Installing your own Mexican sink

I've always loved the handpainted sinks we've seen while on holiday in Mexico. I swore that when I owned my own home, I'd have one in a bathroom to enjoy daily! Here I am with our sink Instructable.

We aren't complete newbies when it comes to renovating (we've laid a bit of flooring and done lots of painting, some drywall) but we aren't intimidated though, and if we want to try something, we think it through and go for it! This project, though, is not out of reach for someone with little experience. Why live day in and day out with a white porcelain sink if you could have a beauty like this for roughly $200-300 not including time spent.

Step 1: Find a sink you love.

We were north of Puerto Vallarta in Rincon de Guayabitos in November last year. I planned on finding a sink at a local market, but we were disappointed that much of the goods at the market were China imports. We came home from our holiday and bought this sink for $54 on a large auction website.

Comments

[Helder4u]

such a pretty idea :)

[AxvoiceInc]

Yeah idea is really good. A person like me can only guess how it would have been made.

[jessandstavro]

The beauty is, anything will work for a vanity. Shop garage sales, flea markets or thrift stores for an old desk, dresser, etc. Anything like that will work and will look like a million bucks with a sanding and two coats of paint. :)

[bajablue]

Beautiful!

[pizzaarmy12]

sink doesn't match tile

[underground carpenter]

"You need a special grout squeegie (can't remember the name...trowel?) that has rubber on the bottom"

This tool is called a float. Trowels are the metal tools used to mix and apply the mortar or glue.

BTW, great job. I got one of those sinks with matching tile. My wife and I picked it up in Cuernavaca, Mexico about 8 years ago. I wish I still had the contact info for the store - they did (probably still do) a lot of mail order and shipping to decorators in the USA.

[jessandstavro]

A float, yes of course! I could never remember what the things were called!

We are moving and have picked up a generic vanity to put in place of our Mexican one that's coming with us! No way are we leaving it behind. Three years later and it still looks fantastic. The new house has a lovely purple sink/toilet/tub that are hopefully on the way out!

[underground carpenter]

Wow, purple? In 22 years I've never seen a purple set. Might want to try selling those on eBay. Someone may want them.

[vhcl]

Excellent work and Inspiring to, you got me thinking of doing the same only smaller, and since I live in Mexico i can probably get a good price on the sink

Thanks for and excellent ible.

[jammer]

yep excellent job thank you for the instructions

[jammer]

you just gave me an idea i wanted a bathroom vanity but most are 100.00 now i will find a small dresser and make one.. how much better can it be reuse and looks great too.thanks

[rican_babe]

beautiful job

[brizzx32]

Hey I am sorry if I missed something but was wandering where did you finally get that sink at? Can you please get back to me ThankYou Brian

[jessandstavro]

eBay! It was around $50.

[brizzx32]

Oh because I had thought you had said something that you were on vacation somewhere south. So I was just trying to figure out what region that was that they make such sinks. I am sure they make that style over here in the states.

[jessandstavro]

We had seen them twice before when travelling on the Caribbean side of Mexico (Cancun area and south) but the last time we went we were north of Puerto Vallarta (Pacific side) and we didn't see any pottery. It would have made for a more 'authentic' sink if we could say we brought it back from vacation, but there weren't any to be had.

[hyperuben]

Wonderful work, well done I don't think I would have done it any better considering that I am a handyman and Mexican.

[jessandstavro]

Thanks!

[SurferGeek]

By the title I thought it would be about making the sink...not the vanity. Nice job though.

[LinuxH4x0r]

Nice! I love those sinks. I was thinking of making a copper pot into a sink.

[sgreen]

Sweet--- Nice Job

[uguy]

Very nicely done! Thanks for sharing.

[jostin82]

really, really nice looking piece. Any idea if it would be possible to take an existing white porcelain sink, then paint & seal overtop it to give a similar look? It's not the painting style I'm specifically concerned about, but more the painting & sealing of the sink in general.

[jessandstavro]

Hmm, I know you can get paints that you then have to bake to set. If you could paint it, I'm sure it would fit in the oven! You are not fooling around when it comes to DIY!! I don't think that kind of paint needs a sealant, but I could be wrong. It's worth a shot! Interesting idea.