Porcelain is one of the oldest materials for bathroom fittings. Homes that retained their period fixtures often contain these delicate surfaces that could require porcelain repair in Phoenix if you treat them too harshly while cleaning or using them. Here is an explanation of why porcelain needs special care and how to provide that to these unique elements in your home.
Special properties of porcelain
Porcelain became popular for bathroom fixtures due to its durability. Most pieces, especially weight-bearing ones like bathtubs, are porcelain enamel with a cast iron base, which makes them stronger. However, while the porcelain is durable, it can also be porous, which allows it to chip, dent, scratch and discolor easily. The same surface damage can also occur with mishandling, which is why your porcelain fixtures require careful consideration during house cleaning.
Wipe down sinks every day
If you have a porcelain sink, give it a wipe down at the end of each day. After experiencing an especially busy day at the sink, consider using dishwashing liquid for extra cleaning power. Using a sponge or soft cloth, give it a once over to control soap scum, dirt and grease, as well as prevent damage and stains.
Keep it soft
Abrasive cleaners, like the granulated bathroom cleaner beloved by your grandmother, are too harsh for the porous surface of porcelain. Buy a product specifically for porcelain or make your own cleaner. Automatic dishwasher gel is good for the quick daily clean and it can also remove stains. Ammonia and water is also a good cleaning combination for porcelain. Many people report this brings back a shine to even the most abused of kitchen sinks and bathtubs, so give it a try on your porcelain fittings.
If you have rust stains, a paste of borax and lemon juice works very well. Rub it into the rust stain and then rinse with water. Even if you have bad stains in your sink, do not let the mixture sit too long, as that will weaken the surface.
Finally, you should always clean with something soft—no brushes or rough pads. Sponges work well, as do any soft rags.
Give porcelain a deep clean
Before you use this deep cleaning method, you will want to take steps to ventilate the room. This means opening windows in your kitchen (or near your kitchen) and running your bathroom fan.
Spread paper towels on the bottom of your fixture. Pour bleach over them without diluting it and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Rinse with water and wipe the surface dry with a soft cloth. The bleach will help with stains and germs while the paper towels will protect the surface.
Continue with good-sense maintenance
For kitchen sinks, avoid placing hot items directly on the surface. Run pots and pans under cool water first. Also, do not drop heavy items on porcelain surfaces and be careful when you are installing metal fixtures like faucets. Dropping items like these can chip the surface.
At A-1 Porcelain & Fiberglass Service, LLC we will understand if, despite your best intentions, you still require porcelain repair in Phoenix. Call us today to arrange an appointment and start anew with your porcelain sink, bathtub or shower.
Remodeling your home’s bathroom can be exciting and terrifying all at the same time. And while you might be ready with an idea of what you want, you may not know where to start when it comes to choosing the fixture material you want to use. Three of the most common materials you will find in bathrooms across America are fiberglass, ceramic or porcelain. Take a look at the differences between these three common materials:
Fiberglass
When used as a material for bathroom fixtures, fiberglass—a reinforced composite material of woven glass fibers—proves that it can handle the job. Not only is fiberglass lightweight, but it is surprisingly strong and can easily be shaped to your bathroom’s size to accommodate your needs.
Described by pros as an economical choice for your sinks, toilets or bath tubs in Glendale, fiberglass is on the easier side of available fixture materials to repair if it cracks or chips. It’s a low cost material that comes in a variety of colors, but be aware that discoloration can occur over time in fiberglass bathroom fixtures.
Don’t like cleaning the bathroom? Well, you won’t need to put in much elbow grease to clean your fiberglass fixtures, however, be aware that fixtures with the gel coat and ones that are matte-finished textured are not resistant to abrasive cleaners and they can scratch or leave marks.
Ceramic
Bathroom fixtures made of ceramic or ceramic title can add beauty and freshness to an otherwise simple room. Ceramic is fired clay that can create dense and durable bath tubs capable of locking in and regulating warm bath water. However, if you use ceramic tile for your tub, the irregular floor surface (individual tile spacing) of the bath tub may be uncomfortable on your bare skin, making it difficult to relax in a bath.
