I'm planning to replace a top-mounted cast iron sink, resting on a formica countertop, with a top-mounted stainless sink. The problem is the cast iron sink probably weighs 100 pounds, more than I can handle. (I don't have a helper, and I don't know if the trash collectors will take such a heavy item; normal limit is 50 pounds.)
How can I break the cast iron sink into two or more lighter pieces. The old sink (and the new one) have two bowls. Probably the most vulnerable spot is the wall between the two bowls. I don't have a sledge hammer, but I do have an ordinary-weight hammer and a cold chisel. I've already removed the caulking on the front and both sides. I'll cover the sink with a blanket or heavy towels to contain the enamel chips that will fly when I start hammering.
Any other suggestions for vulnerable spots to attack or approaches other than a hammer and chisel? What about reciprocal saws? What kind of blade?
I know that cast iron tubs can be broken up and removed with a sledge hammer -- no chisel needed, and probably not recommended. I have done it and there are YouTube videos about that. The process is noisy and messy. And, you may need a heavier sledge hammer than just a regular hammer.
Trying to break it up in place with a hammer seems like it would risk damaging the countertop.
Maybe you could just use a little leveraging with pry bars or 2x4's or whatever to get the sink out in one piece without having to lift the whole
100 +/- pounds. Some -- a little creative engineering -- to get it safely down to the floor and then use a hand truck or more creative engineering to get it out the door. From there, if you put it by the curb, some scrap metal person will snag it and throw it on his/her pickup truck and it will be gone.
For a sink, I don't think breaking it up will end up being worth the effort. It can be hard work.
I would not break it up in place, installed. You'll mangle the countertop and never fit the new one in.
If you really need to break it before moving, at least pull it out of the c ountertop and set it on a couple of 2x4s.
Do you have a good drill? I would drill a line of holes everywhere I wante d to break it. If it weighs 100 pounds that would be three lines, giving 4 pieces of 25 pounds. Drill a hole every inch all the way across, before d oing any whacking with the hammer. I don't think hole size is important, p lus you'll probably dull a couple of bits. Anywhere in the 1/8th to 3/8th diameter bit should be fine.
When I bought a vinyl linoleum floor for my Brooklyn NY apartment, I took out everything before the installation guy came, including the sink. A 1930 building, wouldn't that have been cast iron? It had shallow section on the left, and the right side was as big as a laundry tub to hold the output of an autmatic washer, even though I don't think they had them in 1930. Would that have been a laundry tub for the maid to use? (My apartment had a room and a bath for the maild. I don't remember what the sink looked like in smaller apartments.
I'm of average strength, and I was 25 years old, and I was able to handle it myself. So maybe you can too or maybe it's not 100 pounds?
The sink sat on a sheet metal cabinet with two side walls, a front wall that was mostly doors, and a floor, made for the sink, but when the sink was off it, the cabinet was so flimsy, it could have bent almost from its own weight. I had to be careful putting the sink back on, not to crush the cabinet. I had roommates, but I didn't ask them to help. I gradually learned they were jerks, one of them annoyed because there was no stove that night, even though he was a first-year lawyer and could have afforded to go out to dinner once. He didnt' notice that I was paying for the floor and not asking any money from him.
The suburban home depot near me, I called on the phone and they say they have no one looking for a job in the parking lot. The one in the city near me had about 7 guys, even at 2 in the afternoon. If you have such people, don't get there early when they want to be hired for the whole day, but by 10 maybe or noon or 2, they'll settle for an hour ($20 maybe, travel time plus 20 minutes work to help carry it outside.) and you bring him back right away so he can find more work maybe) I think most are okay, but you could apologize to him, say your mother or girlfriend insisted you do this and you promised, and then look at his id, call someone on the cell phone before you leave the parking lot and give him the guys name, address, drivers license number and description
With a sledge, I doubt the most vulnerable spot is between the two bowls, especially if you're planning on hitting it from the top. If hitting the middle from the side, the other side of the bowl wiill be in the way. . I'd say it's the middle of a flat area, hit from the outside.
The previous owner left me a sledge hammer. I thought I'd never use it but I've used it a bunch. If you own your own home, I don't think they're that expensive.
It will take a very long time with a small hammer and chisel. Hours. Hammering in place sounds very risky to the counter. Plus the sink is too high. It should be on the floor, upside down. Maybe you can lift one end up, lean some plywood against the cabinet, a moveable cabinet to hold the bottom of the plywood in place, and slide the thing down at a
45^ angle
I'll admit, one time I got my next door neighbor to help me lift one square of my sidewalk. He came over and brought pink Rubbermaid washing-dishes gloves. I think his wife told him to wear them . They woudl rip in a second and he looked like a dandy. I had leather work gloves for him. I asked him to help me put it back and he'd say yes but never come over. I got another friend but figured out, with
4x4's as fulcrums and legs, and 2x4's as levers how to do it all myself,
4 minutes to take it out and 4 minutes to put it back.
