Refinishing a Cast Iron Pedestal Sink

We scored an antique cast iron sink at a salvage warehouse for $20.  That seemed like a great deal even though the sink had considerable rust around the overflow.  For $20, it was worth a shot to try to refinish it ourselves just to see if maybe it would work out.

Since we needed to refinish our craigslist claw foot tub, we decided to use the sink as practice before refinishing the tub.

We used the Rustoleum Tub and Tile Refinishing Kit.  The prep work was quite tedious.  It involved scrubbing and sanding the sink.  We followed the instructions to a T.

Sink prepped and ready for refinishing.

Prepped and ready for refinishing.

We used a foam roller for the sink and a small artist brush to get into the little places where the roller would not go.  We put 2 coats of the Rustoleum product on the sink which is what was recommended.  Overall, it turned out pretty well.  The roller worked really well.  There were no brush marks or roller marks at all, and it was not nearly as messy as spraying it would have been.  However, there are a few lessons that we learned.

The important points we learned from this are:

1. Use as thin of a coat as possible; otherwise, you will have runs in the paint. 
2. It would have been better to do 3 coats instead of 2. 
3. Do not try to correct any mistakes.  The paint is somewhat self-leveling and the mistakes will mostly correct themselves.
4. Refinish the underside of the lip of the sink as well.  We did not think to do that and plan go back to do it.  The sink is rusty.  So when water drips down the underside it makes rusty water stains.

Refinished sink

Refinished sink

Craigslist to the rescue!

While we were waiting for weeks to hear back from the tub company about our defective acrylic tub, we really needed to move on and finish the bathroom.  On a whim, we decided to look for another tub on craigslist.  And we found an original historic cast iron claw foot tub for $150 about an hour's drive away.  That was a great price, and the tub seemed to be in great condition from the pictures.  So we decided to check it out; it turned out to be a great buy.

Some rust on the side of the tub.  This is expected for a tub this old.

Very little rust around the drain and faucet.

Tub was painted on the visible side which protected that side from rust.



The underside of the tub shows that it was made by Kohler on February 19, 1929.

To save money, we decided that we will try to refinish this tub ourselves using a $25 tub refinishing kit.



Bathroom Fixtures

Once the wainscoting was installed and the window and door trim was painted, we can now move onto the bathroom fixtures.

We got the Hemnes cabinet and Rattviken sink at Ikea, and we thought that was a good match for this bathroom.  The 40 x 19 inch size was perfect.  Its narrow profile does not block access into the laundry room.

Water saving efficient toilet.

Since the most logical place to put the tub in this bathroom was next to the window, we decided to go with a claw foot tub and shower.  We like the old fashioned look in a historic house, so we decided to get a reproduction acrylic claw foot tub.  We thought it would be easier to install and care for than a heavy cast iron tub.



Acrylic reproduction claw foot tub.

The tub looked really great in its location.  We placed it where it was supposed to go, and then we tried it out by stepping into it.  The acrylic tub flexed and made loud squeaking sounds as we walked in it.  It was shocking how the bottom of the tub was so flexible. 

Also, the tub turned out to be much lighter than expected.  It was possible to move it just by leaning against it.  Before purchasing the tub from the online company, I called and asked about its weight.  I was told that this tub was heavy enough, so that it would not have to be attached to the floor.  However, this was definitely not true.  It is not feasible to have this type of tub attached only by the water pipes and drain.  We would have to find a way to attach the legs to the floor to keep it in place.

We decided to call the manufacturer of the tub to find out about the flexible bottom.  The bottom was so flexible and so noisy that it had to be defective.  No one could sell this as a reasonable product.  After contacting the company's support line and sending them videos of the tub flexing when pushed with one finger, we were told we would be issued a refund.  Apparently, the acrylic layers which were glued together had separated, and that caused the flexing and the squeaking sounds.

Privacy in the Bathroom

The bathroom window will be right in front of the bath tub.  Privacy is very important in the bathroom, especially since our neighbor's kitchen window looks directly into the bathroom window.


I've always loved the look of stained glass and thought about replacing the window glass with stained glass, but due to the high cost decided not to do it.  I did find a very interesting product that mimics the look of stained glass with a window film.  The window film is made by Artscape, and it is less expensive than buying a decent quality blind for the window.  So I decided to give it a try.

You can see the neighbor's kitchen window though the bathroom window.  No privacy at all.

Artscape window film is available in many designs.  I chose the magnolia pattern.

Bottom window pane done.

Final result

It was super easy and fast to install.  And it looks great - very much like a real stained glass window.  It looks a lot better than blinds would look here.

Wainscoting in the Downstairs Bath

Once the tile was done, we were ready to install the wainscoting.  We decided to go with a PVC wainscoting due to the exposure to water and to humidity in the bathroom.  The PVC wainscoting set had matching base molding and chair rail molding.  And best of all, it did not need to be primed or painted.  To attach it to the walls, we used construction adhesive and also nailed it with 18 gauge nails with our nail gun.

Overall, it came our really well.  And it looks like painted wood, so its hard to tel that it is PVC.

We added plinths to the door ways and base molding in the laundry room.

Base molding in the laundry room

Tiling the Downstairs Bathroom

Now that the painting is finished, we proceed to the tile.  We chose a porcelain tile from Daltile that resembles slate with its look and texture.  The tile has gray, blue, and beige tones and matches the blue paint well.

We used a gray sanded grout which accented the tiles well.  The grout dried a little lighter than we expected, but we are happy with the color.

Painting the Downstairs Bathroom

We to paint the bathroom prior to laying the tile floor just in case we spilled or dripped some paint on the floor.  We decided to go with a robin's egg blue paint color, and we only painted the top of the walls.  We will use wainscoating on the bottom half of the walls.

Painting the ceiling white turned out to be a real pain because we used gray primer all over the walls and ceiling.  Tinting the primer gray was recommended by the guy who worked at the paint store.  Four coats of white paint later, the ceiling was white.  It only took two coats of blue to cover the walls.  Needless to say, we will not be using gray primer again.

Overall, we are quite happy wtih how it turned out.