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kelly_2000

Found the perfect wall mount sink at salvage yard!

kelly_2000
17 years ago

After spending hours pouring over architectural salvage websites, this morning I found the perfect wall mount sink at a local salvage yard! Yippee! Its a 1910-ish sink, so a wee bit early for my 1926 home, but it'll do! Plus, it'll fit!

It has cleaned up very nicely--a few blemishes, but in keeping with my original tub and floors. I'll need to replace the faucets, and perhaps the drain. Plus I don't have the mounting bracket--and this sink is heavy! Any suggestions?

{{gwi:1408764}}

Comments (16)

  • paint_chips
    17 years ago

    VERY CUTE!

    Is that for a powder room? The separate hot and cold are so stylish, but I think they might make washing your face in the morning difficult (or do they mix somehow?).

    What a great find!

    Perhaps your local plumbing supply has mounting brackets that will work.

    I was walking around my house thinking about the sinks my husabnd salvaged for me when I found your post. But I think the ummm... 'styling' on mine is wrong, but since they are free I may just have to swallow hard and use them.

  • mahatmacat1
    17 years ago

    So sweet, klb! Can't beat salvage. I'm still thrilled with our silly hexagonal Kohler sink and the out-of-style "riser" faucet we salvaged--they're *infinitely* more functional than the 80s oval sink with single handle faucet that was there before. That same day I passed up a cast iron laundry sink for $80 that I now regret immensely. Maybe I'll go back and find one there later--wish I lived closer to it!

    For some reason, I immediately envisioned your in a dark wooden stand that kind of fits into the recessed area under the sink, rather than having the sink wall mounted. You'd gain at least a shelf under it, maybe a towel rack in front, and might it be easier on your walls if you let some legs take some of the weight...? Can you envision what I'm thinking of? (like Brain to Pinky: "are you thinking what I'm thinking?" :))

  • kelly_2000
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    paint chips--actually I live in a one bathroom condo, so this will need to be my working sink! You are right, it does have separate hot and cold taps, but I think I am willing to sacrifice the convenience of a mixer faucet for the joys of those cute little hot and cold taps! Plus our hot water just isn't all that hot, so I usually don't need to turn the cold water on anyway ;)

    Flyleft--I CAN picture what you are suggesting--it sounds so sweet. I don't know about the dark wood in my bathroom, but I was just looking at chrome console legs that would probably work about the same way (at least give me a towel bar, if not a shelf). Something like this from www.deabath.com...
    {{gwi:1408766}}

    As you can see, I just don't have too much space to work with...the sink is kind of getting wedged in there. I do plan to replace the toilet with something a bit narrower (the current one seems to be a bit wider than some of the newer ones I've been looking at).
    {{gwi:1408768}}

    And here is a picture (an older picture--I pulled down that wallpaper long ago) of my corner tub---I think the curves on the tub are a nice match to the curves on the sink:

    {{gwi:1394644}}

    Now I just need to find a nice new toilet that won't be too gleaming white next to my older fixtures....

  • johnmari
    17 years ago

    Absolutely wonderful sink, and I love that tub. In my teens lived in a 1930s Colonial Revival bungalow with a 100% original bath and we had almost exactly the same tub (best tub I've ever taken a bath in) except with a "standing waste valve" at the opposite end from the wall. I've also had sinks with separate hot and cold taps several times and it was nowhere near as much of a hassle as people make it out to be - it was really no big deal to just partially fill the basin for things like washing your hands. It's actually good training for not letting the rassenfrackin water run and run and run and run while washing like most people do (wasteful!).

    I'd talk to the Bathroom Machineries folks about the mounting hardware for the sink. I'm sure they can tell you what kind that sink requires if you email them photos and measurements of the back of the sink, as well as whether it would accept the kind of console legs you're considering attaching. They have some fabulous bridge faucets if you ever want to go to a mixer faucet (do you plan on replacing the mismatched single taps? Plain single taps are very inexpensive, can be had for under $20 each at most hardware stores).

    As for the toilet, Toto's Colonial White/American Standard's White is not as blindingly white as the typical white vitreous china. (They're terribly expensive but I sure do covet the low-tank toilets, the sort with the pipe connecting the tank and bowl. Toilet lust, isn't it insane?!) Most of the Totos are really massy though. I think the American Standard Oakmont and maybe the Doral Classic, would be worth checking out. While the AS Champion series has had its problems, they're still better than the run of the mill.

  • kelly_2000
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thanks for the info, johnmari! I do plan to replace the faucets--my brief online search pulled up quite a few options, and none of them very expensive. I will definitely check out the toilets you mentioned, but I had to chime in on the topic of toilet lust--I rented an apartment in a 1910s building that had the most fabulous pill box toilet--I think that is what they are called, the kind with the round tank. Absolutely loved it! I was so enamoured of the toilet when I first went to look at the apartment, I failed to notice the teensy kitchen didn't even have an oven. But that toilet....ah, small sacrifices! ;)

  • budge1
    16 years ago

    klb, we have just been using our sink which is very similar to yours during our remodel (it is on the 3rd floor and wasn't used much in the past except for handwashing).

    If you haven't already bought the taps for it, one thing to watch out for is that they extend out into the bowl. Ours don't extend out much and I find it difficult to get your hands under the flow of water. Even wetting the tooth brush becomes problematic.

