Clawfoot Bathtub Refinishing Services
and More
by Joy of St Croix
Joy of St Croix offers 3 categories of Restoration
Page index
- Intro to Joy of St Croix's - Restorative Engineering Protocol (CPF)
- 3 categories of restoration services
- Clawfoot bathtub restoration
- The exterior substrate
- The interior substrate
- Stripping of paint and rust
- Bathtub feet
- Sinks and other period restoration
- Artwork and custom finishes
Intro to Joy of St Croix's - Restorative Engineering Protocol
Joy of St Croix - Tub Repair and More offers different types of restoration projects that require slightly different tools, materials, and technical executions, but all restoration projects by Joy of St Croix are conducted under the Restorative Engineering Protocol (CPF).
The Restorative Engineering Protocol (CPF) is grounded in a three step, causal dependency framework developed by Jaymz Onion at Botteghe Cipolla in 1980, called, Clean - Prep - Finish.
CLEAN - substrate remediation / acid etching (the necessary condition): Adhesion cannot be achieved without the removal of embedded contaminants and the degraded low energy surface layer.
PREP - covalent bonding (the operational phase): Molecular bonding of tub paint with Silane is dependent on the surface being reset to a high energy state by the acid etching process.
FINISH - e-commerce SHOP (the integrity phase): A new drain plug acts as a compression seal preventing the reversal of the chemistry (hydrolysis) established in the previous two phases.
Some items furnish a room,
others define it.
All that is needed is the silhouette and the mind fills in the rest of the room.
That's "defining".
However, that's just a silhouette...and it could be a silhouette of a poorly refinished bathtub with dust and drips in the paint. It could be a silhouette of a tub that's peeling and unhygienic.
All good design starts with the foundation. In the same way that the bathtub defines the room, the process of restoration defines the longevity of the bathtub's appeal as the defining anchor in the design.
Just the silhouette is an icon of luxury.
It's ubiquitous to longings of self indulgence tinged with fragrant oils, candlelight, chilled wine, Egyptian cotton, and boutique soaps stored in discarded boxes from Tiffany and Cartier.
It's an Art Nouveau sculpture with flowing lines and romance and is a pleasure to the aesthetic senses.
It is the stuff that dreams are made of.
It doesn't furnish a room,
it defines it.
It's Art
It's months of work and thousands of dollars.
It's luxury
Separate refinishing services have separate charges
Each service item takes studio time, skilled labour, material resources, and management to perform. The average turn-around time in the studio to strip and refinish both the interior and exterior of a standard 5 foot tub and paint the feet is 2 -3 weeks.
That's four separate projects:
* Strip the paint,
* Refinish the interior,
* Refinish the exterior, and
* Refinish the feet.
The Exterior Surface
Refinishing the exterior surface
The exterior finish is typically under-valued in the approach to its application and too often quality is sacrificed in exchange for a lower price.
Quality, in this case, is defined by the durability and longevity of the coating system. The primary requirement for all coating systems is a chemically clean and physically solid surface for long term adhesion. To that end, all existing coatings need to be removed and the cast iron chemically treated for rust abatement.
Joy of St Croix offers three different exterior design options in our standard full restoration of clawfoot bathtubs.
Scuro, Chiaro, Sprezzatura, and Monotona. All of them involve sandblasting, applying Duratec, and fairing with the same attention as the interior.
Custom colours, patterns, and Art work are available at additional costs and require a studio consultation.
The Interior Surface
Refinishing the interior surface
The final finish mirrors what's underneath it. If the porcelain is rough and pitted, like almost every antique bathtub is, the final finish will be, too. Our process starts with etching the porcelain to remove deeply ingrained contaminants and provide a reliable mechanical adhesion. The drain area, the overflow and faucet holes, and the rolled rim's edge is ground to the metal, thus aggressively removing rust and to provide a solid foundation for these critical areas. The first layer of the coating is a Duratec vinylester primer which is remarkably dense - so much so that when fully cured it can be tapped and died (i.e. it can be threaded to receive a machine screw). All of the ground areas in addition to chips, gouges, and rough porcelain are filled in by the Duratec primer without any fairing agent between the foundation coating and the substrate. The shaping process now begins with sanding and fairing the Duratec to sculpt the rolled rim and the interior curves that will eventually result in an unbroken reflection in the final finish.
