Fireclay Sink Restoration

Large Fireclay Sink Restoration.

This was an interesting project we did for a customer in Palmers Green in London.

He had on old (and very large) sink made from fireclay in his kitchen. Usually these sink are recessed into a worktop and only the top and front of the sink are visible with the rest of the sink hidden.

However, the customer wanted his sink to be sitting on a support without any worktop around it and as a result the sides of the sink, as well as the front and top, would be on display. 

Here is the bowl of the sink in question showing the wear typical of a sink of this type and age.

This picture shows one end of the sink and also what was unusual about this job.

When these sinks are made, one end never gets any porcelian glaze or enamel applied to it and also there are 4 circular holes just over an inch in diameter in this end of the sink, one on each corner. You can hopefully make out the two holes on the end of the sink closest to the camera.

The lack of glaze and the holes are part and parcel of the manufacturing process and generally it’s not a problem as this end of the sink is hidden from sight below the worktop.

However, it was a bit of an issue here with this sink what with it all being on display.

We filled and made good the holes on this end of the sink, as well as smoothed of the fireclay here as it was noticeably rougher than the rest of the sink which had been glazed.

Then we resurfaced the whole sink, including this end.

Here is the bowl of the sink. The bowl is now a uniform colour and the wear and staining has been dealt with.

Here is the bowl of the sink. The bowl is now a uniform colour and the wear and staining has been dealt with.

REPAIRING A SMASHED WASH HAND BASIN

We often get calls from clients asking us if it is possible to repair cracked sinks or even broken sinks. Until recently basins with extensive damage could not be repaired. However we at The Bath Business are continualy trying and testing new procedures for all our bath re enamelling work. We can fix all of these problems with a sink or wash-hand basin due to our innovative research and work. Our technicians are highly skilled and the best in the repair & re enamelling business as far as we are concerned. Despite our confidence in our ability to do a good job for our clients we had never had a basin that had been completely smashed. So a smashed wash hand basin was new for us.

I got a call in the office from a chap called Colin Slater. He had bought a beautiful basin and was very excited about getting it home. He was busy renovating his property with his partner (an architect called Singa Govedi) and this wash-hand basin was part of their renovations. They had searched for the perfect basin for their bathroom. Colin worked long hours as a Deputy Head Teacher in a London school. As you might imagine it was hard enough to fit everything in with work and also work on the property at the same time.

The Clayton Sink was perfect for their project and completely in keeping with the style of bathroom they wanted. As well as being a lovely sink it also had a gorgeous cast iron wall mounted frame that it sat in. It was a lovely antique basin. It was being delivered from Yorkshire. Colin was so excited about the basin arriving he was looking out of his window as the van pulled up. To Colin’s horror he watched in slow motion as the package was DROPPED out of the back of the van. The results were not surprisingly devastating. The basin was completely smashed to pieces. Colin was very upset as this was an important part of their restoration work.

By the time Colin had called us he had already spent around 60 man hours putting the wash-hand basin back together. His partner had then spent around about 240 man hours filling and sanding the basin. It was a very labour intensive undertaking but they loved the sink so they wanted to have it saved from the rubbish dump. After all it was an antique and had survived so far.

Colin and his partner had done a great job thus far but they now needed to have the basin re enamelled professionally by a reputable expert restoration company. They wanted to keep the logo. Also they wanted the original colour to be maintained. This meant we would need to do some special restoration work to retain the logo and make the colour of the basin to get a perfect match.

They were delighted with the result on the sink and the fact we’d retained the logo whilst resurfacing the rest of the sink. What do you think?

As you can see in the above photo the basin is fully restored and has the logo retained. Apparently the basin causes gasps of amazement from Colin & Singa’s guests.

This wash basin is a good example of a Victorian basin with cast iron frame. If you would like to purchase an antique basin such as this or any other traditional design contact us at The Bath Business. We can source original antique basin supply quality reproductions, or, if you are looking for something particularly special let us know and we will source this for you.