    How is the rest of the remodel going?

  • igloochic
    16 years ago

    I love those toilets (Pill box)

    I considered one of these in my bath but decided to go with a high tank toilet instead to raise the "bulk" up a bit (tiny powder room). You might consider that as well because of your tight space. You'd be taking the bulkiest piece away from the sink area.

    http://www.rensup.com/Toilets/12185.htm

    The link above is the toilet I purchased. It was by far the best price, and it's a lovely piece. Shipping for you would probably be free (to the lower 48 states) but for me it was almost as much as the toilet but it still came in cheaper than anywhere else even with that. It comes with a white tank as well as an option if you don't like the dark. The white is not "gleaming" but it's still white.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pill box toilet

  • kelly_2000
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Hi budge...the remodel is not moving along at all! I have been slowly collecting a few of the pieces but just haven't pulled the trigger to get the rest of the work done. Good advice about the faucets, I was wondering about that. I have actually ordered some taps, and ended up choosing the 4" taps which seems to be the most standard size (and is the size of the taps on the sink now). I did think about going with 5" taps for the very reason you mention, but finally decided the 4" ones were probably better scaled for the sink. Here are the ones I ordered--Barber Wilson, in chrome....

    igloochic--I do love those pillbox toilets! Good idea about the high tank toilet although I am counting on space for storage cabinets over the sink and toilet, so probably wouldn't work for me. In the end I did order a toilet, a Toto (can't remember the model name now). Probably too modern a look, but I'm trying to 'old it down' a bit with a black seat from deabath.com. At least I have a little extra seating space in the dining room...!
    {{gwi:1408774}}

  • budge1
    16 years ago

    Ooooooooooo, the faucets are too die for - wish we could afford to replace ours with something so beautiful.

  • vondab
    16 years ago

    Can you tell me, klb 2000, or anyone else, what it took to "clean up" your sink, which is absolutely addorable! I'm looking for vintage look wall mount sinks for my boys' jack/jill bath with no luck. I have seen the perfect sinks at a salvage yard, but they've been sitting out in the weather and most have rust in the bottom from rain water collecting. Otherwise they look in good condition. Is it possible to get rid of the rust or is rust an indication they will need to be reporcelainized? How does one go about refurbishing these charming fixtures?
    Thanks for any advise!

  • SusuLo
    16 years ago

    Very cool sink, what a great find! And those are some nice looking taps you picked out. I'll be anxious to see it all together. Not sure if you live in an area populated by a lot of plumbing supply stores (like I do) but I would imagine you could get the mounting bracket there, no?

  • kelly_2000
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    budge1, the taps are pretty, aren't they? Fortunately the taps weren't TOO expensive....what is really killing me is the stupid shower/bath faucet sets. Not only am I totally baffled by all the pressure balance blah blah blah options...but they are all so friggen expensive!

    vondab--I got lucky and found a salvage sink that was already in pretty good condition. I know what you mean, though, I saw plenty of sinks that would have been very nice if it hadn't been for all the rust. I think my sink is porcelain...a lot of the salvage sinks are cast iron, which I believe can be resurfaced more or less successfully. I really have no experience with that process, though, so I can't offer any words of wisdom.

    I did, however, buy a product that was recommended on the deabath.com website, called 'Zud'. It was quite effective in removing a minor rust colored area on the sink (not visible in the pictures I posted above) as well as some rust stains on my tile floor. Might be worth a try....

    Here is a link that might be useful: DEA bath website

  • kelly_2000
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    susula--in the end I was able to find a rusty old mounting bracket at the same salvage store where I bought the sink. It looks pretty heavy duty, which is good because the sink weighs a ton!

  • budge1
    16 years ago

    Just be careful what you use to remove the rust stains. I recently used CLR on our old clawfoot tub and it did a nasty job of eating away the finish. It was in pretty rough shape anyways so I wasn't too upset.

    At the shop where we bought alot of our bath stuff, one salesperson said that in the larger city where she used to work, there was a place that you could take your old tub/sinks to and they would resurface them so they were like new. Here they will paint it, but I haven't heard good things about painting holding up long term. You might want to ask around and see what is available in your city.

  • SusuLo
    16 years ago

    klb_2000, I really like your black toilet seat too! And I'm thinking I could possibly do a black seat in my bathroom as well. I looked on deabath.com, is the seat you have the 79-S2532C (and of course it's "temp. out"!)? I only saw one black seat...so I'm guessing it is. Thanks!

  • kelly_2000
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Ah, yes susulo--that's the one! Cost nearly as much as the toilet, but it is nice looking. One down side, though, is that it seems to be a bit too long for my toto toilet bowl--I don't know if you can quite see it in the picture, but the front of the seat overhangs the front of the bowl by almost an inch (the little rubber knobs under the seat sit on the toilet bowl all right, it just looks kind of funny). I'm not sure if the Totos aren't standard size or what--but a little disappointing, I guess I expected that all 'round toilet seats' would be compatible with all 'round toilets'. I probably wouldn't have ordered it if I had known it would overhang so much, but I wasn't quite unhappy enough to go through the hassle of returning it. Something to think about if you plan to order it...