Joy of St Croix's bathtub refinishing process - since 1980
Started in The US Virgin Islands by an apprentice to a boat builder, Joy of St Croix follows a strict yet easy to follow set of procedures to safely refinish bathtubs in occupied residences with predictably strong and beautiful results that are hygienic and easy to maintain.
Please, examine our process and contact us if you have any questions.
The success of a bathtub refinishing process is only reliable
if it can be explained clearly and followed strictly
Your health and home are serious investments that require serious attention from the people you hire. Quality craftsmanship is not cheap, quick, or easy; it’s purposefully learned and developed through dedicated years of hard work and executed with competence and pride.
Quality craftsmanship is achieved by conscientiously completing the steps.
The Refinisher who understands the reasons for the steps – the science and art behind it – will predictably and reliably produce a product that will live up to the end user’s expectations. The Customer who understands the process will be more equipped to screen Refinishers for experience and general competency.
On this page is a review of Joy of St Croix’s 2-day process for refinishing a standard built-in five foot bathtub you would likely find in any residential bathroom.
The 2025 Q1 retail price for “standard” bathtub refinishing is $1200
What is this page about?
Frequently Asked Questions about Joy of St Croix's in-home bathtub refinishing and reglazing services
This page is about examining Joy of St Croix's in-home bathtub refinishing process.
Joy of St Croix FAQ sections contain short answers to questions or topics that are discussed with more detail elsewhere on the page or on the site but are frequently overlooked. You will find a series of FAQ areas on this page after each section. The purpose of these FAQ sections are to serve as a recap of the information covered in the previous section and to help you locate that information at a later date.
At the bottom of the page you will find a full list of all of the FAQs on this page.
Research and Planning
Customer Research and Planning
An informed decision is calming.
Customer – research
Research the general process and examine ours to determine if we meet your needs.
Homewyse – Bathtub refinishing cost calculator.
Costhelper Home & Garden – Article on bathtub refinishing cost.
About.com – Discusses getting a quality job & cheap pricing results.
Customer – planning
Estimate the price of your project in the SHOP:
If your tub was painted previously it will need to be stripped.
Are there are structural problems to the drain or overflow?
If you are refinishing tile, are there cracks or missing grout?
Are you refinishing tile walls, a standard bathtub, a clawfoot bathtub interior or exterior?
Will you be wanting a non-slip texture?
Familiarise yourself with the Terms and Conditions:
What is our warranty?
How do you care for your new finish?
How do you handle revisions or cancellations?
Customer – ordering
Place the order through the online SHOP with a 50% deposit to secure the material and labour. The remainder is due on satisfactory inspection of the completed project. The online ordering gateway will ask some important questions for the refinisher’s preparation, e.g., where do they park, is the tub upstairs or down, is there water and electricity, are there pets or children onsite? Taking the time to fully prepare helps to ensure a professional result and allows less chance for miscommunications that waste time and money.
Estimate prices and costs
Be aware of extra service costs
Time costs money
Customer – planning stage
During the planning stage you should be examining your plumbing. Parts wear out, like seals and washers, and leaks can develop that cause water damage in walls or erode finishes. Many faucets can easily be rebuilt without opening the wall, but sometimes they are just too old and need to be replaced. If something needs to be fixed or replaced we recommend calling a licensed plumber.
Refinisher – Day 1
remove previously applied finish
Paint is a proven technology, but a “coating system” is more than just the paint, it’s the complete process. If your existing coating is peeling or flaking off, it’s likely that it was applied with an inferior process. Perhaps it wasn’t acid etched or cleaned properly, or maybe it was relying on a wipe-on adhesion promoter and eliminated the primer to save costs. The only way to assure a predictably successful result is to remove the coating and follow the process from the beginning.
Customer – day 1
authorise additional work
Refinisher – day 1
repair body damage
Chips, rust, holes, and other existing damaged areas cannot be seen under the existing coating until it’s removed. At this point the refinisher will show you the needed repairs and help you with the authorisation process. Once authorised and confirmed in the job notes the refinisher will perform the repairs and proceed with the refinishing.
Create the work order
The order form is the work order
Refinisher – day 1
arrive fully prepared
Our ordering form gathers information that’s vital to arriving informed and prepared. From knowing where to park and jobsite access, to the presence of children and pets, preparation is key to success. The workers will leave the shop with all tools and material necessary to complete the day’s scheduled work, and will be fully informed as to the scope of the project.
Refinisher & Customer – day 1
greet and review scope
With the information supplied by the customer on the online ordering form, the worker will introduce himself, review and verify the scope and pricing. If there are any revisions or cancellations that need to be made to the order, the worker can assist the customer with obtaining an email verification of the changes as outlined in the site’s terms and conditions.
Refinisher – day 1
protect floors and walls
Some jobsites are in finished homes with occupants, and might be their only bath. Others are unfinished or going through a remodel. The refinisher will protect finished areas from work areas by masking floors and walls. The bathroom will be turned into a temporary spray booth along with an exhaust tube directed outside the property.
