ART (Advanced Roll Top) System

For two decades I have been working on my pet project called the "Ultimate Re enamelling System". The goal is to re enamel the bath in situ in such a way that it is better than the original. It’s a tough one to crack even tougher to make it economically viable: there is no point in being able to do something nobody is willing to pay for. Obviously a lot of testing and experimentation has gone into this project - too much according to my wife who gets annoyed with me “pottering about in the workshop”.

The main quality that needed conquering was chip resistance. We have long since passed the point of making our enamel surface more resistant to chemical attack than the original but chip resistance still required development. The problem was that the original surface itself was not resistant to chipping so even if our surface survived the impact, the original surface below could fracture leaving our surface nothing to hold onto.

A story to tell
Some months ago I had an opportunity to make a breakthrough, although I did not realise it at the time. One of our more illustrious London clients asked me to undertake a no compromise, no holds barred, cost no object, restoration of several roll top baths - I’m not permitted to say where. This was the first time I had experienced the “Show us what you can do” sort of brief. I duly turned up with most of the workshop in the back of the vehicle! “So what are you going to do?” asked the agent. “Like a lot of things, the devil’s in the details as well as the big picture,” I replied. I figured that I would address each bath in a fresh frame of mind and handle every tiny detail that caught my attention. I would integrate this methodology with our tried and tested system. The work was exhaustive and time consuming. I became known as the “Roll Top Man” on that site which was quite amusing to me having been referred to as the “Bathman” for so long. Anyway by the fifth bath I realised a pattern was developing although I was not trying to develop one particularly. Soon after, an incident occurred that I will never forget. A tradesman fell through a ceiling, landing in one of my newly enamelled baths complete with plaster and rubble. (This was turning into a real once in a lifetime experience). After we dusted him down and cleared out the bath I was amazed at how little damage had been done. The devil in the details had indeed made a difference to the big picture, I came to realise that I had inadvertently developed an extremely tough surface that was much more resistant to chipping while primarily concentrating on the cosmetics of the job. It was not totally indestructive because you can always hit something hard enough to cause damage - but certainly a quantum leap ahead for the industry. You can see from the rough diagram below the various surface conditions I was sorting out and the substances used to handle them.

To cut an already over long story to the chase and without confusing you with technical words, I developed a much more advanced system of enamelling which although not a viable proposition for every situation is a worthwhile investment for any bath which is special in some way. This includes all ball and claw roll top baths, the art deco genre and some of the elaborate (often coloured) 70s baths. I like the beauty in old things where form follows function and where aesthetics are more important in the manufacture than economy and I want to contribute to this with a service that carries the same philosophy. There are at least five different substances used to build up this surface laminate and it is tinted to match the adjacent fixture. It looks yummy. You just want to fill her up and soak for the remainder of the evening.

Changing market
There has been a definite swing in the market over the last twenty years brought about by peoples increased appreciation of the quality in cast iron baths. Back in the 1980s many people were having their baths resurfaced because they had become marked or worn before the other parts of the suite. Cast iron baths are sensitive to modern cleaners that tend to burn the surface off them. Clients were reluctant to change the suite because that would cost quite a lot and they were happy with every aspect of the bath except where the surface was damaged. The main idea was to avoid replacing the complete suite since the other items were still ok so there was a big cost saving factor involved. During this time there were also a percentage of folk who were having there baths restored simply because they liked the qualities it offered. They would usually change the other items in the suite and keep the bath - perhaps changing the colour to match the new fittings. Times and fashions have changed and the percentage of people who are having there baths resurfaced because of quality considerations now eclipses the the market who are doing so for cost saving considerations. It is now much more usual to restore a bath in a bathroom where everything else has been changed except the bath. Because we are often now working in newly finished bathrooms and people generally are more quality conscious nowadays the expected standard from bath restoration is higher - and quite rightly so in my opinion, it should be perfect. For this reason I have decided to make the ART system available for those clients who simply want the very best that can be done.

Availability
This system costs about £100 more to deliver than the standard one and I do not quote for it when someone calls for a ballpark figure over the phone as I’m sure it would frighten them off but it is available for those who have such a bath and are interested enough in it to have read down to this point, found out about it and ask for it expressly.

Trickle down technology
One byproduct of this development is that with a better understanding of surface performance and having extra materials and equipment to hand allows one to take up and handle some of these aspects of a normal job that would otherwise not be taken up. So although we do not employ the ART system on all baths, all baths do benefit from technology trickling down from that standard of system. Roll on the roll tops!