Ann Arbor, Michigan
35+ Years of Bathtub Refinishing Experience
Absolutely Smooth Bathtubs is Jim Bowman. He does the estimating, the repair work, and the refinishing himself, and he has been doing it in Southeast Michigan for more than three decades.
Meet Jim Bowman
Jim started refinishing bathtubs over 35 years ago and has completed more than 6,600 projects since. That work has been almost entirely hands on: prepping surfaces, rebuilding cracked fiberglass, matching colors, and spraying finishes in bathrooms all over Washtenaw, Wayne, and Oakland counties.
He is not running a call center or sending out a rotating crew. When you call (734) 277-4828, you talk to the person who will be standing in your bathroom. That is why customers get straight answers about what a surface needs before anyone schedules anything.
Fiberglass repair is the work Jim is known for. Cracked shower pans, holes in one piece units, and split whirlpool tub floors are jobs many companies will not take. Those repairs need reinforcement, patience, and a color and texture match, and that comes from doing thousands of them.
Residential and Commercial Experience
On the residential side, that means homeowners and condo owners with one tired tub, a chipped sink, or a bathroom of dated fixtures. Residential refinishing is backed by a 5 year warranty.
On the commercial side, it means apartment complexes, hotels, and multi-unit buildings where a fixture has to be back in service quickly and replacement cost adds up fast across dozens of units. The approach is the same either way: repair what can be repaired, refinish it properly, and leave the space clean.
Honest Recommendations, Including No
Some surfaces are past saving. A tub with structural failure, a sink cracked through in several places, or a unit that has already been patched badly more than once may not hold a lasting repair. When that is the case, Jim says so and recommends replacement rather than selling work that will fail in a year or two.
This is also why he asks for close up photos before quoting. A few clear pictures of a crack, hole, or chip usually tell him whether the surface can be repaired, which saves everyone a trip.
Jimmy was very personable, informative &honest. My bathroom sink has a number of big cracks in it so he asked me to send close up pictures. He was honest enough to tell me that it was destroyed & needed to replace it. I value his advice & honesty rafter than doing a job that wouldn’t have lasted a number of years & in the long run cost me more than replacing it Thank you Jimmy for your honesty!
Local to Southeast Michigan
Absolutely Smooth Bathtubs is based in Ann Arbor and works within roughly a 50 miles radius, covering Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Wayne County. Jim knows the housing stock here: postwar homes with cast iron tubs and tile surrounds, 1980s and 1990s subdivisions full of one piece fiberglass units, and student rentals that see hard use.
Reviews
What Customers Say About Working With Jim
Reviews printed exactly as customers wrote them.
Great price Jim repaired cracks and a previous repair at the bottom middle of one piece tub that the previous home owner had done. The damage was worse than expected and when Jim started the repair. Now there are no signs of any damage whatsoever and the color match is spot on.
After a lot of research and calling for quotes some people were giving me up to 2,000$ and/or saying it’s not possible to repair but I need to pay thousands for a new tub. I found The bath Doctor Jim and his crew. He was prompt and professional and very friendly and helpful to set up a good time for me. He made sure my family was safe by venting the very smelly paint out of a nearby window. I was not sure the job could be done but he was successful. It looked brand new. He gave very detailed instructions how to care for the tub. And cleaned up the space well afterwards. Wed highly recommend Jim to everyone. 5 stars :)
Jimmy was very personable, informative &honest. My bathroom sink has a number of big cracks in it so he asked me to send close up pictures. He was honest enough to tell me that it was destroyed & needed to replace it. I value his advice & honesty rafter than doing a job that wouldn’t have lasted a number of years & in the long run cost me more than replacing it Thank you Jimmy for your honesty!
Get an Honest Answer About Your Tub
Send Jim photos of the damage. If it can be repaired, he will tell you what that costs. If it cannot, he will tell you that too.