Bathroom Countertops

[Sanders]

Hello fellow Airstreamers,
I have a question about the bathroom countertops in my 74 Excella. The countertops have faded and streaked over the years. This includes the tub as well. It looks absolutely horrid. I have tried all types of cleansers, liquids, foams, and bleach. Nothing I have used seems to have any effect on the discoloration. Any ideas or suggestions?
Has anyone out there ever tried any of that new "Fusion" paint that is suppose to bond to plastics? I was thinking maybe I could try a can in the cream color that matches as close to the original countertop as possible.
At this point, I can't seem to come up with anything else to try. If anyone out there has had this problem and has come up with a viable solution I would really like to hear from you. If anyone out there has any ideas about a possible fix, I'd like to hear from you as well. Thanks for any advice.
Sanders

[Lee Pace]

We redid two of our Airstream bathrooms with Epoxy paint. We used the ivory color and two years later, still looks great.

There is a lot of taping off to do (faucets etc.) but really was worth it.

Gloria Pace
72 Sovereign
84 Avion
WBCCI 7287
Greenville, Tx

[sequoiacoast]

Hi there, and welcome. Forum's member, Balgrn has used Por 15 white coat with great results. I used "Tile Doctor", 2-part epoxy (which I tinted to a creamy color) and sprayed them outside. The improvement was awesome!

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f116...n-26932-3.html




I remember someone using the fusion.... try using the 'advanced search'(pops down when you click on 'search'. Type in fusion paint and select your results as "Posts"- not "threads"... it makes searching A LOT easier!!

[SmokelessJoe]

Sanders:

I think you can use any of the modern two component paints.

I chose to strip everything out and start again. Here’s my vessel sink made from an IKEA salad bowl.



The white walls in the background are done in the POR 15 two-part product called WhiteCoat. It’s porcelain hard and I’m sure it will work on your plastic pieces.

Many more pictures of the Argosy renewal here:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f227...ase-18448.html



Sergei

[jdalrymple]

Have tried the fusion paint on other plastic (an ice bucket, PVC plastic I think) and NO Luck. Followed instructions to the letter and the stuff scratches off at the smallest bump.

[Silver Threads]

We used the krylon fusion paint on all of our bathroom counters and bathtub. It turned out great. There are pictures somewhere on the forums. We havent had any problems with it so far. Been on there about 8 months now. We take baths and showers in it. Hope this helps!

[crispyboy]

Over the weekend I put on Por 15 whitecoat on the plastic bathroom pieces - shower pan, wall board, sink, and vanity top. Needless to say I am not very happy. I ended up with very thick brush strokes - the material would not smooth out.
I called Por15 tech support this morning and now I must try to sand out all the brush strokes and imperfections and try it again. This time I will try to spray the material.
At this point I can not recommend this product. I will probably end up making a new vanity top and putting in a new sink bowl since they look so crummy. I'll update when I finish this part of the job. It will probably be awhile as life is getting real busy and trailer repair will have to take a back seat.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by crispyboy

Over the weekend I put on Por 15 whitecoat on the plastic bathroom pieces - shower pan, wall board, sink, and vanity top. Needless to say I am not very happy. I ended up with very thick brush strokes - the material would not smooth out.

I have used "Tough as Tile" on both by 71 and 73 with very good results.

The countertops in your 74 are probably PBS with the color throughout the thickness rather than just on top, so you may be able to sand off surface stains.

[Sanders]

Thanks to everyone who offered advice. I think I will take some time to think about all the options everyone out there has given me. The Fusion paint sounds too good to be true, it must appeal to my lazy side. The results seem mixed though. I don't know anything about that POR 15 that Sergei mentions, but his sink and backsplash look awesome! I think I will do some research on that material. Again, the results with the POR 15 seem mixed. That Epoxy may be worth investigating as well. Thanks for all the great ideas from all of you. I am currently repairing all the tambour cabinets in the old gal, so it will be some time before I get to the bathroom countertops. In the meantime, keep the advice coming! It will help with my research as well as keep me motivated! Thanks again to all who helped with suggestions.
Sanders

[overlander64]

Greetings Sanders!

Originally Posted by Sanders

Thanks to everyone who offered advice. I think I will take some time to think about all the options everyone out there has given me. The Fusion paint sounds too good to be true, it must appeal to my lazy side. The results seem mixed though. I don't know anything about that POR 15 that Sergei mentions, but his sink and backsplash look awesome! I think I will do some research on that material. Again, the results with the POR 15 seem mixed. That Epoxy may be worth investigating as well. Thanks for all the great ideas from all of you. I am currently repairing all the tambour cabinets in the old gal, so it will be some time before I get to the bathroom countertops. In the meantime, keep the advice coming! It will help with my research as well as keep me motivated! Thanks again to all who helped with suggestions.
Sanders

Another possibility if you aren't anxious to deal with painting is to contract out to a bathroom refinishing specialist. I had the avacado green bathroom fixtures in my '64 Overlander professionally refinished nearly five years ago -- and they still look like new -- the cost was quite reasonable and the change to antique pewter for the color softened the interior asthetics. A photo of the bath can be seen below:



The refinisher identified at least three different types of synthetic materials in the bathroom fixtures that required three specific primers as well as one particular top-coat that was compatible with the three primers utilized. My regular plumber for my home connected me with his reqular refinisher (the refinisher didn't advertise in any way -- worked be word-of-mouth through plumbing contractors).

The before photo is below:



Good luck with your project!

Kevin

[Silver Threads]

This is our bathroom, we used krylon Fusion paint! Sanded it down and painted,it has held up very well for about a year now.

John

[SmokelessJoe]

Crispy Boy, Sanders:


We painted the shower pan by hand.



You can see that the result is not too shabby.



The walls were first painted with a foam roller. We didn’t realize until the end that the paint had reacted with the foam and ruined the job, not just the roller.



The Por 15 distributor stood behind the product and sent a new supply. We had to sand the walls down but a second coat with a good quality brush worked very well.

It’s not as smooth as glass because the aluminum panels painted were already laminated with vinyl covering but it looks very good and is VERY hard.

Spraying would give an even better coat but I didn’t do that because the volatile chemical smell is VERY strong.



Sergei