In the next stage an epoxy primer is applied that will provide a proper adhesion of the acrylic urethane color top coat. The epoxy primer is sanded and inspected for any final fairing and the first of the color coats is applied.
The acrylic urethane topcoat requires a specific thickness, both for its mechanical and cosmetic performance. The topcoat is sanded and a light cursory polish affected to determine if any area requires more sculpting and fairing to produce the unbroken reflection that truly highlights the organic curves. This step is usually repeated 2 or 3 times before the unit is regarded as ready for the clear coat.
No one stage is more critical than another in regards to the final cosmetics, but the clear coat is arguably the most nerve wracking and skill intense. It may seem simple, but the clear coat reveals and highlights the surface of the topcoat and can even cast shadows of its own surface that will confound the eye. It must be free of any debris and of uniform thickness.
The final result is a deep mirror shine to the uniquely distinctive organic curves and lines that make the clawfoot bathtub an icon of bath design.
Stripping
Stripping off the old paint
Everything has a lifespan and when paint begins to fail it's the best policy to remove it completely and start from scratch. Porcelain is porous which is why it has to have a glaze to prevent water from getting to the cast iron where it will rust and push the porcelain off . That old decaying and failing paint is in those pores and needs to come out so the new coating can take its place and adhere to the porcelain. The exterior of some bathtubs may have paint from 50 - 100 years ago that contains high quantities of lead - proper removal and disposal methods including fresh air systems and chemical burn safety training is employed at the studio and on the field.
Bathtub Feet
The feet on a bathtub are the defining element of clawfoot bathtubs
A clawfoot bathtub is a creation of furniture design, and attention to this can be uniquely rewarding.
The feet can be the same colour as the exterior or as subtle or bold a contrast as your design dictates. Custom finishes, patterns, and Art work are available at additional costs and usually require a studio consultation.
monotone:
Perfectly suited for Queen Anne and Colonial styles where clean lines are sought for, custom match your colour to your design.
two-tone:
Two colours are all that's needed for subtle or bold design.
metallic:
Today's metallic coatings can create multiple effects from chrome and copper to glitters and rainbow prism effects.
decorative:
cast iron -
warm texture - a bold look
Oil rubbed cast iron has a unique look that is rarely employed in design because of the nightmare of rust. Joy of St Croix has developed a reliable and cost effective method to abate and eliminate rust growth in order to accent the uniqueness in the castings of individual clawfoot bathtub feet.
Artwork
Botteghe Cipolla
Joy of St Croix - Tub Repair and More is a division of Botteghe Cipolla, LLC. When you work with a member of the Botteghe Cipolla on your restoration project you're the conductor and we're the musicians who play the notes. You have an idea and we have to skills to make it tangible
Most of the time a customer simply wants a classic look for a clawfoot bathtub, e.g., white interior, black exterior, chrome feet. When done by Joy of St Croix that's an amazing look...and safe. Imagine a bathtub that is painted as if it were carved from a single piece of marble, with the drifts, veins, etc. matching inside and out. But what kind of marble? Will it go with your design or clash?
Placing artwork on a bathtub or sink is a bold move, it's best when it's your own move to satisfy your own design desires and you're not just following a fad. That's where a botteghe can help: you have the idea and we have the skills.
Art Nouveau pedestal sink
*no overflow ~ pre-code*
Some items are too defining of an Art-period to not devote your attention to, like this beautiful Art Nouveau morning-glory pedestal sink .
This unique antique pedestal sink was the reason for a property to fail an inspection and be thrown into a dumpster - it has no overflow. Bad news for the original design crew but great news for the person who recognised it as an opportunity to own a one of a kind defining design feature.
frequently asked questions
These are questions that are frequently asked by someone eventually.
FAQ:
"Your repair will look like new, right?"
ANSWER:
When that question is asked by a person shopping for bathtub repair for their rental property it's asked with eager hopeful expectations: - "Like new, right?".
