Can you sand a steel bath coated in white enamel?

mrcheez

Have some guys working in the house and he's using sandpaper to get rid of paint etc that got on the bath.

Is that normal? Would have imagined it would scratch the bath.

Juwwi

No its not normal sandpaper will surely scratch the bath .

Try and go in and have a look at it .

mrcheez

OK stopped him.. I don't understand why tradesmen always seem to get stuff like this wrong.

No matter what company I've used, they've always made mistakes at some level, no matter what price etc. Never had a tradesman over that had 0 issues.

Juwwi

Did you have a look at the bath is there any scratches on it ?

mrcheez

I think I got in there in time, thanks. Might be minute marks will check in daylight at weekend

my3cents

Is this a white enamel cast iron bath or a plastic one?

Plastic will scratch very easily but the enamel is much tougher its as hard a glass (it is glass sort of) but will still scratch.

Edit> sorry being stupid see its steel (well guess that means cast iron) in the title.

K.Flyer

The enamel on the bath will dull if it is sanded and will be more prone to staining.
Hopefully he has not done much / any damage. Did he not use dustsheets?

mrcheez

K.Flyer wrote: »

The enamel on the bath will dull if it is sanded and will be more prone to staining.
Hopefully he has not done much / any damage. Did he not use dustsheets?

Clearly I need to hire you for any plumbing jobs next time

PANDDDKP

He should not be using sandpaper on a bath! If it's fresh paint that has dried he should use hot water and a scour pad. Christ sakes, some guys are just stupid.
Are they actual tradesmen or just rough merchants chancing their arm at a trade?

mrcheez

Actual tradesmen.

It's inevitable though that SOMETHING will be done incorrectly in my experience unless you are literally standing by them at all times (which can then trigger resentment and possibly damage the thing they are fitting by being rough with it)

- Roofer did my roof and it leaked for the first time a week later.
- Plumber got the hot and cold taps mixed up after bath was sealed up and plus a range of other things, like bath left uneven after tiles put down on wall.
- Carpenters smashed my lightshade and claimed someone else did it
- Tilers laid down a mosaic pattern that I was half-way through completing when I went upstairs for an hour (they told me I had until the next day to decide on the mosaic I wanted.. but obviously forgot about that and went ahead and set it in concrete)
- Alarm installer drilled holes in my window frame by accident then tried to cover it up by installing a dummy sensor
.. etc etc

It can't be bad luck as these were all established companies/tradesmen from various sources, not one place.

Basically damage like this is inevitable... unless you manage to catch it in time. Thankfully boards came to the rescue in this instance.

mrcheez

Found this that should work to remove the metallic scratch marks:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Home-Kitchen/Generic-Wannen-Gummi-Cramer-China-Rubber-Remover/B001RPYH4C/

the scratches are on the surface so should be possible to remove I think...