For more information on our re enamelling and restoration works please contact us on 07967333030.

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Shanks Cracked Sink Restoration

Cracked sinks have presented quite a problem as far as repairs are concerned. Repairing a cracked sink was very hit and miss. If the crack was stable then possibly repairing the crack and resurfacing the whole sink would be a solution. There was no telling if the crack would grow or not however.So this work could not be warranted. If the cracking was really extensive and also on the underside it was impossible to say the repair would last for any length of time.

With antique sinks, cracks are fairly common so this presented a big problem. Also if we did resurface the sink completely the logo or makers stamp would be lost. Many clients felt this was unacceptable and were unhappy at losing the stamp. So this was another problem we would have to resolve in restoring the old wash hand basins.

The Bath Business have restored old sinks for many years now. Over the last 18 months we have been piloting a new technique to sort out the basins with cracks. We can even sort out bits of the sink that have come off or broken off completely. We can now restore these sinks. Whats more we can also retain the manufacturers logo or mark. As we have been doing this service successfully for 18 months we feel we have tested the techniques enough to warranty this restoration work.

Below is a lovely Shanks sink we restored in our workshop. The sink is a great example of a classic large Shanks sink. It had manged to get damaged quite badly in the inside and underside. Normally this sink would not be repairable. Certainly it would not be repaired with any confidence that the repair would last.

We repaired the inside and outside of the sink. We restored this sink before we had developed a method of preserving the makers stamp or logo. As Shanks sinks are so distinctive in style and shape it was not viewed as a problem at all by the client. As you can see it has come up beautifully.

In addition to repairing and re enamelling the sink we also refurbished the basins taps. This involved taking them apart completely to refurbish the workings of the tap. We also had the basin taps silver nickel plated. Finally we found an original plug and stay for the basin and had the chain stay and chain silver nickel plated also so it was in keeping with the age and style of the basin and taps.

Now the basin takes pride of place in the clients bathroom.

If you are looking at getting your antique basin, Art Deco basin or any fine sanitary ware restored then do contact The Bath Business. We can help repair damage or restore taps or both.

Also if you are looking to source an antique Victorian washstand or taps then do contact us. We frequently have these in stock or indeed we can source them for you.

BASIN, TAPS, WASTE AND PLUG FULLY RESTORED!

We had an inquiry from a lovely lady in Ludlow. She had a very pretty little wash-hand basin that had a crack in it and some very worn taps, waste etc. Have a look. What do you think?

We do get quite a lot of enquiries from clients wondering if it’s possible to fix cracks in a wash- hand basin. Most companies would say it is not possible or would simply go over the damaged area hoping it would be fine. If you do have a badly cracked or chipped basin it’s best to look for a company such as ourselves. Most antique restorers or porcelain restoration company’s would refer you to a company such as ourselves to fix this. We believe we are the only bath re enamelling company who can fix badly damaged cracked sinks.

This particular basin had been resurfaced before but the cracks underneath had never been fixed. The surface was coming off again. We had to strip the basin completely before we could fix the bad cracks and also fix the damage around a tap hole. We did remedy the cracks however and repair the damage around the tap hole before we resurfaced the basin. If your bath is as badly damaged as this then we would want to do the restoration work in our workshop.

The basin did also have some lovely taps and an old-fashioned rubber plug and chain stay and a brass waste. They were not in very good condition however and the owner was thinking she might have to replace all of them. Luckily she didn’t have to do this so we were able to recondition the brass ware and taps.

We were fortunate enough to have some original old stock plugs and chain stay in our workshop. Although old style they were brand new straight from the factory. Never sold or used so perfect for the newly restored basin. The taps and waste had to be reconditioned and the brass polished. Here is the result. What do you think?

As we said fixing cracked sinks isn’t a DIY job. If you have a badly damaged or cracked wash hand basin give us a call about repairing the basin and re enamelling it for you.

Let us know what you think of our pretty basin and tap restoration. More to come in the next blog.