Here are several shots of my re-purposed kitchen sink found on the side of the road. It's a vintage porcelain double laundry sink with a center divider and slanted front for the wash boards. The drains are solid brass. It was awful looking when I found it a few doors down from my old house in a pile ready for the yearly trash pickup. Yes, you read that right...yearly. Around here people have to save their non-garbage stuff for a whole year and believe me it leads to pack-rat behavior in many households. This sink had been used in a basement forever and there were lots of rust stains from old tin cans, paint splatters, and just plain dirt. I though it would clean up nicely and it did with lots of elbow grease, CLR, steel wool, Softscrub, Zud, and whatever else I could find that wouldn't harm vitreous porcelain. I even got the shine to come back. Then I stored it in my barn for the day my plumber could tell me if it would work as a kitchen sink in my cottage. As you can see, it's perfect. It's super deep and wonderful for soaking big soup pots, washing sweaters, filling up my watering can, etc. It's under-mounted with a marble counter on top. I couldn't be happier with it. Lucky me!
25 comments:
That is amazing! A give-away that looks like a million bucks!
That is amazing! A give-away that looks like a million bucks!
Wat to go Rosemary,
Love the 3 r's repurpose, reuse recycle!!
I am also a brake for junk kind of gal!
Awesome find!
L.
I agree--you are very lucky!
What a wonderful find. I'm sure you'll get a lifetime of enjoyment out of that sink. You had a good eye.....
Lucky you indeed Rosemary. What a good job you did on bringing it back to life. Looks fabulous.
Love it! (It must be fun to go driving down the road just before the big trash pickup...lots of great finds?)
I had a farm sink in my wonderful home in Highland Park Illinois, it is the only thing I miss from that home.
Enjoy
Rosemary, it's beautiful. What a find! Love the slightly scalloped front and the angle must make it so nice to work with that depth. Lovely installation too.
I'm so envious. Great pick.
That is gorgeous!
Here is Korea we call this "dumpster diving". Many an educator here has furnished all or part of their apartments from said activity. I will not mention any names :)
Your sink is amazing!
I am in awe of you, Rosemary! The whole story behind this amazing sink in your kitchen--wow!
I L.O.V.E. IT!!!!
That is one beautiful sink, I'm lusting after it. What a great find.
Love your sink, Rosemary - but OH, those lovely daffodils!!! Cassandra
Your blog is without a doubt my new favorite. It is delicious in every way. Not a treat...but a full meal. Thank you. Shery Jespersen
Oh my goodness, Rosemary... you amaze me with every post. I am so thankful to have found you. The saga of your cottage inspires me at the very beginning of our journey. I hope I become as savvy as you are in finding just the right thing for the right spot. You have a wonderful eye indeed.I am learning from you!
I just saw this post!!! What a wonderful side-of-the-road- rescue!!!! I want a farmhouse sink so I will pray for one to show up on the side of the road somewhere close to me!!!
I found this post on Pinterest and have this same exact sink. I know this post is almost 7 years old - but hope you see this comment. I am remodeling my kitchen this spring/summer and plan to also use this sink in my kitchen. I have a few questions for you. 1. How has it held up over the past 7 years? 2. Why did you choose undermounting the sink instead of drop in with the lip of the sink on top of the counter? I am leaning towards undermount just like you did, but my friend (a designer) is pushing for over mount. Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you!
linda finney loiseleur -- My vintage laundry sink is still perfect. I went with undermount because overmounts always leak down below if something is spilled and the gap has to be caulked. Good luck with your kitchen.
xo, Rosemary
Thank you for your response! I've spent tons of time researching this sink and apparently you and I are the only ones who are lucky enough to have found them for our kitchens!
linda finney loiseleur -- Guess we are the lucky ones. The drains are much smaller than a standard kitchen drain which I think is 4". I found one strainer that fit perfectly at Home Depot. They are very hard to find because they are an unusual size. -- 1-3/8" in diameter. This size is specific to laundry sinks. It took me a long time to find the second one after visiting numerous plumbing supply stores. I hyperventilate if I can't find one or both because I've put them down in an odd place.
xo, Rosemary
I suspected that drains and strainers would be hard to find - I haven't tried to find them yet - but thank you for the tip! The original drains in my sink were rusted and corroded on. My husband used a torch to loosen and remove while I held my breath that the sink wouldn't crack. Fortunately, they came out fine. Guess I am putting my search for replacements at the top of my to do list!
Hello from Upstate New York. :) Just found this post and it's been SO HELPFUL! Thank you for taking the time to share–these sinks are a very specific renovation challenge and I've found it is hard to find good inspiration/info on how to handle their installation.
I have a 1930's Crane Laundrette sink that looks very much like this. Your post helped me figure out how to design the cabinet support and countertop, and I'm just so thrilled to have found it.
My question: Did you have a challenge with the center set measurement of your faucet holes in the sink? Mine are around 3.5" center-to-center, and most faucets (even vintage ones) fit a 4" center set. Wondering if you ran into this as well, and how you handled it?
Thanks for your time!
design scientista -- I did this project 20 years ago and my plumbers wanted to please me and they did. I did an undermount installation so the holes were drilled into my marble countertop. I assume the holes had to line up with the holes in the sink's ledge. I have two holes, one for the cold water line and the other for the hot water. So I have two handles. The faucet is centered on the double sinks' divider. I think my holes are rather small. I know my drains are not as big as a standard kitchen sink. Laundry sinks have smaller drains (so I'm told) at least vintage ones did. My drains and the pipes for them are brass and my plumbers were afraid to change them for fear of breaking the porcelain so they kept them and connected them somehow to one drain underneath. I had a leak under my sink about 6 months ago and they plumber I hired was able to repair it though it's pretty tight under there but he was slim. He is the manager of a plumbing supply store so I knew he would be able to help me. He came to my house for a preview before the actual appointment. Hope this helps. Let me know if you want me to upload a closer photograph of my faucet holes. xo, Rosemary
PS: design scientista -- My leak under the kitchen was nothing but a hose. My plumber replaced both of them. xo, RB
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