1957 Crane Sink

[David McCulloch]

Where do I find a replacement for a (rare?) 1957 Crane sink?

Here's a picture of it that I took a few minutes ago:

Eleven days ago, a plumber broke the porcelain drain component of my only bathroom's Crane sink (yes, we've been without a sink for that long and will probably be without one for several more weeks!).

It and the vanity are somewhat custom configured (for example, the sink overhangs -- and is somewhat cut into -- the front of the vanity), so the plumber wanted to charge my wife $1,100 to fix the problem. After I called him, he was willing to use his insurance, but both of us would like to find a win-win scenario if possible. To avoid expensive (and less attractive) vanity work, we would like to locate a replacement sink. How could we do that?

Markings are as follows:

July 19, 1957

CRANE PACIE/C (the "IE" is a bit difficult to read) All China

77 (this is stamped all by itself)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Dave e - m a i l a d d r e s s i s d b m at e x e c p c . c o m

[Speedy Jim]

You're in for a tough hunt. Maybe start here:

Call some of the listings and ask if they have resources they can call upon to help with the search.

Jim

[David McCulloch]

attractive)

Jim, You are correct -- it is a tough hunt! I followed the link that you gave me, but most of them don't directly deal with Crane sinks. I sent one dealer an email message, but I am running out of ideas. Milwaukee's yellow pages lists only one used plumbing supply dealer and I didn't see anything close to plumbing under salvage.

I tried to search under Crane and found a "Crane Plumbing" and although their logo looked familiar, I'm not sure that they are the same company (I thought that they went out of business or stopped making sinks in the 70's).

I hope that my plumber has better luck than me, I had to tell him that the sink was made by Crane!

Anyway, thanks for your help.

Dave

[Anonymous]

MOVE ON !!

Go down to LOWES, pick out a new sink, have it installed, and start washing again.

In your old age, you can tell your grandchildren about "the fa-bu-lus Crane sink"......

[David McCulloch]

RJ, I would love to be able to put in a regular sink, but to do that, I would have to:

1. Replace the vanity top.
2. Fix or replace the vanity that was cut on the front to hold the extended Crane sink.
3. Worry about the custom sized vanity (it's a relatively small space that extends out and beyond the corner).
4. Worry about removing the vanity without breaking the tile wall.
5. Worry if the mirror will fall down (some of its weight appears to be resting on the vanity).

That's why the plumber would want to charge $1,100 if nothing else went wrong.

Take another look at the photo and you'll see what I mean.

FYI, I was having this work done to delay a $16,000 bathroom remodeling job by a year or two.

Dave

[ameijers]

I'm confused- exactly what is broken, again? I can't see any damage in the picture. Is the cast-in overflow tube underneath broken, or something? You could always just mud the crack and the overflow inlet over with expoxy and Just Be Careful, to tide you over till you get a proper solution.

I agree with the others- an architectual salvage yard is your only hope for an exact replacement. But I don't think changing out the vanity top would be that big a deal. Unless some idiot glued the mirror to the wall, pulling a few clips should take it loose. Unhook sink, and lift it out, and unscrew the screws through top of vanity into countertop. It probably was not glued down in 1957. In picture, tile runs behind countertop, so that is probably not an issue. A little utility knife work to break any caulk lines, and some careful prying with a flat prybar, and it should pop right out of there. Then just carry the top to the local Formica place, and tell them to make you one just like it, but without the big notch. If you carry the new drop-in sink with you, they can even make that hole. On the front of the vanity, just make a faux drawer front to match the others, and mount it over the notch, and paint to match. A PITA, to be sure, but not that big a deal.

I love that late '50s modern look- makes me feel like a kid again. I'd hesitate before nuking bathroom and putting in ultramodern- it won't look right with rest of the house. And if cast-iron tub is as clean and shiny as the sink, it'd be a sin to junk it.

aem sends.....

[David McCulloch]

That's true. The damage is under the sink. When the plumber was removing the old drain and installing a new one (Crane's drain assemblies are proprietary), he broke the fitting.

I just added a 2nd picture to the web page. It shows the damage.

