How to fix a chipped acrylic bathtub. Do-it-yourself acrylic bath crack repair. Liquid acrylic with hardener for repairing cracks in acrylic bathtubs

Acrylic baths are much lighter and "warmer" than traditional steel and cast iron baths. It is thanks to these advantages and reasonable price that products made of polymeric materials are increasingly being installed in apartments and houses.

However, with all their advantages, lightweight acrylic bathtubs are sensitive to external influences.

The material tends to expand at high temperatures, it is easily scratched by abrasive detergents, and when heavy objects fall in such a bath, cracks or even holes can form.

Are acrylic baths repairable? What to do if the acrylic bath burst? Can it be glued?

Yes, bathtubs made of polymeric materials are maintainable, and you can fix the crack yourself, without asking for help from specialists.

However, ordinary universal glue is not suitable for these purposes.

Since acrylic has unsatisfactory adhesive properties, you will need a special moisture and heat resistant adhesive.

How to glue an acrylic bath

Theoretically, it is possible to block a crack or a small hole in an acrylic bath using any sealant, however, it should be noted that during operation the bath bowl will continue to be subjected to constant mechanical deformations, as well as exposure to high temperatures and aggressive liquids.

In this regard, the restoration repair must be carried out in 2 stages: from the outside and from the inside.

First, a fiberglass patch is glued on the back side of the bath, and only after the surface has acquired structural integrity and strength, external defects are eliminated from the front side.

Accordingly, to seal the bath, you will need two completely different compositions: two-component epoxy adhesive and acrylic putty.

To reinforce a cracked bath from the outside, the simplest (inexpensive) brands of epoxy glue are suitable, for example:

"Contact" is a universal 2-component epoxy adhesive. The composition is colorless, not afraid of moisture, glued products can be used at high temperatures (up to 150 degrees).

The composition of the adhesive includes epoxy resin, composite hardener, modifying additives.

Glue "Contact" has increased fluidity, fills cracks and voids, restoring the shape of the product, does not shrink and does not expand during curing. It is sold in a package convenient for dosage (double syringe), it costs about 120 rubles;

Moment SUPER EPOXY- universal two-component adhesive, supplied as a set of two combined tubes (epoxy resin + hardener).

The mixing ratio of the adhesive is 1:1, which simplifies the process of preparing the composition.

When curing, the epoxy adhesive from the brand "Moment" does not expand and does not shrink, it is not afraid of exposure to water and aggressive liquids. After application, the adhesive hardens after 5 minutes, and after an hour it finally sets.

Seal the crack on the outside of the acrylic bath help a special repair kit, which is sold in plumbing stores, includes everything you need:

acrylic restorer (liquid acrylic);
hardener;
a set of sandpaper;
putty knife;
polishing compound and polishing cloth.

On sale today you can find repair kits from different manufacturers, they are sold under brand names "Remacril", "Samodelkin", "New Bath" and others, cost an average of about 500 rubles.

There are also more expensive imported analogues, but their composition differs little from Russian ones.

Ready-made kits for renovation of bathtubs and shower trays made of acrylic

Instructions - acrylic bath repair

To seal a crack in an acrylic bath, you will need the following materials and tools:

Epoxy adhesive;
Reinforcing fiberglass;
tassel;
Acetone;
Drill and drill with a diameter of 1-2 mm;
Repair kit with liquid acrylic.

The crack repair process itself consists of several successive stages:

To begin with, a further increase in the crack should be excluded. To do this, on each side, a few millimeters from the edges, drill holes with a diameter of 1-2 mm;
Then it is necessary to strengthen the damaged area with a reinforcing patch on the back of the crack. Fiberglass patches should be glued in several layers on epoxy adhesive. This should be done only on a previously degreased and cleaned of dirt surface.
The composition is applied in a uniform layer with a brush and laid with fiberglass. After the first layer has dried, glue the second layer. In most cases, 2-3 layers are enough to eliminate small cracks;
After about an hour (see the instructions for the epoxy adhesive), you can begin to eliminate defects from the outside. To do this, the damage site is treated with fine sandpaper, degreased with acetone and covered with liquid acrylic from the repair kit. After the composition has dried, the surface is treated with a polishing paste.

