The City of Homes

Berwyn Bathtub Refinishing

Cutting Edge Refinishing refinishes bathtubs, tile, sinks and shower bases throughout Berwyn. Refinishing bonds a durable acrylic coating to the surface you already have, so there is no demolition, no dumpster and no replacement. Most Berwyn jobs are finished in one visit, with roughly 24 hours of cure time before the tub is back in use.

It costs a fraction of replacement, and there will be no beginners or trainees on your job. That is the part that decides how a refinished tub looks in five years.

1 dayMost Berwyn jobs start and finish the same day
24 hrsTypical cure time before normal use
60–80%Typical savings versus a full replacement

Refinishing built for Berwyn bungalows

Berwyn has one of the densest collections of Chicago-style bungalows anywhere. The Central Berwyn Bungalow Historic District alone holds more than 1,300 contributing buildings, over 1,100 of them brick Chicago bungalows, and it went on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. Most were built in the 1920s, and most still have their original bathroom.

That original bathroom is usually a cast iron tub with a rolled rim, set into an alcove lined with small hexagonal floor tile and glossy field tile up the wall. The tub is almost always sound. What has gone is the glaze: dulled, stained around the drain, maybe chipped where something heavy landed.

Replacing it is where people run into trouble. A 1920s Berwyn alcove is rarely a modern 60 inch opening, and the tile that surrounds it cannot be matched at any home center. Pull the tub and you are committed to retiling the whole surround. Refinishing keeps the original tub and the original tile, and puts a hard new surface on both.

Common in Berwyn

  • Original cast iron bungalow tubs restored in place
  • 1920s wall and hex floor tile recolored, not replaced
  • Non-standard alcoves kept exactly as built
  • Finished in one day with roughly 24 hours to cure

Berwyn refinishing questions

Can you refinish the original tile in a Berwyn bungalow bathroom?

Yes. Tile refinishing coats the existing wall and floor tile, including the small hex tile common in 1920s Berwyn bathrooms. It changes the color and restores the gloss without removing anything, which matters because tile from that era cannot be matched with new stock.

Is refinishing a good option for a historic Berwyn bungalow?

It is usually the best option. Refinishing preserves the original cast iron tub and tile rather than sending them to a dumpster, and it avoids opening walls in a house where the alcove was framed to a non-standard size.

What is bathtub refinishing?

Bathtub refinishing restores a worn tub by bonding a durable acrylic coating to the existing surface. Nothing is torn out, no plumbing is moved and most jobs are finished in a single day.

How much does refinishing save compared with replacing a tub?

Refinishing typically saves 60 to 80 percent versus removing and replacing a bathtub, because there is no demolition, no plumbing work, no retiling and no disposal.

Should I refinish a bathtub myself with a kit?

No. Hardware store kits use a brush-on product with a fraction of the durability of a professionally sprayed coating, and the prep work is where most DIY jobs fail. A peeling refinish costs more to strip and redo than it would have cost to do correctly the first time.

Free quote for your Berwyn bathroom

Text or email a photo of your tub or tile and we will price the job without a sales visit.

Skilled, fully insured technicians. Read customer reviews or see job examples.