The bathtub in my bathroom is cracked, and because of that it leaked water into the bathroom floor while showering.
The landlord will pay for the material (deducted from rent payments) to fix the bathtub crack.
Has anyone tried to fix a leaking bathtub, the way I see is I just sand off the gel coat, and then fiberglass over the crack. Will this work?
Don’t bother repairing it. A fiberglass tub is shot once it’s cracked. Same thing happened to my tub years ago. I tried gluing the crack together, but it cracked again under my weight. I had to replace it with a new one, and my landlady, knowing how old the thing was, footed the bill. Just keep in mind that the work of replacing it will take an entire day.
So you mean I can’t lay fiberglass cloth over it?
I have no idea how fiberglass cloth works. How would you make it hermetically sealed? And wouldn’t the edges dig into your skin as you lie in the tub? The problem with my old tub was there wasn’t enough concrete underneath it to support my weight, and it just gave over time. So when I had the new tub put in, I made sure that the new concrete support was more than adequate, and it turned out literally hard as a rock. Could have done jumping jacks on it and it wouldn’t have made a dent.
Nothing in Taiwan is ever made to be fixed, when broken throw out and buy new! That’s the motto! 
Thing is, the landlord isn’t willing to pay to replace the bathtub because it is very expensive. The bathtub itself is going to be over 10,000NT and the work is probably going to be at least another 3000.
There are support under the bathtub (I can tell because it feels solid) but it seems inconsistent, the area with the crack seems to be lacking support. I am thinking of drilling a hole there and filling that area with expanding foam. I hope it will be enough. I will then fiberglass over the thing. The landlord is willing to pay 1000nt for materials (fiberglass, resin, foam, etc.) to get it fixed though. They aren’t concerned about a cosmetically perfect fix (neither am I, the bathroom looks ugly already) but I am more concerned about the leak as I am trying to maintain a dry bathroom environment. Although a new gelcoat over the entire bathtub will probably be a good thing after the crack is patched over to make things look new again…
If it was my house I probably get rid of the bathtub altogether and just have a shower stall, but then I’ll want to replace the sink, toilet, and retile the entire bathroom too. Right now though I’ll probably power wash the bathroom to get the old grime off the tiles…
If the crack were on the wall, you’d probably be able to do this, but it sounds like it’s on the bottom surface of the tub. No way it’ll last.
I’ve got the exact same problem in my new apartment. I was going to have my handyman take a look, since I thought it could be a simple caulk-it-up kind of job.
Taiwan Luthiers: I don’t think 10K for the tub is too much. I’m already investing 10K+ on lighting and another 10K on carpets/rugs. I figure it will be worth me paying since I’ll get what I want, and I’ll be able to use it for the next few years – I want to make sure they do it right. Are you finding your own contractor/workers?
it’s not your fault the bath broke, it’s normal wear and tear. The landlord should either have it repaired or replace it. It’s too much to expect you to do it.
OK.
Many landlords just want the profit not the trouble …
I will do the work myself. I have experience in working with composites (has to do with high power rocketry back in the US) so this isn’t much for me to do.
I see it as an opportunity to fix the place I am at and save a bit of rent in the process. I obviously ask for more rent discount than the cost of the materials I will use, as I still need something for the work. I already installed a wired in doorbell (I don’t want to use those wireless ones because the battery always run out right when someone is at the door wondering why the doorbell doesn’t work), fixed much of the messy outdoor wiring, and fixed a leaky faucet.
The landlord wouldn’t fix the problem otherwise as they still have to pay rent for the land the house is built on (they own the house, but the land is owned by the government), so the government can come and demolish the house if they feel the need to, hence they don’t really want to put too much money into the property.
I don’t feel like calling contractors because they are still expensive (would cost the landlord more than 1000 for sure to get someone to fix the bathtub) and I don’t really trust their quality… they have a knack for making things look good on the surface but under the surface its a mess.
What I mean is that many are too stingy to even buy a new bathtub … which is not a large cost but keeps the house in order and not covered in mold and cockroaches … it’s a cultural thing perhaps, or stinginess … buy but don’t maintain.
I don’t know what are the costs in Taiwan, but I have read in the US a bathtub replacement costs more than $1000 dollars, if its the same here I can understand why they might be stingy about it, considering that this place isn’t very new and there isn’t too much desire from the landlord to put too much money into this place.
Plus I can always gelcoat the bathtub to make it look new. A can of gelcoat isn’t expensive in Taiwan at all…
Remember the landlord’s priority is to restore functionality, not replace every old looking things in the house.
I don’t know what are the costs in Taiwan, but I have read in the US a bathtub replacement costs more than $1000 dollars, if its the same here I can understand why they might be stingy about it, considering that this place isn’t very new and there isn’t too much desire from the landlord to put too much money into this place.
Plus I can always gelcoat the bathtub to make it look new. A can of gelcoat isn’t expensive in Taiwan at all…
Remember the landlord’s priority is to restore functionality, not replace every old looking things in the house.[/quote]
Are you Taiwanese?
Where do you get gelcoat? Hah, Taiwan Luthiers, can I hire you to come fix my tub if the landlady objects to a new one?
I am a Taiwanese American, but the landlord is Taiwanese.
Sure you can hire me to do bathtub repairs, but you’ll have to give me a moment to figure this out and come up with a fair price for this… there are Taiwanese contractors who will do this too.
The chemical stores at Tienshui st. sells gel coat, 200nt a can, but its only in white. You can tint it to turn it into whatever color you want (and they sell the tints/pigments too). Or else you can buy some unsaturated polyester resin and add some titanium dioxide to it to turn it white, then tints to turn it into whatever color you want.
That explains a lot …
In fact when fixing a bathtub is what you want you should break it out and fix from the under side, doing a professional job and than looking into the support, because a well supported bathtub is rarely going to split …
That explains a lot …[/quote]
You seem to have something against Taiwanese?