Bath re-enamelled: is it worth it?

[Jo31]

I've got a cast iron which is fine except the surface has been damaged by cleaning products so it's rough. I've come across companies offering to re-enamel at home and they say with good results.

Has anyone got experience of having a bath re-enamelled - is it worth it or is it time to replace the bath?

Views and any recommendations welcome.

Thanks

[Frenchy]

Whatever claims these companies make it's not that same process as proper vitreous enamelling - how the bath was originally coated - as this has to be done at a proper facility. The coating they apply can apply in situ can look good but won't be anything like as hardwearing as true VE (it can peel if if starts to lose its bond with the underlying surface) and doesn't quite manage the same sort of opulent look either.

If I was going to do it - I'd make sure I chose a company that was prepared to stand by their work and offer a five year guarantee on their coating.

But tbh if it were a freestanding bath I really wanted - and the one I had needed the whole surface redoing, I think I'd bite the bullet, get show of the old one and buy a newly restored free-standing bath which had been properly enamelled using the trad process. They're expensive - but the recoating isn't exactly cheap either - and nowhere near as good.

[Rooster Booster]

25 years ago I did this, but if I remember correctly I didn't have it done on site. They took my bath away and returned it a few days later. I was really pleased with the results. Sorry but I cannot remember who did the work and I have since moved so cannot check if there is a sticker from the company on the bath. I chose re-enamelling because it was a small bath that perfectly fitted the space - modern baths would have been too long. If you like the bath and it works for you, keep it.