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Last Updated: Monday, January 15th, 2001, Created: Monday, January 15th, 2001
When the old bathtub is looking pretty bad, the choices are generally to paint it, put a vinyl liner into it, or replace it. Paint will never last as long as the original. The vinyl liners do work and give you the same bathtub rejuvenated. But now a gentleman from Hamilton has a new patented invention to give you an upgrade option. The RetroSoaker, as he calls it, is a vinyl bathtub that is deeper than your original tub and pops into the place of the old one without even bothering the tiles on the wall (unless of course you want to replace the old walls). The really interesting part of the whole thing is that they actually cut the bowl out of the old bathtub, leaving the structure in place. They line up the new tub so that the drain is in exactly the same place, adjust the slope of the new tub if necessary, and then use the structure of the old tub to hold up the new tub. You end up with a deeper tub (but because of a narrower foot area it doesn't use more water) and a perfect slope -- with the workmen in and out and the tub functional in one day. Generally they don't need to bother the wall tiles to do the job, unless like in our job they discover rotten studs behind the old tub. One other great detail: if you have them put in a vinyl tub surround, they heat weld the corners to make them permanent rather than just caulking them. I'm impressed. Presently only available in Southern Ontario, I am sure that as he locates competent installers, this one will spread across the country.
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