Great news if you’re looking for authentic, affordable retro bathroom sinks, we have a third source for hudee-rimmed bathroom sinks, discovered by reader Tappan Trailer Tami. Bootz Industries, a company that has been in business since 1937, manufactures both round and oval porcelain steel, metal-rimmed bathroom sinks. The sinks are only available in white, and come at the lowest cost we’ve seen for a new sink of this style, offering another choice for those doing a retro remodel on a tight budget. Note again, Bootz sinks = steel substrate…. Kohler & Ceco sinks = cast iron substrate. Presumably this is what accounts for the price difference; we’re not Consumer Reports, so we can’t speak to quality/durability differences. Pam recalls that the bathrooms sinks in her original 1951 bathrooms were all porcelain enamel on steel substrates (Case?) – so we believe that this configuration was indeed around.
Two affordable bathroom sinks with metal rims from Bootz
Tami ordered the following sinks for her bathrooms:
Bathroom Sink # 1 cost ordered through HD Supply: Bootz Daisy 18″ round lavatory sink with 4 inch centers and separately ordered metal rim.
Bathroom Sink # 2 cost ordered through HD Supply: Bootz Daffodil oval lavatory sink — 16″ x 19″ — with 4 inch centers with separately ordered metal rim.
Great find, T3 — and yes — HD Supply is a great source for retro remodeling bits and pieces. HD Supply is also where I found my affordable chrome backplates for my kitchen cabinets. Thanks for sharing the findings of your find with us. Thanks to you we now have three sources for retro styled hudee rim bathroom sinks:
Grandma says
Grandson bought this 1964 house last fall; has original green tub and sink in main bath. Has anyone else ever heard of Rheem fixtures? I know they make water heaters, etc since we have one. The sink has a bit of rust (but not tub) and looking for a replacement, could not believe how much it would cost! For instance, this: http://asheville.craigslist.org/atq/5589995217.html which is the same as we have. Yikes!
Square sinks w/hudees in the right color–very hard to find much of anything on Rheem, so will have to just deal with it. Don’t know about the toilets, both are white Gerber, but don’t know how old (not water savers, for sure).
pam kueber says
See our Bathroom category and its subcategories for our research on these questions: https://retrorenovation.com/category/bathroom-categories/
Ariane Watkins says
I just ordered the oval sink and the rim is in stock on their site. It’s Part #: 405080 for $32.99. This sure beats the similar rectangle Kohler sink for $250 + $63 rim.
Hopefully that helps someone out there! 🙂
Robin, NV says
How timely. My square Ming green bathroom sink is starting to get worn around the drain and I’m worried that it’s going to start rusting. Would I pay to have it re-porcelained? Heck yes!!
Mary Elizabeth says
A fine idea, Robin! Share with us if you are able to pull this off.
Mary Elizabeth says
Sink adventures! Thanks for the information, Tami, and thanks for posting it, Kate. I may have to go with a white hudee ring sink instead of the green I wanted.
My sad story is that I finally found NOS Aspen Green Kohler cast iron sink on eBay, but unfortunately it was chipped in shipping. It is a beautiful color, in the avocado range but more like bayberry, from the 1970s, which fits in with the style of my new wing in my 1959 house.. I already have a toilet seat that color. The seller had another one, but it was round and not oval and just about 2 inches too large for my bathroom.
I haven’t given up yet, and it isn’t an emergency, as we have a perfectly serviceable vanity top/sink and we have other projects to keep us busy. But you guys are the only ones who understand my pain at opening the box and seeing the chipped porcelain. Sigh. 🙁
pam kueber says
Oh my word. The sadness of such stories. Your NEW OLD STOCK green sink sits patiently for decades waiting for its happy home. Finally “adopted.” Only to get chipped in shipping. I try not to anthropormorphize. But sometimes… it’s so sad…
Mary Elizabeth says
The good news: The wonderful seller gave me a complete credit and told me to dump or donate the sink. At our town dump/transfer station, they took the chipped sink and recycled the cast iron. So the sink was saved from the landfill after all.
The other good news: The retro gods have smiled on me. I found a supplier with a lot of NOS stuff, and have ordered a sink from him. Will let you know if it arrives in good condition and will then give you the name of the supplier, who deals exclusively in discontinued Kohler products.
pam kueber says
Wow, so the RDG’s did smile upon you!