If hallway floor protection from tools is required, please note it on the order form at checkout.
Clean to paint
Painting day - cleaning is fundamental to a coating's success
Refinisher –
remove drain & overflow
The refinisher will remove the old drain shoe and overflow cover. One of the keys to our success in refinishing a bathtub is to protect the edges of the paint from water infiltration. The paint needs to extend beneath the drain and overflow, the only way for this to be done is to remove it – however, the refinisher is a painter, not a plumber, and we cannot assume liability for plumbing. If the drain pipe is old, it may break and you will have to call a plumber – this rarely occurs, but you should be prepared.
Refinisher –
remove old caulking
The caulking holds the same importance to the success of the coating as the drain shoe. The weak point in a coating is its edge – that’s where water will try to work its way underneath. The worker will remove all of the old caulking, and completely clean out the empty area. Later, the edge of the new finish will be sealed into the empty area with new caulking. Caulking usually needs to be replaced every five to ten years.
Refinisher –
remove contaminants
An often ignored step in inferior processes is the removal of soap scum to allow acid full contact with the glaze. It cannot be simply wiped down with lacquer thinner (as some suggest), the layers must be mechanically agitated, emulsified, and rinsed away to remove all of the contaminants that can interfere with the bonding of the coating. For those refinishers who don’t use acid but rely on “wipe-on primers” this step is probably the most crucial. Failure to properly clean is likely the main reason for coating failures.
Prepare to paint
Painting day - prepare the surface for adhesion
Refinisher –
mechanical bond
Composite bathtubs can be sanded to create a mechanical bond, but bathtubs with porcelain coatings need to be acid etched to “break the glaze”, that (somewhat) non-porous layer of glass that makes porcelain smooth. A new trend in bathtub refinishing is the use of a silane bonding agent (silane is the bonding chemical in superglue) to replace acid etching, but the need of a mechanical bond cannot be stressed.
Refinisher –
chemical bond
Once the surface has been sanded or etched to create a mechanical bond, the residue must be removed to achieve full bonding of the coating with the bathtub. Now the chemical bonding must be addressed. After a final deep cleaning, the “super-glue” silane adhesion promoter is applied to assist in the chemical bonding of the epoxy primer.
Refinisher –
mask bathtub
When paint is sprayed it doesn’t all land on the bathtub; some of it is adjacent “over-spray”, and some of it hangs in the air. While the vast majority of it is vented out of the house through a filtered vent tube, some of it can land on the commode, the counters, and every other surface where the paint fog can reach. The refinisher will mask the entire bathroom and install ventilation.
Painting the tub
Painting day - coating is applied and allowed to dry
Refinisher –
priming
Epoxy priming allows the topcoat to adhere much better than if it were used alone, and is mandatory if the material is not water resistant and will be exposed to the elements…like in a bathtub. It is not engineered to form a durable finished surface, but to have improved filling and binding properties with the material underneath through controlling it’s physical properties, such as porosity, tackiness, and hygroscopy.
Refinisher –
painting
The primer has been applied and must be allowed time for solvents to “flash off” and the chemical process to initiate. The top coat is now applied to achieve the proper thickness along with the primer coat. The combined qualities of a properly applied primer and topcoat constitute a “coating system”. Removing the primer or skimping on the thickness of the topcoat compromises the system and any durability expectations.
Refinisher –
curing
The top coat has been applied, and the paint machines have been cleaned out to give the topcoat time to flash off and begin to skin over. The refinisher re-enters the room to remove the masking paper and clean up the site – end of day one. The bathtub is allowed time to cure, usually 12 hours, before the beginning of day two.
Final Touch-ups
Final Day - polishing, touch-ups, and installing drain shoe
The final day is just as labor intensive as the steps that led to it and sometimes more mentally stressful. Will the refinishing crew have an easy day or will they show up to find a fatal flaw that interrupts the expected flow? For example, if we are refinishing a bathtub in winter and return the day after painting to find that someone turned off the heat we'll have a bathub with paint which has not fully catalyzed - uncured paint cannot be sanded and polished so the refinishing crew will have to leave and the next available appointment date might not be for another week or two. At times, a curious person will enter the bathroom after the refinishing crew has left and unintentionally damage the finish touching it to see if it's dry. Please, do not enter the bathroom until the project is completed...interruptions to the expected process can be draining to everyone involved.
What we can expect is that the finish will need to be sanded and polished to achieve a smooth and hygienic surface. Sometimes they may even have some touch-ups to perform but be assured that the refinishing crew will not knowingly leave you with a compromised coating.
While a new drain shoe and overflow cover can be installed by the refinishing crew it's important to remember that we are not licensed plumbers and are not held liable for damages related to plumbing. If you feel more comfortable with a licensed plumber installing your drain shoe basket and overflow cover the refinishing crew will leave you the components. Remember to be sure that your plumber is aware that the bathtub has been recoated and that any damage they may do to the finish is not covered by the warranty.
