After Joe was unsuccessful in his attempt to epoxy-coat his vintage porcelain drainboard sink, he replaced it with a new Elkay Lustertone stainless steel drainboard sink. Even though the metal drainboard sink looks great, Joe says he would have preferred to keep his old porcelain sink top and have had the original enamel restored, refinished or replaced. But he didn’t know of a source — and neither did I. Until now.
Thanks to reader TappanTrailerTami, who let us know:
I hate to mention this after-the-fact, but it could be something that Pam can investigate for us, and report on. There is a company in Illinois — Custom Ceramic Coatings — that does actual REAL porcelain enameling (the baked-on kind). I’ve seen them mentioned on a couple of different websites. I don’t know how much the cost is, but I think it would be worth checking out and having the information handy just in case someone here wants to save their current sink. It is my understanding that they are the only company in the country to do real old fashioned authentic fired on porcelain enamel work.
Tami
UPDATE: We subsequently identified a second company — Independence Porcelain — that can do reporcelaining if you have a STEEL base; Custom Ceramic Coatings can do reporcelaining onto steel or cast iron.
And another UPDATE: Antique Baths Sydney (Australia) also has left comments that they do this work on both cast iron and steel substrates. Check out Antique Baths Sydney here. And, see the comments thread in this story for some back and forth with them regarding their shipping costs.
A note on terminology: I have seen the terms “Porcelain Enamel”, “Enamel”, and “Porcelain” each used to describe the top coating that is baked onto metal substrates on bathtubs, sinks and other products. As such, you may see the various terms used interchangeably on this blog by me and by others who are interviewed or commenting. To verify what types of products you have and what they are made of, do your own research including consulting with the original manufacturer or your own professionals.
Understanding potential lead hazards in old porcelain enamel bathtubs and sinks and tile of any age:
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
If you are the owner of an older porcelain enamel bathtub or sinks — or are considering buying one — please see my May 2, 2016 story Understanding potential lead hazards in old porcelain enamel bathtubs and sinks and ceramic tile of any age; this article focuses on raising awareness around three other potential sources of lead dust exposure in your home – old porcelain enamel bathtubs and sinks and ceramic tile of any era — and steps you can take to assess and, if required, address them.
Well, I followed up on Tami’s tip, made a phone call, and yes — Custom Ceramic’s owner John Ballantyne says that, indeed, he does true, old-fashioned re-porcelaining of sinks, tubs, stove parts and even vintage motorcycle parts. He does lots of (all the?) reporcelaining work for companies that take apart and re-manufacture vintage stoves piece by piece, for example.
John says can strip and then re-porcelain onto steel substrates, and usually, onto cast iron, although he tells me there is an issue with cast iron right now:
As I told you on the phone, I have been having some trouble with the thick heavy cast iron pieces since I had to change my porcelain supplier. My old supplier went out of business and we had things matched up pretty good. The stamped steel sinks are no problem. We are working with the porcelain for the cast and it has recently worked out on some pieces that had failed badly for outgassing. Once I try a couple of sinks that have failed and if they work out now, then I will return to doing the heavy cast iron again.
The porcelain re-enameling process is not cheap, because it is time-consuming and requires craftsmanship, materials and the tools and equipment. John explains that porcelain = glass. To re-porcelain a piece, he says, he first must blast away all the old porcelain down to the bare metal. He then applies a “ground coat” — a special primer, more or less — usually two coats, each fired separately. Then, he creates a special chemical mixture of ground glass and other materials — this is called “slip” — and applies thin coats in a wet spray, drying and firing in between. The firing all occurs at up to 1500 degrees F. The “outgassing” he refers to, is when there are problems getting the porcelain coats to adhere to the ground coats during the firing process. Expansion, contraction, chemical formulations — all must be just right or you get bubbles and pocks and flaking or worse.
John can create white porcelain, or color-match to about any color you want. Vibrant reds and yellows are more expensive, he warns, because the formula for these colors use cadmium, an EPA-controlled substance requiring special procedures.
