Where to find parts for your vintage bathroom faucets and toilets

where to find replacement parts for vintage faucets and toiletsRandal’s reco after I wrote about Randal’s Mermador shower door. Jacob wrote:

I found Faucet Parts Plus in Oklahoma.  Wonderful place.  They seem to have everything.  I guessed my shower fixture was American Standard, as that was marked on all the other fixtures, and I found the replacement stems pretty quickly.  Ordered a kit with new handles, trim, stems and seats.

Shane wrote:

Man that plumbing place needs to be a solid source for vintage goodies. I just found exact replacement stems for my 1954 Briggs bath fixture on their site. Every once in a while you get to do something the easy way, because of someone else’s hard work. Thanks Randal!

Yes: Thank you, both!

Link: FaucetPartsPlus.com … and don’t forget to also try deabath.com, too, which in particular are experts at parts and restoration of vintage Crane faucets.

Sarah successfully strips newer laminate off her mid-century gold-speckled countertop beneath

Reader Sarah successfully removed a layer of more modern laminate from her yummy gold-speckled mid-century laminate beneath. She wrote about her experience — and the products she used — on her blog, Sarahs’ Blue Castle. But before you jump over there, take a look at her note to me and my comments here first –>  Heck yeah there is more →

How high to hang a chandelier over a dining room table

Matthew aka vintage_vantage, writes to ask for advice on how high to hang his vintage chandelier. Fortunately Bo (Sullivan) knows. Matthew writes: Heck yeah there is more →

How to protect vintage upholstery? Readers: What’s your experience & advice?

Is there a product that’s safe to use to protect vintage upholstery? Janice recently found a pair of these lovely brushed-velveteen (?) Hollywood Regency chairs, and asks what to do to keep the mint-condition upholstery in great shape. Readers had such smart-sounding suggestions to the recent post about how to get smells out of vintage sofas and chairs that I thought I’d better put this question in front of them, too. Janice writes:

I just nabbed a pair of really cool vintage upholstered armchairs and the fabric is in incredible shape! I want to keep them that way – aside from not allowing my kids or cats on them, can you recommend a protector spray? Is plain old Scotchgard safe on vintage fabric? Thanks for any info! – Janice

Readers: Do you have some experience and advice for Janice?

How to fix Crane faucets

Crane sinks and toilets were the cream of the crop back in the day, but after 50 years even they can use some fixit TLC. Lucky for us, there is a resource who has made it among their specialties to repair Crane faucets, and they are friends of the blog: Bathroom Machineries aka deabath.com. Disclosure: These folks are currently advertising on the blog… thank you very much!… but I am featuring this info regardless, no quid pro quo. They get so many questions — including readers that I refer to them — that Sales Manager John recently sent me a link to the page they have created to help do-it-yourselfers or their plumbers repair vintage Crane faucets – including the Crane Diana, Criterion, Drexel, Elayne, Marcia and Westland. What a nice service – vintage Crane groupies rejoice. Thank you, John!

How to get smells out of a vintage sofa?

What can you do to get smells out of a vintage sofa? Kendall writes: Heck yeah there is more →

Prison upholstery shops & four more handy tips for renovators


Reader Johnny Ringo sent me five tips to consider for the blog:  New ideas on sources to try for getting chrome replated, refrigerators repainted… and then there’s the bit about the prison upholstery shops, which I didn’t quite believe but then I googled it and gosh darn wouldn’t you know. Johnny Ringo writes: Heck yeah there is more →

Where to find speckled gold laminate for countertops?

Where to find speckled gold laminate? Also called “lame” (with an accent on the “e”, as in “lam-ae.”) A typical reader question, like this one: Heck yeah there is more →