New caulking will be applied which will need to cure for a day or two and may shrink. If it does shrink please notify us immediately because the caulking is a vital aspect of the life expectancy of the coating.
refinisher – final day
sand & polish
The sanding and polishing of of the topcoat is as crucial as all previous steps to the long term success of the finish. The painting process in such an uncontrolled environment can result in dry areas, drips, or other cosmetically unappealing areas. The entire bathtub is wet sanded by hand, machine polished, and then hand polished.
refinisher – final day
touch ups
During the painting process, particles of dust can land in the finish; if someone picks at the dust bump and tears it loose, the top coat is now compromised with a very small chip. To prevent this from happening, all compromised areas are top coated by airbrush.
refinisher – final day
install drain & overflow
Since removal of the drain shoe and overflow cover is mandatory to a proper finish, we see no reason to reinstall worn out parts. We provide a new, solid brass, chrome plated drain shoe – polished chrome is the only finish we provide.
Inspect and Payment
Final Day -Inspection and Payment
The final day brings us to the big finish: inspection and payment. Like all of the other steps it should be planned out so that all parties know what to expect. The refinishing crew has been working for two or days on a project that would normally take one or two weeks in the studio. The refinishing crew can become "snow-blinded" and overlook something that is a minor issue to them but a major issue to you - who, at this point, just want them out of your house. For this reason the crew does not collect any payments, only the office by invoice - you should have the opportunity to inspect the unit critically and to communicate either your approval or concerns honestly without feeling pressured or rushed. Many customers have told us they would like someone they know and trust to help them inspect the finished project before they make a final payment because, after all, we've all heard nightmares about companies that are Johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to collecting their payments but are nowhere to be found if a touch-up is required.
When the project is completed the crew will ask you for an initial jobsite inspection and answer any questions you have. They will submit their paperwork to the office who will send you an invoice for final payment. You may want to give the caulking a day or two to dry to see if it shrinks and you need a touch up, or maybe you have a rental and need a few days for the occupant or a property manager to report back to you. The point is, like every other step in the process the final step should not be rushed ...take your time to follow your plan and you'll be more assured of a satisfactory outcome.
crew - final day
clean work area
Before asking the customer to inspect the bathtub, the refinisher will fully clean the jobsite and inspect the area for any additional work that needs to be completed. During this stage, don’t be surprised to see the refinisher bringing some tools back in to address a problem that was found.
customer - final day
inspect
When a customer first sees the level of quality that has gone into the project they can be so grateful that they don’t inspect the unit with a critical eye. The field refinishing process that you have just experienced would normally take four days in the studio. A refinisher could easily overlook something simple, like a piece of tape, or some overspray; the refinisher will not be offended if you point something out.
crew & customer – final day
finalise payment
Once the inspection is done and approved, it’s time to finalise the payment. You can pay in the same manner you paid the deposit, or choose another method. Either way, your final invoice will be e-mailed to you.
Cleaning and Maintenance
Customer Maintenance
Paint is not indestructible – it can be chipped, scratched, gouged, and otherwise damaged; if that happens, you need to take care of it right away or the finish will degrade. The good news is that damage to paint can be easily fixed if addressed early. If you ever have a problem, please call us and let us help.
Caulking Maintenance
The caulking keeps water from both the inside of the walls and the edge of the paint. An often neglected aspect of the maintenance of a bathtub, you can help to extend its useful lifespan through regular cleaning and wiping your bathtub down after each use. Plan on replacing the caulking every five to seven years.
Regular Cleaning
The simplest thing that will keep your painted surface sound is regular cleaning. It will also make you aware of any potential problems, like a chip or gouge. For general and regular cleaning, wipe excess water off the bath surface after using it, and clean with PineSol. Read our blog post on cleaning for further information.
Dripping Faucets
Falling water causes extensive damage; maintain those faucets.
Customer Benefits and Perks
Customer Perks
Maintenance at a reduced price
Refinishing customers with an active account are extended a discount on maintenance costs to assist in getting the most longevity out of their refinished surface. Chip repairs, caulk replacement, cleaning, and more are available.Refinishing customers with an active account are extended a discount on maintenance costs to assist in getting the most longevity out of their refinished surface. Chip repairs, caulk replacement, cleaning, and more are available.
Cleaning Products
Cleaning products need to be affordable to effective, and need to be effective to be affordable. We search out vendors that can provide us affordable products to use in our business, and then pass on the same access to you. Refinishing or repair customers with an active account are extended a discount on cleaning supplies and selected products in the shop.
Art works, supplies and more
An Art studio does quite a lot more than refinish bathtubs, that’s just one of the many canvases we work on. We work with many artists that produce wonderful Art for your home. We also provide access to art supplies, tools, and educational materials and classes. All of this and more can be found in our online shop.