Depending on the type of fixture you want to be ceramic, you may or may not want to glaze it, but once it is glazed, it’s waterproof. Ceramic fixture like tubs and sinks are constructed to last you a long time. Use any type of bathroom cleanser on ceramic to keep its glaze bright, but if left unmaintained gross grout can form in the spaces between the tiles.
Porcelain
Like ceramic, porcelain bathroom fixtures are also made out of fired clay, but the difference is that they’re non porous which makes this material waterproof without needing a glaze. Porcelain is easy to clean and made of a hard glass-like material and while dense, is very resistant to cracking and chipping.
While a much heavier fixture material than most, its durability and resistance to wear makes porcelain a great choice for frequently used fixtures like tubs and toilets. Similar to ceramic, it can be clear or color glazed, yet showcases a natural white translucent look.
Thinking it’s time to remodel your home’s bathroom, but not sure where to start? Don’t jump into such a large project without a solid plan. If you need assistance selecting the right material for your bathroom sinks, toilets and bath tubs in Glendale, contact the professionals at A-1 Porcelain & Fiberglass for guidance and more information.
If you’ve owned your home for a few years now or have ever rented an apartment that needed a little refresh in the amenities department, you’ve probably experienced cracks or chips in the porcelain in your bathroom. They can occur virtually anywhere—from the sink to the bathtub and everywhere in between—and once they’re there, it’s virtually impossible for any homeowner to fix them without sending out a distress call to a local porcelain repair contractor.
Sometimes, these imperfections seem to appear, as if by magic overnight; other times, we’re ultimately responsible for them and don’t realize what we’ve done until it’s too late. Whatever the case for porcelain cracks, having to look at them day in and day out can be maddening for anyone. Take a look at a few of the most common reasons for cracked porcelain and how investing in porcelain repair in Phoenix can help to restore the splendor of these surfaces:
Age-related damages
Things get old and they break—sometimes, there’s just no other reason for it! Much of the time, age-related porcelain cracks start as something small: a hairline fracture or a crack that hasn’t yet broken the surface. These can appear for a number of reasons, but ultimately time will be what makes them worse. It could take months, years or even decades for a crack to really become pronounced in your porcelain!
Temperature changes
In kitchens (and some bathrooms), temperature changes can be a major culprit in the formation of porcelain cracks. Because porcelain is usually layered over metal, it tends to remain cool and heat up quickly—imagine pouring a boiling pot of water down your drain and how fast the temperature change would occur on your porcelain! This quick temperature change is a real shock to the material and after a while, it can result in cracking.
User-error
Dropping your toothbrush in the sink surely isn’t going to do any harm to your porcelain, but accidently dropping something heavier could damage your porcelain in major and minor ways. The most common occurrences of this generally happen when medicine cabinets are opened and things fall out of them, such as a can of shaving cream—avoid dropping heavy items onto your porcelain and you’ll be able to better avoid porcelain repair in Phoenix!
Making the cracks go away
So, with all of these ways and more for your porcelain to become damaged, what makes porcelain repair in Phoenix the answer, as opposed to a new installation or an alternate material?
The answer is really quite simple: it’s highly cost effective and helps your existing fixture to retain its value. Because porcelain repairs are seamless and invisible once cured, no one will ever know the wiser when it comes to detecting previous imperfections! You’ll save a bundle of cash and reap the benefits of having sinks, countertops, bathtubs and more that all look as though they’ve been freshly installed or newly renovated.
When you’re a homeowner, the prospect of saving a few bucks by undertaking a DIY project can be alluring. Between the excitement of putting some elbow grease into your very own home and the feeling of accomplishment you’ll have when the project is all done, it’s enough to make anyone feel like the king or queen of their castle! But, be careful as to which projects you take on as DIY ventures and which ones need a true professional to handle them—the difference could mean more work for you and more money out of pocket if something goes awry.
Porcelain repair in Phoenix is one of those jobs better left to a professional. You’ve probably seen cheap repair kits in the store or DIY guides floating around the online home repair forums, which is great—these resources will help people make very minor repairs to their tub or shower all by themselves! But be warned, anything larger than a hairline crack and a store bought kit and some handy advice won’t be enough to save you from making a potentially costly mistake!