Costs vary according to the piece. John read to me from his rate card: A 42″ sink runs $750-$800, plus shipping. As you can imagine, shipping can be a substantial part of the expense, too. For example, John is in Illinois, just across the border from St. Louis, and one-way shipping to California for a piece sitting in his shop while we talked was looking like $230. He says he works with a special shipper to help get the best cost possible.
That said, remember that it’s probably at least $1,500 for an Elkay Lustertone stainless steel drainboard sink. And I bet if anyone ever started making porcelain drainboard sinks new, they would be in that price range or higher.
A 40″ stovetop, in white, with four burner holes, would be about $335, John said.
He can also do stove grates, with simple single grates starting at $50.50.
Currently, lead times are three-to-four weeks.
John says that he started his business in 1997, after running a large porcelain plant in St. Louis. He got his start when he reporcelained the exhaust pipes on his Harleys.
Links:
- Custom Ceramic Coatings — tell John you heard about him on Retro Renovation!
- Update May 2015: Custom Ceramic’s waiting list is now two to three years long. Yes: Years. If you have a STEEL sink, try the other source have now profiled: Independencc Porcelain Enamel. Their timeline is weeks — but note, they cannot reporcelain cast iron.
- Understanding potential lead hazards in old porcelain enamel bathtubs and sinks and ceramic tile of any age.
- Do you want to buy a drainboard farmhouse style sink — new? There are options! See our complete Farmhouse Drainboard Sink Resource Page here.
Carey says
How do I contact this John to see about redoing my sinks ?
pam kueber says
Carey, the link to his company is in the story.
joyce says
Hello,
I am in Northern California with a 1939 farmhouse sink (bought on e-bay) that needs re-enameling. Anyone have a suggestion for someone good in California?
Douglas Jones says
Update on Custom Ceramic Coatings (9-27-2014)….
I see several questions and comments asking about the latest status of John’s backlog of items to be refinished. A few months ago I had tried several phone calls, but had no luck reaching anyone. After a second attempt at emailing, I received a reply from John.
I have a large laundry sink that I want to have refinished. Since I’m within driving distance (2.5 hours), I told John that I’d like to drop off my sink. He asked me to please not bring the sink since he has 20 of them sitting in his shop now waiting to be refinished. As of this writing, he tells me that he has a 1.5 to 2 year waiting list for sinks and tubs.
He also attached a .pdf document to his email to me that tells more about the refinishing process and some of the things that could go wrong that he wants customers to know in advance. I would be happy to provide that document for posting on this website if the publishers are interested. It might help some folks know whether or not their sink or tub is a good candidate for the re-porcelain process.
Steve Smaaladen says
Mr. Douglas Jones,
I would be very interested in the pdf document that you have offered explaining the details of the refinishing process that Custom Ceramic Coating shared with you and what may be a good candidate for John’s re-porcelain.
Thank you.
Steve Smaaladen
Douglas Jones says
Hi Steve. I would be happy to send you pdf document I mentioned. If you would send me your email address I can forward it to you. Also, I would be happy to have a phone conversation with you to tell you what I learned from seeing John’s operation first-hand recently. I learned a lot about what types of pieces do and don’t work well with his process. Plus I was able to see some of the issues he encounters myself, which was helpful. It made me re-think a couple of pieces I was considering having him re-porcelain.
If you will provide me your email address, we can exchange phone contact information to you. Thanks!
Douglas
Sarah says
I’d also like a copy of the pdf if it’s still available. My email address is soslyvi@gmail.com
Thanks,
Sarah
Gerry Boucher says
I just spoke with John yesterday 7/18/14
I called (2nd time) he called back about an hour later. Last week I drove to Columbus NJ from Cape Cod MA to pick up my vintage stove I purchased on Ebay. A 1954 (I think) Roper with griddle in Mint Green in excellent condition. I strapped it in above door handles and seller said it might bend handles so he lowered strap on door. When I got into RI the wind took it and flipped it down. It was wrapped in saran wrap and covered with blanket. I could not see the damage well. I struggled to lift it upright and reattached strap at backsplash. The rest of the way home that sinking feeling of a piece of history bestowed upon me, ruined. I got it out of truck alone, 2 hours of prep and it sits in dining room waiting for repair. All 4 doors dented from handles pushing in.
