How to estimate bathtub repair costs
in preparation to ordering bathtub repair services from Joy of St Croix - Tub Repair and More in Augusta, GA and the communities of the CSRA
Repairs are priced by measuring the damage at its widest diameter
Page index
Measure the full amount of damage that needs to be removed and repaired, not just the most obvious.
A crack in a fiberglass bathtub is not all that is seen on the surface. Underneath the cracked coating is damaged fiberglass to be excavated and repaired. An impact crack is smallest at the point of impact and radiates outward in concentric circles and lines, like a spiderweb. Underneath the radiating cracks seen on the surface are tiny glass rods that make up the fibers in the fiberglass that have broken. All of the broken glass fibers needs to be ground away until solid fiberglass is reached that can anchor the repair material. This goes for fiberglass, steel, cast iron, and acrylic tubs. Repair material needs something solid to grab onto. For load, cantilever length, and stress it's very important to add a .25" to .5" overlap ground into the gelcoat surrounding the circumference of the damage to recess a repair's top layer of fiberglass.
- The full amount of damage that has to be excavated and replaced is the size of your repair.
- Visualize a circle or oval around the repair area you have previously identified.
- Measure the longest diameter, from one side to the other side.
- With that size you can go to the service item page where the prices are listed by size ranges, e.g, up to .5", up to 1", etc.
3 categories of damage
3 levels of extent to the damage
Bathtub repair costs are directly connected to the depth and breadth of the damage:
- surface level damage (scratches are on the surface, but can be expansive)
- shallow damage affecting the topcoat ( chipped off topcoat could be 1/8" or 18')
- deep damage requiring structural rebuilding (a crack could be 1/2" or a tub floor)
The basis for estimating by damage depth and breadth is twofold; the technician's labor hours required for the Restorative Engineering Protocol (CPF), and the strict material-batch management required to maintain chemical integrity. Specialty resins, silane coupling agents, and top-coat polymers have strict pot-lives and are adversely affected by temperature fluctuations—such as the transition from our controlled storage facility to the internal temperature of a parked work van during an Augusta summer or winter. Transporting only the exact chemicals needed for a specific tier of repair prevents waste, ensures peak material performance, and eliminates unnecessary overhead costs for the customer.
The manner in which an estimate is performed is simply by measuring the damage at its widest diameter, and finding the price for the measurement range the project matches.
3 types of bathtub damage
The 3 types of damage on a bathtub are surface, shallow, and deep - referring to the extent of damage that needs excavating, rebuilding, and recoating.
- surface repairs ~ scratches - rust spots - stains - scuff marks on porcelain
Some repairs are only on the topcoat (usually porcelain or gelcoat). Some surface repairs may only be cosmetic and do not effect the performance of the top coat in protecting the structural materials of the unit. Nevertheless, cosmetic repairs are important in encouraging the end-user's maintenance of the unit. - shallow repairs ~ small to medium chips – gouges – voids – impact cracks
Damage that affects the topcoat without extensive damage to the underlying substrata or structure. The purpose of the topcoat is protection from water damage. A small chip can wick water that will cause rust or rot. Most shallow damage repairs are like fixing a tooth cavity: remove the damage, fill, and topcoat. - deep repairs ~ impact and structural cracks – holes – rebuilds
Damage that affects the substrata or structure that requires extensive removal and rebuilding of material. These repairs require knowledge of the physics and mechanics that effect both the repair materials and the structural integrity. Adequate time must be allotted for deep repairs.
Surface Damage Repairs
Measuring Surface Damage for Estimating
Scratches need to be sanded out and polished, within a specified area.
Most areas have a natural blocking to them that serves as a guide to the eye. The apron deck of a tub is 8" deep x 5' wide and polishing of it is priced for the labor and material to do that specific section. The interior of a kitchen sink may have the same surface area but requires a different type of labor and material.
Shallow Damage Repairs
Measuring Shallow Damage for Estimating
Damage that affects the topcoat without extensive damage to the underlying substrata or structure. The purpose of the topcoat is protection from water damage. A small chip can wick water that will cause rust or rot. circumference
Deep Damage Repairs
Measuring Deep Damage for Estimating
Holes in fiberglass shower walls or a rusted out hole by a bathtub drain requires extensive removal and rebuilding of damaged material.
