Rust on bare metal beneath tub caulking -- best way to fix this?


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Old 07-19-18, 03:09 PM
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Unhappy Rust on bare metal beneath tub caulking -- best way to fix this?

We bought our house a few years ago and are still discovering just how "handy" the handman was before who "fixed it up" before we bought it. The most current issue is that it looks like they caulked over bare metal in the bathtub (spout/showerhead side). As the caulking wasn't a solid job, it cracked a little while back and got wet and the caulk appeared to rust. I just removed the caulk and found that entire seam (showerhead/spout side) was bare metal and rust beneath the caulk (no enamel beneath the caulk).

I think removing the rust and applying caulk is the wrong answer, and I think that's perhaps what happened before.

I think a right answer may be: remove the rust (CLR?), apply a rust converter, and then try to caulk over it?

Should I be looking at removing the rust and trying to apply enamel, then caulking it? It looks like it'll be very tough to get sandpaper in the seam in order to prep it for enamel. It's barely large enough for a paper towel to slip in.
 
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Old 07-19-18, 03:30 PM
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found that entire seam (showerhead/spout side) was bare metal
If you are indicating that the plumbing fixtures are rusting then the first step would be to replace them with some better quality pieces since they were obviously cheap to begin with.
 
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Old 07-19-18, 03:55 PM
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No, the tub was bare metal. I don't know what material the walls on the three sides of the tub are, but the tub itself is metal. The plumbing fixtures are not an issue.
 
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Old 07-19-18, 04:32 PM
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A grinder and 1/16" blade might hit some of it but you would have to be really careful. You could mask off and hit with rust converter... But you would likely need multiple applications. Can't see it so it's hard to advise. Mask and paint the converter with white appliance epoxy before recaulking.
 
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Old 07-19-18, 05:38 PM
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I am looking into rust converters at the moment. I'm concerned about the RC (rust converter) spilling out the backside of the tub. Should that be a concern at all? I haven't used an RC before.

[IMG]https://preview.*******/mOxHgy/IMG_2042.jpg[IMG]https://preview.*******/jNpkZJ/IMG_2043.jpg

I thought I could put a photo in, but it looks like this website prevents referencing pictures or other websites. Quite a handicap.
 

Last edited by Isbrand; 07-19-18 at 05:46 PM. Reason: Can't reference photos.
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Old 07-20-18, 04:03 AM
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See if this helps - How to insert pictures.
 
 

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