Home Cleaning & Maintenance Green Bathroom Remodeling: The Argument for Acrylic Liners

Green Bathroom Remodeling: The Argument for Acrylic Liners

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NATIONAL REPORT—During a hotel stay, guests expect their bathrooms to have a fresh and modern look.  Old, dated or damaged bathtubs, wall surrounds, vanities or toilets reflect poorly on the hotel’s brand. As such, many hotels regularly replace bathroom components to maintain customer satisfaction and earn positive reviews and loyalty in return.

Fortunately, for the lodging industry the bathroom is also an area with the most opportunity for a “green” remodel. In addition to water and energy saving possibilities, selecting eco-friendly construction materials that are recyclable should also be on every owner or manager’s list of requirements.

According to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports, as much as 40 percent of all landfill waste consists of discarded construction materials. Therefore tearing out existing bathtubs or tile surrounds that sit in landfills for decades should be avoided whenever possible.

Another common solution, refinishing or repainting a bathtub, creates other issues including releasing noxious fumes into the environment that can also disturb nearby guests.

More eco-conscious owners are increasingly finding acrylic bathtub liners and wall surrounds to be the most environmentally friendly solutions in the commercial bathtub renovation market. In addition to saving tubs from landfill, acrylic bathtub liners can be re-ground, recycled and manufactured into new bathtub liners after they have served their useful purpose—which can often be 20 or more years.

Bathtubs—Replace, Refinish, or Reline

When it comes to updating a worn-out bathtub, three options exist: replacing, refinishing, and relining. In addition to the “green” factors, hotel managers are often concerned about construction noise, fumes or other disruptions that can affect guests in surrounding rooms.

Replacing an old bathtub is an expensive, labor intensive and time consuming project that often involves demolition and damage to the surrounding walls and floor finishes. Water supply lines and pipes may also need replumbing, adding to costs. Depending on the number of rooms, such projects can also take days to weeks, can be extremely noisy and dusty, and lead to complaints from guests.

“We wouldn’t consider ripping out the tub unless we were doing a full renovation of the room because our walls have the original tiles,” says James Rutherford, Chief Engineer at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza hotel, who manages the daily maintenance operations for the National Historic Landmark that opened in 1931. “Replacing the walls is just not cost effective because of the rebuilding cost.”

One available option for reusing an old bathtub is to refinish, or re-glaze, the pressed steel or cast iron structure. This process includes sanding the current coating, filling chips with epoxy, followed by coating and polishing. While this option costs less than a full replacement, it can also take several days to complete.

Rutherford adds that although re-glazed bathtubs look beautiful, the finish only lasts a few years.  Another downside is the vast amount of toxic odors and fumes released into the air during application.

“You’ve got to block rooms and take them out of your inventory,” explains Rutherford. “Even though you go through all the proper processes and ventilation, the smell lasts for several days.”

Bathtub Refinishing is a Noxious Option

For hotel managers seeking a greener solution, bathtub refinishing should never be considered as an option since every step of the process is noxious. The stripping products first used to remove the old bathtub finish contain harmful chemicals that emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are extremely toxic for workers in a room with little or no ventilation.

For this reason, the remodeler will use large fans to disperse the fumes, which eventually end up in the air outside the building. The epoxy coating application is another toxic step of the refinishing process, as when sprayed, the chemical releases vapors from isocyanates, which are classified as potential human carcinogens.

The greener option is to install a recyclable acrylic bathtub liner over the surface. Made from durable materials, acrylic bathtub liners feature high gloss, minimal porosity, and excellent scratch resistance—all of which simplifies cleaning and maintenance.

When combined with the use of environmentally friendly adhesives, acrylic bathtub liners offer the lowest toxicity option.  In addition, acrylic bathtub liners are the only recyclable method for renovating an existing bathtub.

Installation is a critical aspect with any acrylic bathtub liner. Some manufacturers, such as American Bath Remodeling, have developed their own proprietary and patented installation process to ensure a complete, watertight fit. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company has been serving the hotel industry for almost 40 years and has remodeled more than a million bathrooms over that span.

According to Rutherford, he first used American Bath Remodeling to install acrylic bath liners in half of his 560 hotel rooms in 1993. He now orders replacements as the need arises.

Because the acrylic bathtub liner comes pre-fitted, installation takes less than two hours. With no drying time required, the bathtub can be used almost immediately after installation.

Of all the options, relining a bathtub is the least disruptive and does not affect overnight room availability.

Wall surrounds are another remodeling option when walls above bathtubs need replacing.  Manufactured from non-porous and stain resistant DuraBath SSP, wall surrounds are available in many color and pattern options.

Installed over existing walls, including tile, this is an excellent option for swift installation with little down time or guest interruption. Wall surrounds also offer a green alternative to replacing old tiles with new, which only adds to landfill.

Ultimately, whether used as bathtub liner or wall surround, the durability of acrylic makes it an excellent choice given the average lifespan is 20 years—much longer than a refinished bathtub or even a regular enamel-lined bathtub.

Industry-Specific Providers

In the hotel industry, remodeling bathrooms is not as simple as hiring a general contractor that subcontracts the work to a local crew. While providers of this kind abound, there are many industry-specific and environmental considerations that are best served by those that already have extensive experience working with other hotel chains and using eco-friendly products.

The work must leave a lasting impression while, at the same time, be completed within budget and as quickly as possible to return rooms to service.

In addition, there are economies of scale. Because renovation is typically completed in blocks of rooms, installers that regularly service the hospitality industry can often provide better pricing on items—for example acrylic bathtub liners—than those that primarily serve the residential home market.

“There are local companies that I can call right now where an acrylic bathtub liner may cost me $1000,” Rutherford says. “But I can get one shipped from one of the more established companies for half that price.”

There are other potential benefits as well. Hotel-specific providers are often already certified to work with existing chains and tend to keep specifications of commonly installed items on file.

“There are quite a few reasons to go with a company that already knows the industry, understands our concerns and can complete the work quickly and quietly,” says Rutherford.

Milka Pejovic is a technical writer based in San Diego. With a Master of Arts in English Linguistics, her areas of expertise are in industrial automation, manufacturing, electronics and the hospitality industry. For more information on American Bath Remodeling, call (888) 826-2284, e-mail sales@ambath.com, or visit www.ambath.com.

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