Surprise! The Sinks Here

Yes, the copper sink arrived today. I just happened to be home on a short break and FedEx pulled up. Why they come to my house at 10:30 in the morning is a mystery but they always do and I’m never home, except this time, and it was a fluke. I was home for all of about 5 minutes and he just happened to pull up while I was there.

As for the sink, well, it’s OK. It wasn’t one of those moments where you open the package and begin to gush with joy over your new treasure. I can say that it is very heavy – heavier than I thought it would be – and seems to be well constructed. I had been warned by some that if a copper sink isn't made well there can be thin parts in the copper where cracks may appear after only a few years. A good copper sink should last a life time. From my untrained eye it doesn’t seem to have any thin spots.

The only problem with it is the finish. I had ordered ‘Natural’ finish. The picture on the web site of the sample sink in Natural finish looked kind of like copper pipe that was a year old or so. Not that shiny copper color when you first buy the pipe at the hardware store and install it. It was more that color the copper gets a year later when you have to go back and make a repair on a crappy joint you soldered.



As you can see in the picture the sink sort of has that color but it also has this dark splotchyness to it. I don’t remember seeing that on the web site. The other thing that doesn’t thrill me is the level of texture. I didn’t expect the hammer marks to be so prominent. Maybe I’m being too picky. I generally like the sink, but you know, it’s just that the picture in my head was a little better than the sink in reality.

I thought about calling the manufacturer and asking about the finish, but I figured what’s the point. I’m not going to send the sink back. Both the inside and outside have the black splotches so I may try some things on the outside (it will never be seen) to try and even out the color. I ordered Natural because I wanted a natural patina in time, so maybe it will even out on it’s own.

Some of you may remember that I had come up with a plan to install the sink under-mount with out moving the slab of marble off the island. I tried to do a dry run tonight to see if it will fit but the electrical box is in the way. I’m going to have to remove that before I can try. Worse case scenario is I have to slide the marble back and drop it in. That is very doable with 3 or 4 people around the slab.

I’ve decided I’m going to wait a few weeks before I install it. I’ve been making great progress in the outside of the house and we are scheduled for a stretch of good weather so I want to continue with that. Also, my router is deader than dead and I need to buy a new one before I can install the sink.

Speaking of work on the outside paint job, it as been going swimmingly. Things are progressing much faster than I had anticipated. The first floor part of the wall I’m working on is ready for primer. Today I filled holes on the second floor and tomorrow I will begin to sand. That will go much slower but there is a lot less of it.



In the picture above, everything to the left of the bay window was hidden behind the addition for 80+ years. It has 2 coats of paint (actually it is more like one and a half) and the paint is in almost pristine shape. Except for a few holes for wall planking these shingles look like there were put up a few years ago not 111 years ago. The bay window bump out is another story. There are a tenth of the holes to fill as on the first floor but all of the shingles have to be stripped to bare wood. And I’m working on a ladder. The one in the picture is my short ladder. Oh, and did I happen to mention I have a problem with heights. More on that later.