Refinishing an Antique Porcelain Sink

by AndrewW1977

29K988

Intro: Refinishing an Antique Porcelain Sink

The house I live in came with an old porcelain kitchen sink, it's several decades old and is showing it's age from wear and tear. So instead of replacing it I decided to refinish it. I don't have many before pictures but you can see in the pic this is what the sink looks like that I am going to refinish, it was chipped and peeling. Some parts are even down to the bare cast iron.

To accomplish the repair I'm going to use a product specifically made for refinishing enamel sinks and tubs.

So lets get into it!

STEP 1: Materials

Materials

  • Sink and Tub Surface Preparation Kit
  • Sink and Tub Epoxy Refinishing Kit
  • Chip brush
  • Epoxy thinner
  • Paper towel
  • Nitrite gloves

STEP 2: Surface Preparation

*Don't forget to put on safety equipment, at a minimum wear gloves while refinishing so your hands are protected from any harsh chemicals or abrasives.*

The first step to prepare the sink for refinishing. I did this by using a prep kit, it had a sanding pad and some abrasive paste that you scrub in a circular motion all over the surfaces you want to refinish.

Once done scrubbing, the sink was rinsed clean with lots of water.

After rinsing the sink was washed down using a solution of TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) it's not the best stuff for the environment but it is a very powerful cleaner. Again the surfaces were rinsed clean. Dry the sink really well before the next step.

STEP 3: Refinishing the Sink With Epoxy

Ideally you should remove any fixtures or drains before refinishing but I just masked them off with tape as I didn't want to deal with any potential problems that could arise from removing a drain that has been there for who knows how long.

To re-coat the sink I am using a two part epoxy purposely make for refinishing sinks and tubs. I'm using Klenk's Epoxy Enamel kit. It comes in two parts and you mix the resin and hardener together and stir well. It's a pretty slow setting epoxy so you don't have to worry about the mixture going exothermic (epoxy starts getting hotter and hotter after mixing) too much.

Since I didn't need all of the epoxy mixed because my sink is small, I measured it out in a glass jar using a scale. Roughly a 1:1 ratio by volume but I estimated it to be the same by weight as well. Let sit for 15 minutes to let the mixture set up.

So this is the really stinky part, I'd suggest if you are going to do this that you it before you go on vacation so you can leave the sink alone for a few days so the epoxy has time to cure. Also your house will will smell like epoxy but the smell does go away quickly once the epoxy has set.

To apply the epoxy, I'm using a soft chip brush. It gives a nice smooth finish and the brush will be ruined unless you clean it with epoxy thinner. Smash the bristles of the brush into a piece of masking tape to remove any loose bristles.

I give the whole sink a wipe down with epoxy thinner, you could also use lacquer thinner. This stuff is really stinky, I ended up wearing a respirator while working with the epoxy.

Painting the epoxy on is easy, just apply in short overlapping strokes, on the vertical surfaces don't apply it too thick or you'll get runs, it's better to do multiple coats instead of one thick coat.

In between coats I put the epoxy in the freezer, as it will help slow down the hardening process.

Let the first coat set for a few hours and you can come back and add another coat, repeat many times as needed but try not to wait to long between coats. I personally found that 6-8 hours between coats was good.

Once finished avoid using the sink for a few days, ideally give it a week to reach full hardness.

I'm very happy with the end result and I've been using it for several months and so far the finish is holding up really well. It was nice to give new life to an old sink and I hope this inspires some of you to do the same. I should get many more years of use from this sink before it needs to be refinished again.

Check out my video on the whole process too:

6 Comments

c.r.h. 5 months ago

Nice Job. I've done this a few times so for those interested... Stay away from the Rust-Oleum two part product as it failed on me very quickly. It became brittle, chipped and peeled. I then tried the Bathworks refinishing kit and it has held up very well over time. For repairs to the porcelain, Bondo works fine. Bathworks has a few YouTube videos that are very helpful and convinced me to give it another try.

grapenut 5 months ago

very nice. These old sinks have alot of character, and when they are made to look new, the results can be unexpectedly fascinating.

charlessenf-gm 5 months ago

Cool beans! You did a nice job four years ago.

Now (4/2024) how's it held up?

BTW, judging from the faucet at left, that drain wasn't in place that long. Of course, we'd need look at the piping it drains into to be certain.

Did you ever explore having it 're-porcelain'd?'

It would be interesting to learn if 'anyone' does that and what they might charge to do so.


msaunders85 4 years ago

Great job. I'm getting ready to do the same thing with 1 for a small living area I'm building at my ranch. Just wondering if you ran into the same issie I'm having of finding a faucet that will fit the existing holes. Most modern wall mount faucets are 8"W with some that can be adjusted out to ~9". My sink is ~9 7/8" center to center. Really don't want ro build a faucet as I'll lose the ability to swivel the spout.

k24tea 4 years ago

Several years ago I bought an adapter kit for my old wall mount faucet pipes. Came as 2 pieces that screw onto the wall pipes, adjustable to make the total effective pipe space up to about 2" closer or wider apart, to fit just about any wall mount faucet you can find. I bought my adapters at an independent plumbing supply place that was great for old house repairs. I don't think big-box stores would have them.