Refurbishing a Soapstone Sink

I had a three-basin soapstone sink in my 1912 basement, on a rusted-out stand. When I refurbished my laundry room, I puzzled long about what to do with with the sink. I hated the idea of replacing it with plastic, and it weighed 500 pounds (I borrowed a sling scale from work) so I did not relish the idea of hauling it out.

Ultimately I decided to rehabilitate it. The soapstone can be worked almost like wood, if you are willing to sacrifice some tool bits.

I cut off the old metal drains and removed all the remaining strainers. One of the basins was beyond repair, so I used a masonry blade in my circular saw to cut off one basin. I replaced the rusted tension rods underneath with stainless steel to hold the front panel to the back panel.

There was a broken-through spot on one of the remaining basin side walls, but gray plumber's epoxy is an acceptable color match. I cleaned the wound with a wire brush and alcohol, and filled it with epoxy, smoothing it before it set.

I scraped any spalling stone and sanded the surface, which did not really have as much beneficial effect as I hoped.

The big box home center did not have a deep enough drain, but one of the plumbing supply houses had one that would fit the 1-1/8" thick stone. I had to router the stone a little to get the flange to fit below the surface of the stone. I used the rubber gasket that came with the drain, but set it in grey silicone caulk.

Lastly, I built a simple flat-frame pressure-treated 2x4 stand, with diagonal bracing glued and screwed with polyurethane glue and 3" and 4" screws. I laid a 2x4 flat at the front and the back to support the front and back stone panels. By levelling the stand, this gave the sink a slight slope to the back for good drainage.

So it is indeed possible to rehabilitate these sinks, if you're crazy enough to try.

(photos refreshed 9/8/14)