OT- Repairing crack in fiberglass or plastic

550Doug · Apr 7, 2011

The bottom pan of a shower stall seems to be fiberglass, but might be plastic, and it has 2 one-inch cracks in it. Is there a way to repair this?
What about using heat from a soldering gun to melt and fuse?
Thanks

rrlund · Apr 7, 2011

I don't know how smooth you can get it,but you can buy fiberglass repair kits at the hardware store. You just mix the 2 liquids together and brush it on then put the fiberglass cloth over it. I've used it to fix everything from poly sprayer tanks to the cab corners on my pickup.

gene bender · Apr 7, 2011

Better check its probably ABS and fiberglass doesent stick verry well without some prep

old · Apr 7, 2011

My bath tub had that problem a few years ago. A replacement tub was over $500 so I took a gamble and fiber glassed the whole bottom of it. Did have to sand it off rel well and ruff it up but is has been holding for years now. Does not look real good but it works. The big problem is to do the job well and have it hold up you pretty much need to pull it out so you can get to the bottom of it and cover the whole thing or it will not hold

Jerry/MT · Apr 7, 2011

The first thing to do is to stop drill the crack ends to keep the crack from propagating. You might be able to pop rivet a thin sheet of metal across the crack transversly to help it hold togther and then fiberglass over it to seal it up. To make it look good, you might have to do the whole floor of the pan and then gel coat it, roughing it up so you have some traction when it"s wet.
Just a thought.

Dan in North Houston · Apr 7, 2011

It can be fixed. Contact the owner / manager of a nearby cheap hotel. They can probably put you in contact with someone who specializes in doing this. We had this done to a bath tub and after they were done, could not find where they patched it.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 7, 2011

The fix for fiberglass is to use epoxy resin and woven fiberglass cloth. Hardware store resin is usually polyester and has poor adhesion on cured fiberglass surfaces. I recomend WEST 105/206. Sand the surface to degloss. Clean with acetone to remove anything oily (ventilate WELL). Wet the surface with resin mix then lay on the clothe and brush it into the wet resin add more as needed to wet out the glass. Repeat this step several times to build up a strong layup. After it has cured sand and fill the surface as needed to create a smooth surface and paint with a good marine epoxy paint of your choosen color. If your pan cracked it probably was not bedded in wet morter when it was installed. If you can get some under it now it will help prevent cracking in the future. If not make the repair lay up thicker.

smallercrawler · Apr 7, 2011

Home supply centers (Lowes/Home Depot/etc.) usually have repair kits for this. Bought one that had acetone, resin, cloth, and several tinted fillers to match tub color for about 12 bucks. Has worked great for several years.

omahagreg · Apr 7, 2011

At least in Omaha, there is one guy who repairs this stuff. It is said he repaired a 1 piece shower that a rafter was sent thru, and it looked good!

Bob · Apr 8, 2011

WHAT the heck kind of gymnastics went on in the shower to cause THAT type of damage?

WHY not simply replace the "pan" and start over?

Brad Gyde · Apr 8, 2011

Bob, if it's a manufactured home (such as my house is) it don't take much to crack em, as they're usually right under a sky-light so the sunlight weakens the plastic (YES PLASTIC) of the tub, and the plastic is hardly as thick as a darn ziplock disposable bowl.. And not supported underneath very well.. and over time, if you're a big guy, such as I am, it will break.. Which mine did.. twice.

The first time it was fixed (before I lived here) with what appears to had been fiberglass patch.

The second time we replaced.. and lucky for us, the pan in a "manufactured home" is a odd size, so major changes would have had to been made to the bathroom (2" shorter than a usual tub, again, IIRC)..

The new tub pan for mine was nearly $500, once I found one that would fit in the bathroom.. but it appears to be fiberglass, and a lot thicker than the original, and we "supported" it a lot better than the original.

To answer the question, I don't know what exactly to use, but I'd surely try to patch it.. Worst it'd do is not work.

Brad

Anonymous-0 · Apr 8, 2011

The support I put under my tubs and showers was the expanding foam,,had some in two cans that mixed where it came out, they were hoses long enough to reach under tub and shower.....

teddy52food · Apr 8, 2011

I slipped & fell & broke a hole in the tub. Thought I broke my arm. It was just a bad sprain. We have a local couple that repair tubs & when they were done they matched the paint so close you can't see where it was repaired.

OT- Repairing crack in fiberglass or plastic

550Doug

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rrlund

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gene bender

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old

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Jerry/MT

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Dan in North Houston

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Anonymous-0

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smallercrawler

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omahagreg

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Bob

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Brad Gyde

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Anonymous-0

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teddy52food

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