The trials of porcelain repair
The number one reason to avoid store bought kits when undertaking porcelain repair in Phoenix is because they’re not as easy to use as you might think! Some come with chemicals that need to be mixed, others come with epoxies that can get very messy very quickly and even more won’t harden into a material that’s up to scratch. You may feel confident buying one of these kits off of the rack at the store, but we’re betting that once you crack it open, you’ll quickly feel as though you’re in over your head!
Porcelain isn’t easy to repair unless you have years of experience doing it. Knowing the right way to fix a chip or gouge, versus knowing how to properly assess a fracture or crack, means all the difference in the world when you’re talking about how the finished repair is going to turn out. You might use one method for re-molding a corner that has chipped off, while another is used for meshing together two parts of a crack—but when applied incorrectly, your bonded repair material may actually exacerbate the issue!
Technique and method
One major issue with DIY porcelain repair in Phoenix is the technique that many homeowners adopt. For quick fixes, you’ll probably find that “paint on” kits would be the best to use—however many homeowners take the “paint on” concept literally and attempt to apply it like paint! This isn’t going to yield desirable results, however, since adding coats that are too thick will yield bumps in your finished product. Along with this, if you attempt to sand down your patch after applying too many costs, you could damage the existing porcelain and end up with a faded, spotty patch.
In the end, there are many projects worth a DIY approach, but porcelain repair isn’t one of them. Leave your porcelain fixes to a professional if you value the longevity of your fixtures and you’ll find that paying a small price for a professional fix with yield lasting results that are well worth the cost!
Thinking of selling your home in the near future and investing in a new place to live? If so, there are a number of simple home repairs that you can undertake to improve both the aesthetic of your home, as well as its value. Many of these basic improvements are inexpensive and don’t take up a lot of time, but they’re not always things that will come to mind when trying to bolster the value of your home for the housing market. Porcelain repair in Phoenix is one of these things and addressing your home’s tubs, sinks, countertops and other bathroom fixtures should be on your priority list if you’re getting ready to sell.
Showmanship
When you’re showing your home to potential buyers, aesthetic is one of the most prevalent determining factors on whether or not a potential buyer is considering throwing their hat into the bidding ring. If your home is clean, organized and free of damage, it’s going to hold a certain standard that’s far above a home that looks worn, lived in or dirty. And while it’s common sense to pick up your clothes, vacuum and scrub your tile, people don’t always think to repair their porcelain.
The fact of the matter is this: you can clean the soap scum out of your shower, clean up the toothpaste marks in your sink and make your bathtub sparkle, but if there are cracks, chips or gouges in the porcelain, they’re always going to show. Having a professional treat these spaces and undergoing porcelain repair in Phoenix will erase the flaws that you can’t fix yourself, making your freshly cleaned bathroom look like new.
Care and value
A common practice of people viewing potential homes is to seek out the flaws that they can see, so that they have an idea of what types of home repair they’re in for before they buy a home. Seeing damage to porcelain throws up a red flag for many home seekers because they automatically associate the cost of porcelain repair in Phoenix to be much higher than it actually is. Conversely, if they are able to estimate the repairs themselves, they may hold this cost over a seller as leverage when it comes to negotiating on price.
If you’re able to present a bathroom that’s nearly pristine and free of any porcelain damage, however, this bargaining chip comes off of the table and you’re able to confidently stand by your home as a homeowner who takes care of their living space. Potential homebuyers are more apt to reason with a homeowner who they perceive cares about and values their living space, because it breeds confidence in the rest of the home’s condition.
Updated amenities
Even if you’ve never replaced the porcelain in your living space, that doesn’t mean you can’t project the existing facilities in a near mint state. Many potential homebuyers assume that amenities are newly installed or recently refinished if they look better than expected—which is exactly the case when it comes to porcelain repair in Phoenix! A quick visit from a porcelain specialist can have your home looking better than you ever dreamed, giving it a better position on the housing market over those homes that show obvious wear and tear.
