An Old Sink Gets A New Life

 

The week before Luke’s Open House, I finally found an old wall mount sink that looked perfect for the mudroom.  And it was a terrific buy for $25!  The picture of it on CL made it look pretty good, as though maybe just a little cleaning up would be necessary.

But when Glenn arrived home with the sink in the back of his truck, one glance told me the picture must have been exceptionally good, because the sink looked exceptionally bad.  In fact, I wondered if it was worth 25 dollars.

 

Why, oh why, didn’t I take a before shot?!

I think I was in a hurry to make it look better than it did, so Glenn wouldn’t begin to reconsider the investment of time and money I have been putting into CL!

It took a serious amount of work to clean the rust off of it.  I tried leaving a rag soaked in vinegar on the rustiest spots for a while, but if it did anything, I couldn’t tell.  It was Barkeeper’s Friend that eventually made the difference.  We also poured several cups of muriatic acid into the overflow drain to try to get all of the rust and corrosion out of it.  We were mostly successful with that. 

And then I used a 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and began sanding all the flaking old paint, which was peeling off about 1/3 of the sink. Let me say, this took quite a while.

After sanding, I used a spray primer and then sanded again.  Then I primed again.  And sanded again.  Do you see a pattern? 

Finally it was good enough for me. 

Glenn had purchased a special tile and tub epoxy kit by Rustoleum, made especially for porcelain tubs and sinks.  It had an activator and a base which I mixed together, and was extremely pungent, so I applied it outside.  It was like nothing I’ve used before.  It was thick, and I couldn’t do any touch up as I went along.  I painted with a small brush, in one direction all around the sink.  After letting the first coat dry, I did a second and that was it.

The result?  Oh my goodness!  I couldn’t believe how much better the sink looked!  That stuff was just amazing.  It made the sink look new.  Here, see for yourself..

 

 

It really is that shiny, too.  Dry!

We had to let the paint cure for 3 days before it could get wet.  And for several days, whenever I walked by it, I could smell a faint “paint” smell from the epoxy.

But we love it! 

A little shelf with an old mirror, and some other cute little accessories will look very nice around it someday. 

But for now she’s doing her job cleaning little hands, and not so little hands, many, many times a day.

 

Have a great weekend!