VIDEO INSTRUCTION

Recently, expensive and massive cast-iron or quickly cooling and noisy steel bathtubs have been replaced by light, modern acrylic models. They perfectly retain heat, boast a wide range of sizes, a variety of colors and shapes.

High-quality acrylic bathtubs are quite expensive, the service life of such products, according to the manufacturer's warranty, is at least 15 years. However, during use, a crack or chip may appear on them, which spoil the appearance or even violate the tightness of the washing container. In this article we will tell you how you can repair an acrylic bath with your own hands.

Operation of acrylic models

Acrylic is a polymeric material that has high performance characteristics. It is durable, wear-resistant and lightweight. Bathtubs made of this material have low thermal conductivity and a beautiful glossy sheen. Acrylic models are produced in a rectangular, oval, round, angular shape, the width of which is 70-170 cm, and the length is 120-190 cm. The operation of acrylic products requires compliance with special conditions, ignoring which may require repair of acrylic bathtubs:

Important! As a result of improper use, scratches, cracks or chips appear on the surface of the walls and bottom of the acrylic bath. These defects, as a rule, only spoil the appearance of the product, but do not affect the functionality of the wash container. To bring the bath to its original form, you can make repairs at home.

Repair methods

If during operation cracks, chips or scratches appear on the acrylic surface that spoil the appearance of the product, they must be urgently repaired. If left unattended, defects will enlarge, spread, and then cause the bath to fail. To repair cracks, chips or scratches on the surface, you can use the following methods:

Note! If you are going to do your own acrylic bath repair, you will need a polishing pad or regular sponge, bath polishing paste, sandpaper (800-2000 grit), a mixture for making liquid acrylic, alcohol, a drill, a spatula. To repair a small crack or scratch, acrylic is not needed, repairs can only be done with polishing.

Repair of chips and holes

In the process of improper use of the acrylic bath, small chips or holes may appear. Chips are of 2 types: shallow and deep. Minor scratches are removed with careful polishing. You can repair deep chips with liquid acrylic. When a chip is formed, act according to the following instructions.

Important! If you plan to do the restoration of an acrylic bath with your own hands, when buying a repair kit, pay attention to the composition of acrylic. It must match the material from which the wash container is made, since different compositions have different properties, including thermal expansion.

Crack repair

If during operation a heavy or sharp object falls into an acrylic bath, a crack will appear on its surface. To stop the further spread of the defect, it is necessary to repair the coating immediately. To do this, you will need a repair kit for acrylic bathtubs and a drill. It is necessary to act according to the following instructions:

Experienced craftsmen say that if you choose the right color, as well as carefully and carefully perform grinding, after repair the crack will be invisible even in bright light. It is better to purchase a repair kit from the same manufacturer that produces this bath model, otherwise the repaired places will look like dirty spots.

Video instruction

August 28, 2016
Specialization: facade finishing, interior finishing, construction of dachas, garages. The experience of an amateur gardener and horticulturist. He also has experience repairing cars and motorcycles. Hobbies: playing the guitar and much more, for which there is not enough time :)

Acrylic bathtubs have recently become widespread due to their practicality and hygiene. Their only drawback is that the surface is easily damaged as a result of chemical, mechanical and thermal influences, although in this case the plumbing can be restored. It is not at all difficult to do this, as you can see from this article, in which I will tell you how to repair acrylic bathtubs at home.

Types of damage and ways to eliminate them

First of all, I note that acrylic bathtubs do not tolerate mechanical stress, in addition, they are unstable to acids, alkalis, solvents and other chemical compounds. Therefore, if the operating rules are not followed, this plumbing very quickly loses its original appearance or even begins to leak.