I like your idea of attempting a repair. If it works, that might be the easiest, cheapest and highest quality alternative. I couldn't find the pieces that broke off (I hope the plumber didn't dispose of them; I told him to save all parts), but if I do, I will consider epoxying them back. I've used that method very successfully for a garbage disposal problem. It might just work with the sink. Do you know if there is any difference between Crane's "all china" material and normal porcelain?

I appreciate the support. You've given me some great suggestions. Thanks very much!

Actually, I like the bathroom's appearance, too. I just wish its components weren't so rare! For example, my toilet is a Case 1000-1100. It's a great toilet. One website even says this:

"CASE one-piece toilets, the 'Cadillac' of it's day! No mamby-pamby 1.6gpf for this baby. A Toilet in the tradition of Al Bundy's 'Ferguson' without the noise! A toilet known for it's style and quiet efficiency. As we enter the new century, this classic is a rare and valuable find."

Unfortunately, the toilet is listed under "hard to find parts". When I searched Google's Usenet messages for the toilet, I was not encouraged to read things like:

"OhmyGawd! This has to be one of USENETs GREATEST MOMENTS! I own FOUR Case Toilets Model 1000-1100 in my home and not only that...I have invested HOURS in renovating them..."

Every 5-years or so when it needs to be fixed, I have to pay about $500 to replace all of its brass fittings!

Anyway, thanks very much for everything you've said. If you have any more suggestions about how to fix that ceramic drain, I'd be all ears!

Dave

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Have you thought about a repair? I'm thinking epoxy and fiberglass cloth or something along those lines. It is not a pressure fitting so there may be a good way to fix something like that.

Your sink is retro looking and "outdated" by today's standards, but it looks to be in perfect condition. This style is very fashionalbe in the right house and should be saved. Doubtful you'll find another used one anywhere near as nice. There must be an acceptable way of fixing what you have. Talk to a renovator or restorer if necessary.

[Jim Thompson]

If the broken-out section is in one or two pieces it'd be a piece-a-cake to epoxy. Just don't over-tighten the fitting like the jerk plumber did.

...Jim Thompson

[ameijers]

Oh, yeah, I would definitely try epoxy to repair. At this point, you have nothing to lose. If you can find the chips, great, but even then I would just mud the drain assemply in place with the epoxy, to ensure a good water seal at the bottom. When you finally remodel, you'll have to cut it out with a saw, but at that point you won't care. Scuff up the shiny part of the china to get a good bond, and use the fiber tape to tie it all together.

Impressive quality on the pictures, by the way. Wish my toy Nikon digital did as well on closeups.

aem sends....

[David McCulloch]

Thanks for the pointers. I'm not sure how it's all supposed to fit together for the overflow to work correctly, but I suspect that my plumber (i.e., the experienced father who replaced his son who broke my sink) and I will be able to figure it out.

One more question... I wonder if there is a way that I could cut some wax paper, use it to shield the pipe fitting and encircle some epoxy putty so as to form a perfect contact to the wax-protected pipe fitting? After the epoxy putty cures, I could remove the wax paper and proceed with the installation as if the sink never broke. Thoughts?

Thanks! :-) It was taken with an old 2-megapixel Toshiba and then processed with Paint Shop Pro 8.10. I am waiting for the perfect camera to appear on

but that might be a while!

Dave

[Elizabeth Jones]

This sink and vanity are very similar to the ones in the Johnson County, KS museum's 1950's Electric house which was built in 1954. I thought when I saw it that it was a pretty cool sink and was wondering myself where I could get one. A couple of elderly women who were touring the house at the same time commented that they remembered having exactly the same type of sink years ago. It has a lot of character.

[Rob Hastings]

Hi David,

You might want to try these guys. They have a large showroom of used plumbing.

Frank Sales Co

1101 Wash Av S MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55415 [phone]

Good Luck, Rob

[David McCulloch]

Thanks very much for that bit of trivia, Elizabeth. I'm learning a lot more about my bathroom sink than I ever thought possible! I like its looks, too. I just wish it was easier to fix or replace!

Dave