The Ol' Washbasin - a small restoration project

Sometimes it happens that we get an item that we immediately want to start working on. Our hands itch to give the new arrival the TLC it deserves. Everything else must be kept on hold, and delay is not an option. Does this sound familiar to you? I'm sure it does! To me it happened today with the arrival of an humble washbasin. Here's the story...

The basin was old (1930's vintage, perhaps) and missed several key components. It looked perfectly aged and weathered, and I could have easily left it 'as is', but this beauty had so much potential! The following pics will give you an impression of how it looked like.

The washbasin minus just about everything, including the tab, the plug, and the drainer.

Sink without drainer.

Sink chain without plug.

I decided to add the missing items, while otherwise leaving the washbasin in its current, aged state. This is a bit of a standard procedure for me when restoring old items. The beauty and appeal of naturally aged objects must remain untouched, to preserve their soul and charisma!

The vintage (working!) tab after being attached to the wall.

The easiest was the tab. I just happened to have an original, vintage metal tab which suited perfectly. Actually, I bought the washbasin keeping this tab in mind.

I added some green-ish corrosion that normally appear with time on tabs and plumbing made of certain metals like lead and copper.

Then came the tricky part, namely the plug, which I wanted to be made of metal, just like the rest of the basin.

Guided by the invisible hands of the ghosts that inhabit my home, I found, incredibly, a screw with a flat top that fitted. In fact I had never seen a screw like it, specially with that color and shape. All I needed to do was to cut a piece off the ridge, and mate it with the chain. I also needed to make the drainer hole somewhat wider. It all required some patience, but the result looks pretty convincing.

Then came the drainer. Same as with the screw, a packing ring was 'presented' to me, which fitted the sink like a glove!

Finally, I added a bucket underneath the sink for illustration purposes. The bucket belongs to another somewhat different washbasin of the same vintage (and judging by the colors, even same manufacturer!), but I wanted to show it here. This particular basin will have plumbing when used for a project, so a bucket will not be required.

And here is the washbasin in all its restored glory. Isn't she a beauty? By the way, there is a metal container behind the tab, that can hold water which runs when one opens the tab. Awesome!

The top part of the washbasin measures 6 x 2.8 inch (15 x 7 cm) and the foot is 3.5 x 2.5 inch (9 x 6 cm).

That's all, folks! Thanks for visiting, and be careful out there!

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