True, surface damage is not excluded if these rules are followed, because emergency situations also occur, for example, if a heavy object is dropped onto the bathtub. This leads to the formation of chips and cracks.

Of course, you can entrust the restoration of plumbing to specialists. However, the cost of their services often reaches half the cost of a bath.

Therefore, it is much more profitable to repair an acrylic bathtub with your own hands, moreover, as mentioned above, it is not at all difficult. The only thing to keep in mind is that different types of damage are eliminated in different ways. Therefore, further we will consider how to eliminate the following types of damage:

Removing minor scratches

If the surface of the bathtub has lost its luster or even has small scratches on it, polishing will help to solve this problem. This procedure is performed as follows:

before removing scratches, you need to thoroughly wash the bath and dry it;
Next, you need to wipe the area with scratches with sandpaper with the finest grain. You need to rub carefully so as not to add more scratches;
when the surface takes on a smooth matte look and all scratches disappear, a polish with a fine abrasive should be applied to the prepared area. Keep in mind that you must use special formulations designed for acrylic baths, otherwise you will not achieve a quality result.

After applying the polish, the surface must be rubbed with felt, as a result of which the surface will become absolutely smooth, but not yet completely shiny;

now you need to apply a wax polish without an abrasive on the surface and rub the area with a microfiber cloth until it shines;
after polishing, the bath should be rinsed with liquid detergent and wiped with a soft cloth.

On sale you can find a repair kit for polishing, which contains two types of polishes and wipes, i.e. whatever is needed to complete this operation.

I must say that it is not always necessary to sand the surfaces with sandpaper and use an abrasive polish. If the surface has lost its luster, but there are no visible large scratches, you can only get by with a wax composition.

Repair of chips and deep scratches

Now consider how to repair a chipped bathtub with your own hands. Of course, it will not work to clean it with sandpaper, since a notch will still remain on the surface.

In this case, a special repair kit for acrylic bathtubs will help, which contains an acrylic restorer and other components. In particular, it includes an applicator for applying acrylic, sandpaper, a napkin and polishes.

The price of repair kits starts from 500 rubles. This, of course, is much lower than the cost of repair services of specialists.

So, the repair process is as follows:

if a deep scratch is being repaired, it should be widened slightly so that the acrylic restorer can penetrate into it. You can expand the scratch with a mounting knife;
then the surface around the chip or scratch must be carefully sanded with fine sandpaper. The width of the stripped area should be about a centimeter;
after that, the surface of the chip or scratch must be degreased. To do this, you can use alcohol;
now the damaged area needs to be filled with acrylic restorer using the applicator that contains the repair kit. Align the surface with it so that the composition is flush with the surface of the bath, i.e., in fact, ordinary puttying is carried out;

after polymerization of the composition, the surface must be sanded with fine sandpaper and polished according to the scheme described above.

This completes the work. I must say that liquid acrylic may slightly differ in shade from the bath. The fact is that it is almost impossible to choose a shade, since even bathtubs of the same manufacturer from different batches can have different shades, which, of course, is noticeable only if you put them side by side.

However, you can only notice that the color is different by looking closely at the repaired area. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with this.

After home craftsmen are usually interested - how to seal the joint with the wall? For these purposes, it is better to use a plumbing sealant that fills the gap. In addition, an acrylic border should be glued to the corner.

Crack repair

So, with the elimination of chips and cracks, we figured it out. But what to do if the bathtub cracked and began to leak? The answer is simple - use the same repair kit for acrylic bathtubs.

I must say that repairing an acrylic bathtub crack is in many ways reminiscent of removing chips and scratches, however, there are some nuances:

as in the previous case, before closing the crack, it needs to be slightly expanded and the areas around it should be sanded;
then, on both sides of the crack, you need to drill holes with a diameter of about a millimeter so that it does not diverge further;
now the surface needs to be washed and degreased;
further work is carried out according to the scheme described above.

Keep in mind that cracks must be repaired as soon as they appear, otherwise they will be much more difficult to repair. True, the method described above is only suitable for small cracks, a few centimeters long. If the crack is large, reinforcement should be performed, as when repairing holes.