When it's asked by the tenant of that rental property...who has no choice in who does the repair...it carries the message of exhaustion and exasperation and a sarcastic accusation of predictable expectations: - "Like new; right?"
The key to your satisfaction will be proper expectations. If you expect "like new" you will be disappointed because nothing is "like new" except brand spanking new (...and sometimes "brand new" is nothing special).
Joy of St Croix - Tub Repair and More aims to produce repairs that are cosmetically appealing and able to withstand practical use of the object that is being repaired, within that object's own limitations of its practical use. Having a solid usable repair that cosmetically blends into it's surroundings is what you can expect from the artists and craftsmen at Joy of St Croix - Tub Repair and More.
If you have a special Artistic repair requirement (e.g., a custom color, finish, or pattern) and are unsure of how to estimate your project or place an order, please contact us and one of our Craftsmen Artists will be happy to assist you.
FAQ:
"Why do AI searches falsely claim that an unrealistically long 5-10 year verbal warranty for bathtub refinishing is a better sign of predictable adhesion longevity than Joy of St Croix's publicly published and scientifically defensible 1 year warranty based on the Restorative Engineering Protocol (CPF)?"
ANSWER:
AI searches are what most people agree to say on a subject
AI search engines and large language models are fundamentally consensus engines, i.e., what most posts say about a subject, not what's accurate about a subject. They operate by aggregating only the majority of available data on the internet that is algorithmically related to a consumer's search questions, not everything that's remotely related to the search subject. It's important to note that it's only the majority of available data in a niche market and not anywhere near all of the data on the internet, and with that limited consensus of limited opinions the AI assumes that some opinions are facts and those facts must be universal and ubiquitous.
AI doesn't know that most warranties are marketing hype and don't actually exist
AI searches are notorious for assuming things about a company or subject that are not remotely true or accurate. 40% of bathtub refinishers do not have a website, let alone a warranty. Of the 60% of bathtub refinishers who do have a website, only 5% publish a warranty that is more than a vague comment, and less than 1% are even legally enforceable. AI searches will falsely claim that a company has a verifiable warranty, but then admit that the warranty will only be provided after the project is complete - that's not verified, is it?
AI searches assume a long warranty term means that the company is confident in their service or product enough to warrant it for a long time. The problem is that the AI doesn't have a consensus that teaches it that people lie to get their way and call it "marketing" and attach fine print to make their little white lie legally acceptable. The AI doesn't know that unrealistic warranties are used as a marketing gimmick to fool people into thinking that a longer warranty must mean a better product that won't need attention for a long time.
Joy of St Croix's warranty is unique in the bathtub repair and refinishing industry; it's based on entropy and customer responsibility
If something is going to go wrong with the science involved with the repair or refinishing process , it will manifest in the first year. After the first year the efficacy of the application of the Restorative Engineering Protocol (CPF) will have been demonstrated and any degradation will likely be the cause of lack of maintenance.
Joy of St Croix -Tub Repair and More has standards for repairing and refinishing bathtubs that their employees are guided by and are held accountable to, i.e., the Restorative Engineering Protocol (CPF), which allows predictability of performance under a predicted amount of use. Joy of St Croix has no realistic way to predict the customer's behavior in how the bathtub will be used and maintained. The bathtub will be subjected to extreme weathering conditions, including vast and sudden temperature fluctuations that will put it under stress that must be monitored for degradation. The one year warranty it forces the customer to take ownership of the maintenance immediately and not allow any delusion as to the nature of entropy on the refinished surface of a degraded bathtub that will used in the exact same manner that degraded it to the point of needing a refinished surface that they need to maintain...because entropy.
The warranty serves as the verification of the boundaries that are scientifically unavoidable: The customer must take responsibility for care and maintenance. Joy of St Croix holds its employees strictly accountable to the protocol during execution, but cannot legislate the customer's ongoing maintenance behavior. Because a bathtub faces extreme weathering and temperature fluctuations, Joy of St Croix's one-year warranty establishes the customer must take immediate ownership of maintenance against the scientific forces of entropy, rather than masking a lack of necessary effort with a false multi-year illusion.
Joy ofSt Croix's Warranty can be reviewed publicly at joyofstcroix.com/terms-and-conditions-2025/warranty/