John said he needed pics but thinks he is able to accomplish repairs, I will also send him the grates and burners to redo.
I’m in no rush, I am getting items i need for remodel as I can afford them, the stove just happened to come up NOW. Next is flooring, before it is dicontinued. HD.com, green/black/white 1″ tiles I will create in a basket weave pattern similar to pink floor in Save Pink Bathroom site. White beadboard cabinets with Jadite green knobs, shiny black countertops maybe granite probably sylestone, 4″ tile, mint green, removed and restored from brothers bathroom in NY, Big Chill Mint Green Fridge, and current 18″ newer dishwasher (no space for regular size) panel painted mint. I do all my own work except gas, carpet, wallpaper. I’m very excited I can vision exactly how it will come out, now if only wife could share excitement.
Dave says
Try Miracle Method – they have several locations in Houston.
Diane says
I am doing to work in the kitchen… and I wonder if you know where in Houston, I can take my cast iron sink to be redone?
Cara says
I took John the sink refinisher’s advice & had my cast-iron bathroom sink powder-coated as a test run for my huge farmhouse sink. If anyone’s in south Florida, or nearby, I highly recommend Fusion Powder Coating in Dania http://www.fusionpowdercoating.com/ (954) 925-9911 They specialize in marine work, so I figured a sink would be no problem,. Patrick had never done a sink but was willing to try and when there were a couple of bubbles, was perfectly willing to try again. The sink looks great and it was reasonable: under $250. The thought of never needing to have it epoxy-painted again is thrilling. I highly recommend him ad if you can find a good powder coating shop in your area, I think it seems like a reasonable alternative. I’ll let you know if there are any problems!
Cara says
They are still in business. I just spoke to John but you just have to keep calling. He says he gets lots of e-mails a day & his lead time is now a year. By the way, he has a limit on his furnace size and could not accommodate my single cast-iron sink unit of 6’1″ with a 5 &1/2 ” apron, double drainboards and a high back of 13″. I think he said his limit is about 70″.
He did suggest that instead of having it repeatedly spray-finished, that I take it out & have it powder coated. That process is apparently second best.
Good luck!
Deena says
I tried calling john the past two weeks,April 2014, and there is nothing. No answering machine at all. Called information with john’s name and company and they said it didn’t show up as a listing? Can you provide me with a working number for John? My sink comes out in 6 days! Thank you so much, Deena
Douglas Jones says
Hi Deena. See my 9/27/2014 post below. John’s current waiting list is 1.5 to 2 years.
Deena says
Thank you Doug. My sink has been with John since June. It has been tough living so long without it, but we are trying to make do knowing the refinished sik will be worth all the trouble we are going through. Worst part is living without countertops too. They can not be installed without the sink. Ugh. Appreciate your info though. Thank you deena
David Smith says
Requesting info – has anyone been in contact with this company (Custom Ceramic Coatings) in the last few months? I have a double drainboard sink which I really want to have properly re-finished with porcelain, but despite numerous calls and emails, I have never contacted anything other than a recording – and even that stopped working a while ago.
Are they out of business or just swamped?
Anyone know of another facility offering sand blast and re-application of porcelain? My kitchen is waiting …
Peter says
Ooh, I have a crazy expensive fantasy about having someone like this redo all of the 4 ft. porcelain-enamel roof panels from our 60+ yr old Lustron home. It would be a massive logistical undertaking: removing and replacing roof with tarps for several months; carefully numbering each panel & transporting the whole lot to Illinois; fetching them all again sometime later and reinstalling per assembly manual. Could run $10,000 – $20,000, so not likely until I win the lottery. But wouldn’t this be cool?!
pam kueber says
yup!
Thom says
I have a porcelain enamel drip pan on my cooktop. I scrubbed it a bit too hard with Barkeeper’s friend and now the finish is dull in some areas. Do you know of any way to remove the fine surface scratches and restore the glossy finish?
pam kueber says
No. I think you wrecked it. You are not supposed to use abrasives on finishes like these, as far as I know.
Pj says
Would any of the products made for restoring an auto’s paint to glossy work?—something available for DIY.