Repair of through holes

Often people are interested in the forums - how to close a hole in an acrylic bath? This procedure is the most difficult, however, it is also quite possible to cope with it yourself.

True, if the hole is small - a few millimeters in diameter, then it can simply be filled with liquid acrylic according to the scheme described above. As a rule, such holes remain after self-tapping screws.

If the hole is large, then it must be reinforced. The instructions for doing this work look like this:

before sealing the hole, it is necessary to prepare the back side. Namely, you need to thoroughly wash and degrease the area around the hole with a diameter of about 15 cm;
then a fiberglass overlay is glued to the hole from the back. The latter is available in the hole reinforcement kit.

The cover should be glued with epoxy glue. Keep in mind that it must cover the hole by at least 5 cm;

after the glue dries, another overlay is applied, which should overlap the previous one by several centimeters;
then, after the surface has dried, a third reinforcing layer is glued, which should cover the hole by at least 15 cm;
further work is carried out from the inside - the area around the hole is sanded and degreased;

after that, the hole is filled with liquid acrylic and leveled;
at the end of the work, the repaired surface must be sanded with fine sandpaper and polished.

Often people ask - how to cut fiberglass to the size of the hole? To do this, you can attach the canvas to the hole from the inside and mark it. After that, the canvas is cut with a mounting knife or ordinary scissors.

After completing all these manipulations, the bath is ready for use. As you can see, even the elimination of through holes does not contain anything complicated. The main thing is to choose the right repair kit so that it contains all the necessary components, including polishes, epoxy glue and fiberglass.

Eliminate delamination

Finally, consider what to do if the surface of the bath is swollen, i.e. acrylic moved away from fiberglass. This defect is eliminated quite simply, the only thing is that for this you need a special glue for gluing polymeric materials.

So, the work is carried out in the following sequence:

in the center of the swollen bubble, it is necessary to make a small hole and introduce glue into the space between fiberglass and acrylic. To do this, you can use a regular syringe;
then the acrylic surface must be pressed down so that it adheres to the fiberglass base. In this case, the adhesive that has come out must be removed;
now you need to close the hole with liquid acrylic according to the scheme described above and then polish the repaired area.

Another unpleasant phenomenon that owners of acrylic bathtubs may encounter is an unpleasant smell. There are not so many options for what to do if it stinks. Manufacturers recommend taking hot water into the bath and letting it cool, and the procedure should be done within a week.

Here, in fact, are all the nuances of repairing an acrylic bath.

Conclusion

At home, you can carry out any repair of acrylic bathtubs, including even the elimination of large through holes. To perform this work, there are special kits on sale. Therefore, the main thing is only to choose the right set for solving certain problems, as well as adhere to the above recommendations.

For more information, see the video in this article. If you have any questions regarding the repair of acrylic plumbing, ask them in the comments, and I will be happy to answer you.

Acrylic bathtubs, with all their advantages (lightness, variety of shapes, noiselessness, relatively affordable price), have one serious flaw - they can crack or even form a through hole when a heavy object falls.

In this regard, almost every user who encounters this problem sooner or later has a question - how to glue an acrylic bathtub and is it possible to do this in principle?

When taking on the repair of a bathtub, it must be remembered that a mistake can lead to irreparable consequences - a seemingly ordinary crack, with an unfavorable outcome, can cause flooding not only of your apartment, but also of the neighbors below.

Therefore, it is immediately worth discarding such repair options as "cold" welding, the use of ordinary glue, sealing a crack with metallized tape, etc. All of these materials have a low coefficient of adhesion to acrylic and, in addition, change their specific gravity differently with temperature. In practice, this means that the "patch" will bounce off at the first hit of warm water on the repair site.

So, it should be clearly understood that it is possible to glue an acrylic bathtub only with the help of acrylic or acrylic and epoxy putty with a fiberglass cloth, if the crack (hole) is through or has a large area.

