Steel bathtub refinishing for Honolulu homes and condos.

The tub most of Honolulu grew up with

Walk into a condo or walk-up built in Honolulu in the 1960s or 70s and the bathtub is almost certainly porcelain-enameled steel: a pressed steel shell with a glassy enamel surface, set into a three-wall alcove. They're light, tough and were installed by the thousand across Makiki, Waikīkī, Salt Lake, Pearl City and ʻAiea.

Fifty years on, the steel is usually still sound. The enamel is what gives up.

How steel tubs wear out

• Chips that rust. Steel enamel is thinner than on cast iron. A dropped bottle chips it, bare steel meets water, and an orange stain spreads from the spot.
• The drain ring. Standing water around the drain eats the enamel first — the classic brown, rough circle.
• Dull, grey bottoms. Years of abrasive cleaners sand the gloss off, and then the surface holds every stain.
• Old spray coatings. Many rental tubs have been sprayed once or twice already and are now peeling in sheets.

What refinishing does for a steel tub

We strip any failing coating, repair chips and the drain area, and pour a new thick coating over the whole tub, including the front apron. Bare steel is sealed away from water again, which is what stops the rust from coming back.

Because the coating is poured rather than sprayed, there's no odor drifting into the hallway and no mist settling on your tile — both real concerns in a building with shared corridors and neighbors.

When a steel tub is past saving

If rust has eaten a hole right through the steel, or the tub flexes and crunches when you stand in it, a new surface won't solve the underlying problem. Send a photo. We'd rather tell you that before the visit than after.

Price

A standard steel tub is a flat $635. Tubs with an old coating that has to come off can cost more — we confirm from photos. See full pricing.