Let's review...
You identified the damage done to your bath, you estimated the amount of damage to be repaired, and now you want to place an order.
step 1
Identify damage
step 2
Measure the damage
step 3
Find price in SHOP
Place an order for bathtub repairs with Joy of St Croix - Tub Repair and More
Placing an order online with Joy of St Croix is safe and secure.
Time is costly for all of us
You are scheduling a block of time for a repair appointment - a repair that costs Time. Regardless of which repair company is chosen the field technicians have other scheduled appointments to keep. A worker who expects a one hour repair but faces a 3 hour repair with the additional time to submit a revision for authorisation will approach the project annoyed and pressed for time - that's not a good mindset for attention to problem solving on a jobsite. A professional who is respectfully treated as a professional by finding a project realistically described is more motivated and creative in their approach to problem solving should a problem arise.
If there isn't enough Time for the revised repair then the repair crew has to leave without doing the repair and charges a $45 trip fee. The Time you spend to-day on doing an accurate estimate is the Time and money you save to-morrow not having to correct an avoidable mistake.
Professional construction is all about Time management,
and Time cannot be recovered once it's gone
A 1/2" chip in a bathtub will take about an hour while a 3" impact crack will take at least two hours. Since the price is different between those services a "revision of price/scope report" must be submitted by the repair crew and authorised by the paying company before work can begin...and that process may take another hour. If the repair crew has another repair scheduled and the revision and authorisation will interfere with that scheduled arrival, the repair crew will have to leave the inaccurately ordered project and a $45 trip fee will be incurred.
Careless estimation of the size and scope of a repair is a needless and easily avoidable waste of time and money.
REP (CPF)
Intro to Joy of St Croix's - Restorative Engineering Protocol
Joy of St Croix - Tub Repair and More offers different types of repair services that require different materials and technical executions that are dependent on the physical stress the repair is engineered to withstand, but all repair services offered 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, aptly titled; Clean - Prep - Finish. It establishes an absolute guidance for the repair process based on physical laws: Action B cannot occur until Boundary Condition A is fully satisfied.
CLEAN - removal of damaged material (the necessary condition): Adhesion of the repair material and the topcoat cannot be achieved without the removal of embedded contaminants and the damaged substrate. The complete excavation of damaged fibers that comprised the structural matrix is a mandatory boundary condition (the necessary condition) before any physical reconstruction of the structural matrix can occur..
PREP - structurally rebuilding the damaged area (the operational phase): a structural repair must bridge a physical void or failure. Therefore, the PREP phase is governed by two simultaneous engineering requirements: mechanical attachment to the surrounding sound substrate and vector-specific anisotropic reinforcement designed to withstand the exact stress vector that caused the original failure.
FINISH - protecting the repair against entropy (the integrity phase): The top-coat protects the repair from the destructive forces of oxidation and hydrolysis. To prevent delamination, the top-coat must match the substrate's coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), a metric that quantifies how many micrometers a material grows for every degree change in temperature.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
~ Bathtub Repairs ~
FAQs from customers
Is the price different between surface, shallow, and deep repairs?
Yes...and no. Repairs are priced by the amount of labor and type of material needed to perform the repair. Scratches are surface repairs and are sanded and polished out. Chips and gouges are shallow damage that are repaired like a cavity in a tooth. Holes are deep repairs that require fiberglass and resin. Visit our page How to Identify Bathtub Repairs for more information.
How do I estimate a price when I don't know how much you charge?
Joy of St Croix publishes our prices based on the amount of damage to be removed and repaired. Visit our page How to Estimate Bathtub Repairs for more information and examples.
Why can't I just call in my order like the other companies?
The purpose of published prices and customer generated workorders is to avoid costly delays caused by mistakes and omissions in the ordering process.
FAQs from Joy of St Croix
testimonials
Thoroughly impressed with the outcome of this team’s work. They approach their work with immense professionalism and are meticulous about every aspect of the job to be done. The results are nothing short of a work of art!
https://goo.gl/maps/YiNYCGjF8GaUaxZM9
Extremely professional. Mo did a fantastic job from the very beginning until the end of our bath tub project. We were very impressed by the professionalism and quality of the work.
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Botteghe Cipolla