A shallow crack is embroidered with a drill, simultaneously reaming holes at its ends (to stop further growth). After that, the future seam is thoroughly washed, if necessary, degreased with alcohol. In no case should ordinary solvents be used for degreasing - acrylic in this case will drain down. The embroidered crack is filled with liquid acrylic, to which a hardener is added. After the final solidification, the surface is cleaned with sandpaper and polished flush with the "native" surface of the bath.

This should be done if the crack has spread only to the surface layer of acrylic. Through damage is repaired using a special acrylic tape from the repair kit. All preparatory procedures are similar to those described above, the only difference is that acrylic tape is glued on top at the end to increase the strength of the repair area.

Through holes and cracks with damage to the tub frame are repaired by reinforcing the repair area with fiberglass cloth and epoxy putty. To do this, the required area is cleaned with sandpaper from the back of the bath, which is glued with fiberglass. Epoxy resin with a hardener acts as a binder. It must be remembered that high strength can only be achieved by applying putty in several layers with the obligatory drying of each. The inner surface of the bathroom in the area of the hole is either filled with liquid acrylic or glued with a repair tape of the same material.

All work must be carried out with strict observance of safety precautions: airing the room, rubber gloves, a respirator with a carbon filter. During the drying of epoxy putty and liquid acrylic, it is prohibited to stay in the apartment.

A small crack in the acrylic bath: what to do?

If you are not careful when using plumbing, small defects will appear on its surface over time. Some owners do not attach importance to them, but they must be removed immediately, since microbes and dirt accumulate in large numbers in them.

A small crack in an acrylic bathtub is easy to repair. First, sand the damaged area with the coarse side of the sandpaper. After a thorough cleaning, treat the problem area with fine-grained sandpaper. At the finishing stage, apply a special polish.

Since the material has a homogeneous structure, after processing it with sandpaper, the color will not change. Therefore, you do not have to worry about the fact that the treated area will stand out against the general background of the surface.

What to do with a large crack in an acrylic bathtub?

If the damage is serious and large in size, a serious approach is required from you. You must have a set of special tools. The problem must be removed immediately after its discovery, since ignoring it will entail considerable physical and financial costs.

Before repairing a crack in an acrylic bath, carefully sand the damage with coarse sandpaper. Capture not only the problem area, but also the areas around it. It will be enough to process an additional 1.5-2 cm around the defect. This is necessary so that the epoxy putty that you will use later adheres better to the surface of the plumbing.

Then, using an electric drill, drill one 1 mm hole on each side of the damage. This is necessary so that it does not increase in size.

Clean the damaged area with laundry soap and clean water. Then let the liquid dry completely or remove it with a regular hair dryer.

Let's figure out how to seal a crack in an acrylic bath. As a rule, special two-component mixtures are used for this. You need to mix the hardener with the base material right before applying it to the plumbing surface. It is important to remember that these mixtures contain toxic materials, so you must ensure good ventilation in the room and wear a respirator when working with the material.

The prepared putty mixture is applied to the problem area and drilled holes using the applicator, which is sold in the repair kit.

Important! The putty dries out within 12-16 hours, so the next stage of restoration of acrylic bath cracks should be started only after this time has elapsed.

When everything is dry, take a fine-grained sandpaper and work on the area until it is perfectly smooth.

How to fix a crack in an acrylic bathtub with repair tape?

To repair damage with repair tape, you must do the following:

clean the damage with coarse-grained sandpaper;
drill small holes with a drill at the bottom and top of the crack;
thoroughly degrease everything and allow the surface to dry;
cut the tape along the length exceeding the damage by 2-3 cm;
remove the protective film from the tape immediately before use;
stick the tape on the damaged area;
carefully remove all bubbles from it with a plastic spatula and a dry cloth.

The restored area must dry. Typically, this takes 4-6 hours. Be careful not to get liquid on it. Experts recommend using plumbing for its intended purpose at least 8 hours after repair work. Now you know how else you can repair a crack in an acrylic bath.