If your tub or shower stall is looking gritty and old

The traditional way to resurface a bathtub is to sand it down, and apply a brand new coat and finish. You can hire someone to do it or you can do it yourself.

If you decide to do it yourself, you will need to purchase a bathtub resurfacing kit. There are several kits available, with varying paint and finish types. So although these bathtub resurfacing kits are used in the same or similar way across the board, make sure you pick one that will match the color and sheen that you want.

Make sure that you clean your tub thoroughly. If your kit includes its own cleaning solution make sure that you use it. This is professional grade stuff that can remove oils and resins that may not be visible.

Then, you must dry it completely before you start. Wipe it down and finish up with a hair dryer.

The next step is to sand your bathtub down. There are many different grades of sand paper out there, but for bathtubs and sinks, many agree that 220 and 240 is ideal. You would use 220 initially, then 240 afterward for finer sanding. After you have finished sanding, rinse off the loose grains with water, then dry off the bathtub surface completely.

Next, you want to get off the old primer by using primer reducer. Apply it vigorously with a paper towel or sponge. After you get the old primer off, fill in all visible cracks with putty. Let the putty dry for 30 minutes.

Apply the new primer and let it dry for 30 minutes. Lastly, apply the final coat of epoxy and let it dry for about 48 hours before you use the bathtub again. For these last two steps, you'll want to make sure you have good ventilation as the fumes are dangerous to inhale. So, open your windows or turn on your bathroom vents.

There is also an alternative to traditional bathtub resurfacing. It's called bathtub relining. With this method, you simply buy a tub liner, which is usually made out of PVC or acrylic cover, then you glue it over the existing bathtub. This is a quick and dirty way to do bathroom resurfacing. It can make for a decent look, but nothing spectacular. You can definitely notice it's plastic-like feel due to its flexibility. Many times the shell eventually becomes lose and you can tell there's two layers to the bathtub. But this sure beats looking at an old, grimy, beat up bathtub.