The Victorian style sink I’m using in the master bathroom was in the shed when my daugher and her husband bought their new house. There were a pair of them. I told her I wanted them and they said sure. Even after storing outdoors for three years, I cleaned off the old caulk and the sink is in great condition. With the powder coated metal vanity, it is a Victorian/Industrial style. Eclectic!
Victorian sink
The bathroom sink faucet was purchased from eBay and either it was missing parts or I lost them. I didn’t have the below sink tightener and I had to improvise, although it is not tight enough and I ordered a Toto sink version that looks like the original and I should be able to tighten it completely.
I used an old bent up chrome supply trim and cut it to fit around the pipes with my Dremel tool and drilled a hole for the threaded rod. In order to get the fastener below the tight pipes, I used a section of drain pipe.
Improvised faucet fastener
The supply pipes are so close to the threaded rod that holds the faucet that while I was tightening the bolt, I was loosening the copper pipe. It was just enough to have it start leaking. Unfortunately, I thought the leak was at the shark bite connector. So after lots of hemming and hawing around at the hardware store, I brought home a compression fitting that I didn’t end up needing. But the discovery of the leak meant I had to take the whole faucet out to tighten the pipes to the faucet.
Source of the leak
The copper pipes have a threaded end and a small gasket to keep them from leaking. It is kind of nice because they could be replaced if they become too damaged. If I could find the parts. So the faucet leak was fixed and the faucet put back into place.
Faucet in place
I also removed the toilet AGAIN. Although the foam gasket allowed me to install and remove it several times, it also worried me that the flange was over a part of the drain area. If waste was restricted there it would be a mess to take care of later so I decided to cut a portion of the flange away to allow for a more open waste area.
Cut opening in toilet ring flange
Then one more time, I had to align the toilet over the bolts just right to set it. I fiddled with the bolts two or three times before I got it right. I also noticed that the bolts I used are kind of short and really are meant to be broken off. So there is a stripped area on the bolts that was keeping me from tightening the toilet. I struggled with that for awhile until I realized washers would move the nut up enough to use the normal threads. Sometimes it takes awhile to really see a problem that is occurring.
Final toilet install
So these two pieces are now ready for my sister’s visit this week! I wanted them done for visitors in late August but DIY often takes a longer time than planned.
Two piece bath ensemble
And thinking to figure out what I could use for storage underneath I checked out craigslist and found a brown former medical cart that I liked and took a ride over today to buy it. It just feels good to add this touch.
Storage cart under sink cabinet