etch or sand anything unless you have previous coatings or paint to remove. this 2k coating sticks to clean porcelain
 
Without doing something fairly aggressive to the finish, I’d be concerned about the residual soap film that’s always hard to remove.

The shower base is an extremely heavy and high quality one, I forget the make, and has been prone to marking and build up in the past .... mainly oil's in fact. Argan body and hair oil and similar. Mind you, soap, oil's it's not so easy to differentiate. But definitely the run off is not 100% perfect and there is a very tiny water gather that does encourage just the smallest pooling and marking. Over time it can build and I think you are right, it will need some attention cleaning wise. Actually rather a fitting run off issue, I think it's actually a deviation in the tray build itself ... in the manufacturing. it's was too heavy to be as a result of flex or installation.

I have a hydrochloric acid that's purpose is more lime build (and is excellent for that purpose) ... will try that first anyway. Certainly it's nowhere near the surface build up shown mid way through the video that Packard kindly sent .... the surface scrape off in that one makes you shudder. But better to know about it. That particular example looks more like a fiberglass unit. Not 100%, I had watch with sound down due to her highness watching a documentary on TV :) .... but will be watching again.

The kit does come with some fairly basic sheets of aluminium oxide 120 grit hand sand sheet. But there is such a range of abrasives of Festool (or any other units come to that) that I thought I'd ask first. In fact it's a post question I want to make shortly. But a deep clean is 100% to be done for sure.
 
if i watched the same video as you i don't think you have to acid etch or sand anything unless you have previous coatings or paint to remove. this 2k coating sticks to clean porcelain

No, no previous coatings but certainly requiring a strong cleaning for the reasons Cheese outlines. I have some hydrochloric and will order one of the products Packard suggests. We don't have the ones suggested over here but can source stuff that's chemical very close.

The kit comes with some hand sand 120 so they are indicating some degree of keying in I think. Instinct tells me some mild and consistent keying prep would be of benefit. But certainly we have none of those grim surface removal issues shown in the video .... I don't think I'd ever take a bath ever again if I saw something like that :)
 
When I remodeled my bath, the old cast iron tub (circa 1953) was baby blue in color.

My choices were:

Replace with an acrylic molded tub.
Replace with a steel porcelain tub.
Replace with a cast iron tub.
Refinish the existing cast iron tub.

The main hit on refinishing was durability. Porcelain is more durable.
The finish on the acrylic tub was essentially the same as the acrylic finish that was applied to the existing tub. No durability issues.
I am told that the existing cast iron tub was very heavy and having it removed and disposed of was an issue.
Steel tubs do not retain heat as well as the cast iron tub, and they tend to flex.

So, in all, refinishing seemed to make the most sense.

As for shower pans, mine is terrazzo. I have never seen one before. It seems fine.

I don’t know why so few cast iron shower pans are used in the USA, they seem popular elsewhere. They would seem to be less susceptible to leaks than fabricated tile shower bases.

In the 1960s I checked into a turn of the century high rise hotel in Montreal Canada. The bathroom was tiled floor to ceiling (including the ceiling). There was a garden hose spigot under the pedestal sink. There was a drain in the middle of the room. So the housekeeping staff could come in with a garden hose and hose down the walls and floor. It seemed like an efficient way to clean. They would have to squeegee the walls, but still, efficient.
 
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