Oh, yeah, wear not the cheapest leather and canvas work gloves with gantlets. They make you twice as strong. It's amazing. Without the worry of ripping your skin, I'm serious, you can exert twice the force you can without gloves. Maybe 3 times When lifting or when swinging the sledge.
Like these, with leather fingers front and back, except these must be chintzy in person, 3 pairs for 5 dollars.
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"I thought I was getting a 'deal', but these gloves are the cheapest, low quality gloves I've ever used. They look like the gloves I've used for many years, those heavy duty ones that last a long time. But these began to literally fall apart at the seams as soon as I put them on. I've been through all 3 in a single weekend! It's nice to save money once in a while, but very disappointing to just throw money away. The gloves in the photo were worn for about half an hour at the most."
Something that looks the same but more expensive.
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5 dollars and 5 stars, but only from gardeners about thorns.
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10 dollars. The mesh is probably cooler if your working for several hours. Actually anything between 5 and 10 is probably good enough.
I'm planning to replace a top-mounted cast iron sink, resting on a formica countertop, with a top-mounted stainless sink. The problem is the cast iron sink probably weighs 100 pounds, more than I can handle. (I don't have a helper, and I don't know if the trash collectors will take such a heavy item; normal limit is 50 pounds.)
How can I break the cast iron sink into two or more lighter pieces. The old sink (and the new one) have two bowls. Probably the most vulnerable spot is the wall between the two bowls. I don't have a sledge hammer, but I do have an ordinary-weight hammer and a cold chisel. I've already removed the caulking on the front and both sides. I'll cover the sink with a blanket or heavy towels to contain the enamel chips that will fly when I start hammering.
Any other suggestions for vulnerable spots to attack or approaches other than a hammer and chisel? What about reciprocal saws? What kind of blade?
I don't see an easy/practical way to break/cut it up while it's in the counter. Just find someone to help lift it out. I'd also bet it doesn't weigh 100 lbs, but it's still heavy and you need 2 people. A call to the town or whoever does the trash pickup will solve the question of what to do with it. If they will take it, then simplest thing is get it out there in one piece. I also wouldn't tell the trash folks as to the guess of how much it might weigh. I'd just say it's a cast iron kitchen sink. If they won't take it, they can tell you the options. One option is to just put it at the curb with a sign that says "free". That often works, folks go around picking up metal stuff for scrap.
You are right. For some strange reason, I didn't think the first one got posted. Sorry for repeating it.
Strange thing. I left NJ and should have had my optonline cancelled when I discontinued my cable service. However, I can still receive emails at that address, but not reply to them or create new ones. But I can post messages to the optonline newsgroups, like this one. Go figure.
Thanks to all for you comments. As a result, I will NOT try to break it in place. Actually, it is in good shape (no chips in the finish; some moderate scratches in one bowl), so maybe someone will want it. My gripe is that the bowls are only six inches deep, the partition between them is wide, and the radii are large. Thus, the bowls don't hold much.
I like the idea of putting it out whole at the curb. I know metal collectors make their rounds early on collection days. Somehow, I'll get a helper. I'm in this house only five months, so I'm a bit uncomfortable asking casual neighbors for help.
The house was built in 1999. Lowe's gives the weight of a similar Kohler double-bowl one, with 9" deep bowls, as 130 pounds. I guessed that mine is 100 pounds because the bowls are so shallow.
Everything I've put out at the curb in the last year has disappeared long before the trash truck arrives, and I live in a nice neighborhood. I don't know where those things go but I'm glad to see a better spot than the landfill.
That's how you make friends, but it probably works better to ask to make a phone call.
Maybe if you see an 18-year old ask him or his father if he wants to make $nn for 10, 20 minutes work.
In NYC, the Dept. of Sanitation publishes the bulk collection schedule for the Upper East Side, the most expensive part of Manhattan. . 40 years ago it was something like the 50's on Monday, the 60's on Tuesday... the 90's on Friday.
Once when I had rented a trailer in Chicago that wasn't due back for two more days, I went looking, but all I found was a truly cheap dresser, although made with real wood, painted glossy black with contac paper on top. And maybe I found a raggedy sofa bed. But since I had nothing, I took them.
Put it on Craigslist with a note that the recipient will need to take it out themselves. It should be gone by noon. I've broken up tubs with a large sledge, but it's a lot of work, and that's on a solid floor. In your case your likely to take the counter with it. The only other good way to cut cast iron that I know of is with a carborundum blade on a circular saw. Wear glasses, mask and heavy pants. Take the batteries out of the smoke alarm. Then dig in and enjoy the fireworks of sparks and smoke. :)
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