DONN BROWN / Staff

Doner displays a clawfoot bathtub set for restoration.

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Raspberry puree. That was the color du jour about a decade ago. But, Carla Doner, owner of Bathcrest of Naples, says the flurry of pink came and went rather fast.

Now, Doner, who began the tub and tile reglaze and recolor company with her husband Gary back in 1986, says the trend is toward lighter, muted shades.

“Anything outside of white or bone is pretty rare,” she says. “Of course, white has always been number one.”

Whatever the choice, Doner says reglazing is an easy and cost-efficient way to turn that old avocado or harvest gold tub or wall tile into something modern.

“In this economy, it’s a good alternative to tearing your tub out just because it looks a little dingy or worn out,” she explains. “Toilets are easy to change. You pick it up and put another one down. Sinks are fairly easy to replace, too. But a tub is sort of permanent. That’s where we come in. When we re-color your tub, you get a whole new bathroom for very little cost.”

She points out that customers don’t have to do the whole tub, either.

“If there’s a chip or a spot of rust, we can fix just that,” she said. “We can reglaze just about anything a tub is made of, from cultured marble, cast iron or steel-based to acrylic and fiberglass.”

Doner said people looking for help to revive their bathrooms should make sure the company they use is backed by a national firm that provides products specially made for that purpose. And, she warned, people shouldn’t be afraid to ask for references.

DONN BROWN / Staff

Bathcrest of Naples owner Gary Doner provides reglazing services to make old bathtubs like new.

“We’ve worked in just about every neighborhood in town,” she says. “They should be able to call up and ask, ‘Did you like their work?’ or ‘Would you have them do it again?’”

Doner, who used to work as a customer service manager for a local cable company, and her husband, a former service manager at a major car dealership here, got the idea for the business when they went to a franchise show in Utah.

Their Bathcrest franchise is backed by a company with years of experience in a business that continues to develop new products and offer new services, according to Doner.

The actual glazing and coloring are done by Gary and son-in-law Douglass Boyett, while Carla oversees the estimates, bookwork and scheduling.

The couple run the business from their home. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays.

“If we don’t answer, leave a message. We’ll get back to you before too long, because I’ll be looking at the phone,” she says. “When you run your own business out of your home, that’s pretty much what you do.”

She says Bathcrest specializes in timely service and repair.

“The most important thing is for us to get to a job on time,” she says. “We’ll be there when we say we’ll be there and get the job done.”