Painting Bathroom Tile & Porcelain Fixtures


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Old 11-17-16, 08:30 AM
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Question Painting Bathroom Tile & Porcelain Fixtures

Lots of question. Our main floor bathroom is a tiny, poorly designed space (4.5' x 7.5') with unattractive porcelain tile walls. There are perhaps three or four tiles that have cracks in them but otherwise they are in perfect condition. We want to give the bathroom a small facelift before we try to sell in the next year. So...
- Is it worth it to try and paint over the tile with a nice bland white? Would it make more sense to hire someone to do it professionally and not chance a DIY disaster?

- There are two porcelain fixtures (soap dish and toothbrush holder) that I would love to remove but they are sealed to the wall with grout. Probably would just paint over those too? How hard is it to remove them without damaging tile?

- The house was built in the late 60s / early 70s and they also fixed a hideous plastic mustard yellow Dixie Cup dispenser to the wall next to the porcelain fixtures. It doesn't seem to be grouted on, more like a heavy duty adhesive. Is it possible to remove that without damaging tile?

- If tiles are damaged and you are going to paint over them is it ok to purchase and replace damaged tiles with non-matching tiles or will that look too funky?

- The grate in the bathroom is the same pale yellow as the tile and I'm not sure how we can get the color to change if we do end up painting the tiles. Spray paint? Replace?

Sorry for all the questions. TIA!
 
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Old 11-17-16, 08:36 AM
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Welcome to the forums.

Generally speaking, painting tile or porcelain is not worth the effort.

I would tend to lean toward either redoing the whole room or just offering a discount for it as-is.
 
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Old 11-17-16, 09:02 AM
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Thanks for the quick reply! The only things that can really be done due to layout issues would be replacing outdated vanity, removing fixtures, replacing ceiling light, and doing something about the tile. Redoing the floor could save us from needing to address the tile but we'd need to outsource that for sure (floor space is less than 4.5' x 7.5'). The question always comes back to return on investment. Do you think that those changes could be done for under 2k? And if you were to prioritize changes/updates what would you say? I can post a picture if that would help.
 
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Old 11-17-16, 09:51 AM
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See that wall where the showerhead is attached? The toilet is on the other side of that. If you aren't naturally claustrophobic it goes a long way in remedying that.

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Why not clog the wall with fixtures that can't be removed? Complete with fluorescent light vanity with missing covers!
 
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Old 11-17-16, 10:13 AM
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Tub and tile paint should hold up for awhile on the wall tile. It's diy track record nose dives when you apply it to floors, tubs and sinks. Proper prep is key! The soap dish would likely be the first place the tub/tile paint would fail ..... assuming I understand correctly what you'd like to paint.
 
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Old 11-17-16, 04:31 PM
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Professionals re-glaze the tiles instead of painting. It involves acid etching the whole room, applying a primer and then reglazing with the same finish you would find on a cast iron tub. The DIY kits are not worth the effort as without the proper prep, the optimal bond is not created and it will flake. I've seen tubs that you could just peel the stuff off of them.
 
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Old 11-17-16, 05:37 PM
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My Sister-in-law is selling an older property that they had been renting to a relative. The bathroom had pink tile, tub, and vanity (!). They had someone come in and do the re-glaze that czizzi mentioned. Gloss white. I think the cost was under a grand for a smallish bathroom. I was surprised how well it looks. The guy said he does a lot of work for house flippers who want a quick and relatively inexpensive face lift.
 
 

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