Asked on Jan 31, 2016

Resurfacing a porcelain sink

Jan D'Agostino
by Jan D'Agostino
My kitchen sink needs resurfacing, it's too large to replace because there's tile around it
And I'd like it a different color.
  9 answers
  • Hope Williams Hope Williams on Feb 01, 2016
    Hi Jan. Yes you absolutely can change the color of your sink. There is a kit with most everything you need. Having done this myself, the absolute, most important step is prep! Sand it really good! Then sand some more. Clean it really good, then clean it again! You can YouTube your project or look it up on Hometalk here. These products have really caustic vapors. Be sure to wear a respirator and ventilate well. If you are going to do it indoors, please be very careful. I used marine grade clearcoat. For our water here, it was my best option for keeping it clean. You also have an option of taking it to your local automotive body repair. Yes they can do it too with products that will last. Just call and get prices and that you do the prep. Let us know how your sink turns out or if you need more help.
  • Kimberly A Kimberly A on Feb 01, 2016
    We have also done this to several houses we sold. We did not want to place vintage cast iron tubs or porcelain sinks but wanted a color change. Just as Hope Williams said , prep is the key. We purchased out kits from our local home improvement stores. Home Depot and Lowes both sell them. Make sure to follow all directions exactly and we found the two part epoxy paint kits from those stores held up a bit better than the one part. Others may have found one part kits that worked great and can steer you to those types as well. Good luck!
  • Pat Keadle Gougler Pat Keadle Gougler on Feb 01, 2016
    Or there are companies that will come resurface tubs and sinks. Not as cheap as do-it-yourself, but less expensive than replacing a tub or sink.
  • Johnchip Johnchip on Feb 01, 2016
    Consider carefully your DIY skill levels. It will be the final finish that will matter,( clean, smooth, shiny and looking like new). If prepped or painted wrong, this is a nightmare as the kitchen sink is one of the most used important, seen parts of your home, your biggest investment. If done and looks sloppy, uneven or begins to wear poorly at all, you just lowered your investment value by huge amount. And you will be looking down into it a couple times every day the rest of your life in that house. Consider, everyone has to resell sometime. This may be something you want to have a professional do right. A few hundred isn't that bad to relax and get what you want.
  • Renata Renata on Feb 01, 2016
    Plz plz do a color spot test first. I bought a small kit from our Ace hardware store of bright white to do a repair. After it dried it was yellow. Needless to say I was pissed. Store did NOTHING BUT AN OH HMMM about this. So from experience plz test for color first.
  • I have to add that when you do this to a porcelain and/cast iron tubs and sinks, this is not a permanent thing. We have an uncle who has been doing this for many years and says it last for about 3-7 years depending upon how much you use the tub and sink. Porcelain sinks last for years and mine is about 30 years old that I took off the curb from someone doing a home renovation and didn't want it. boy did I get a deal. The home kits are very hard to do and the fumes are toxic. I do a lot of my own DIY but I will not attempt this.
  • Trudy Trudy on Feb 01, 2016
    I did the do-it-yourself coating on an old porcelain bathtub. I did even more prep than they suggested (extra sanding and cleaning), followed all the directions exactly and it started peeling off in less than a year. It looked disgusting! Once you sand off the original finish you can never get it clean again. I just paid someone to come in and redo it, I should have just paid someone the first time!
  • Marie Forlano Papa Marie Forlano Papa on Feb 03, 2016
    We used a product we bought in Home Depot to paint our very old porcelain sink. You need to have patience when painting it, the slower the better, but it came out really well. It has been almost 5 years since we refinished it and it still looks pretty good.
  • Jane R. Jane R. on Feb 03, 2016
    Save yourself some time and headaches. Hire a professional.