SF Bathtub Reglazing
San Francisco, CA
About SF Bathtub Reglazing Specialists
A small San Francisco refinishing crew that has spent more than a decade restoring the city's tubs, showers, sinks and tile — one bathroom at a time.
Mon–Fri 8 AM–6 PM, Sat 9 AM–4 PM
Who we are
We started SF Bathtub Reglazing Specialists in 2012 after years of watching San Francisco homeowners get talked into ripping out tubs that only needed a proper refinish. The pitch was always the same: tear it out, lose the vintage tile, spend five figures. We knew the surface could be brought back for a fraction of that, so we built a crew that does one thing and does it carefully — reglazing fixtures in homes and rentals across the city.
More than a decade later, the count stands north of 3,420 fixtures refinished across San Francisco — about 245 a year — and the work hasn't changed much, and that's on purpose. The same hands that quote your job spray it. We are not a franchise routing leads to whoever is closest; we are a San Francisco crew that knows the difference between a 1920s Edwardian flat in Pacific Heights and a 1970s fiberglass unit in the Excelsior before we walk in the door.
Meet AJ Dankins, owner & lead refinisher
I'm AJ Dankins. I've been refinishing fixtures in San Francisco since 2012, and the count of tubs I've personally sprayed in that time runs past 1,950 — part of the 3,420-plus fixtures this crew has refinished citywide, of which only a handful, under 1.5%, ever came back on warranty. My specialty is the heavy stuff this city is full of: porcelain-over-cast-iron clawfoots and built-in tubs from the Edwardian and Victorian era, the kind that weigh north of 300 pounds and were set into the room before the walls went up. Around 565 of those have been clawfoot and antique tubs. I trained in spray-applied acrylic-urethane coatings under refinishers who'd been doing it since the 1990s, and I learned the chemistry side — etch, primer adhesion, isocyanate cure — because the finish you see is only the last ten percent of the job.
Where I earned the gray hairs was fixing other people's failures. For my first couple of years a good share of my calls were peeling DIY kits and rushed jobs that skipped the etch, and stripping those back to bare substrate taught me exactly why coatings let go. That's the experience I bring to a quote now: I can usually tell from the way a tub sounds under a knuckle and how the old finish is failing whether the substrate is sound, what went wrong last time, and whether reglazing is even the right call.
I still quote and spray the great majority of our jobs myself, and I'd rather lose the work than sell you a coating that won't hold. If a fixture is genuinely past saving — a cast-iron shell cracked through, a fiberglass floor that flexes like a drum head — I'll say so and point you toward replacement or the manufacturer instead. Call (650) 710-4607 and there's a good chance you're talking to the person who'll be masking off your bathroom next week.
What we refinish
Reglazing — also called refinishing or resurfacing — means bonding a fresh acrylic-urethane coating to a fixture so it looks and wears like new, without removing anything. We refinish cast-iron and porcelain tubs, fiberglass and acrylic tub-shower units, ceramic and porcelain sinks, cultured-marble and laminate countertops, and wall and floor tile. Chips, rust spots around the drain, crazing in old gelcoat, and failed DIY coatings are all things we repair and recoat as part of the job.
Most fixtures are back in service inside a 24–48 hour cure window, and a finished surface holds up for 10 to 15 years with normal care. A typical tub takes us 3 to 5 hours on site. If a fixture is genuinely past saving — a cracked-through cast-iron shell or a soft, flexing fiberglass floor — we will tell you to replace it rather than coat over a problem we can't fix.
How we work
The finish is only as good as the prep, and prep is where shortcuts hide. Every job follows the same sequence: mask and ventilate the room, deep-clean off body oils and soap film, repair chips and grind out rust, then etch porcelain or scuff-sand fiberglass so the coating has something to grip. After a bonding primer, we spray the acrylic-urethane topcoat in even passes to avoid orange-peel texture, let it cure, and re-caulk with fresh silicone. We never coat over old caulk or skip the etch to save twenty minutes — that's exactly how a coating delaminates a year later.
You can read the full step-by-step breakdown on our our process page, including how we handle containment so overspray stays out of the rest of your home.
Licensed, insured, and warrantied
We are fully licensed and insured, so the people working in your bathroom are covered and so are you. Every job we complete carries a written 5-year warranty on the finish — not a verbal promise, a document you keep. If a coating we applied fails from a workmanship issue inside that window, we come back and make it right. That warranty is the main reason we won't rush the prep: standing behind the work for five years only makes sense if the prep was done properly the first time.
The San Francisco homes we work on
San Francisco bathrooms are small, old, and full of fixtures worth keeping. The pre-war flats, Edwardians and Victorians across Noe Valley, Pacific Heights, the Marina and Russian Hill still hold their original cast-iron clawfoot and built-in porcelain tubs, set into compact rooms where a tear-out means losing floor space and trying to match vintage tile that nobody makes anymore. Refinishing keeps the tub and the tile and the room layout intact.
The rental stock tells a different story. Buildings in the Mission, the Richmond District, the Inner and Outer Sunset, Bernal Heights, the Castro, Haight-Ashbury, Glen Park, Nob Hill, Potrero Hill, the Excelsior and SoMa cycle tenants, and a tired tub between leases doesn't justify a remodel. We turn those around fast so landlords can get a unit re-listed without the cost and downtime of a demolition. Premium restoration in Noe Valley, fast turnover work in the Mission — same crew, same coating, different goal.
Reglaze or replace?
The honest math is what keeps people from over-spending. Refinishing a fixture runs 50 to 75 percent less than tearing it out and replacing it, and in a San Francisco bathroom the savings are usually bigger, because replacement here rarely stops at the tub. Pull a built-in cast-iron tub and you're into demolition, hauling a 300-pound shell down a narrow staircase, new tile, new plumbing, and a bathroom that's out of use for a week or more.
Reglazing skips all of that. The fixture stays where it is, the tile around it survives, and you're back to using the room in a day or two. The cases where replacement wins are real but narrow — structural cracks, rusted-through steel, or a layout you actually want to change. For everything else, a proper refinish gets you a new-looking surface for a fraction of the price. See current pricing or recent reviews to judge for yourself.
Talk to a real San Francisco crew
Call for a free same-day quote, or book online and we'll confirm a window. Mon–Fri 8 AM–6 PM, Sat 9 AM–4 PM. Fully licensed & insured.