SALVO FAIR

We were sorry to hear that this year there is no SALVO FAIR. After a run of 13 years straight helping reclamation and restoration company’s show their wares the company has decided to take a year off. Well they do deserve the well earned rest. We shall miss the experience never-the-less.

A typical day at the SALVO FAIR

The FAIR is fantastic for anyone who loves good quality antique and reclaimed items. Rummaging through miscellaneous treasures, especially in the rain , is just a lot of fun. Sometimes you even see Celebrities doing exactly the same. Last year we saw Will Young. You can pick out some amazing bargains. You can find anything from original Victorian bathroom tiles to stained glass. Actually if you can think of it SALVO normally will have it on display at their fair. The fair is a great day out.

All is not lost. There is an great website yOu can check out called SALVO WEB You can find what you want from roof tiles to chandeliers. We have even advertised a few of our reclaimed and resurfaced baths on the site. So if you want to sell these guys are there to help and if you are looking to buy quality reclaimed items or resurfaced baths try SALVO WEB.

George Jennings Brought Back From The Dead

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This is a rare tilting sink by George Jennings. We do not have an exact date but these sinks were quite early (circa 1860) and were one of the designs one comes across before the waste and overflow became pretty much the norm for basin design.

Here is the basin in situ prior to restoration work.

George Jennings himself was one of the giants of Victorian Sanitation. It was his toilets which were introduced at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the Crystal Palace in London. This was the first time many people had the chance to use a flushing toilet and many, many people went ahead and did so. Over 800,000 people paid over a penny each to gain access to this new and exciting experience. It seems strange to us now but the impact the toilets at this exhibition made was massive. The phrase “to spend a penny” meaning “to use the loo” stems from George Jenning’s toilets. And within 4 years of the exhibition there were over 200,000 flushing toilets in London alone. Now the very idea of not having a flushing toilet in your home is completely foreign and unacceptable.

The tilting sink was a design the allowed the sink to swivel round on two pivots to be emptied. There was no plug hole.

It looks like the tilting sink was introduced after 1851 but before the turn of the century, as it seems to appear after the Great Exhibition of 1851 but was still referred to as “Jennings’ patent tilt-up and lipped lavatory”. What we now call the “wash basin” was called the “lavatory” until the turn of the century! A bit confusing sometimes. When discussing antiques we do sometimes forget and call the item a lavatory instead of a sink.

The basin itself was in a pretty sorry state and had many cracks and repairs on it. It appears as though the basin had had different repairs done to it on at least 3 separate occasions. Some of the repairs were held together with glue, some with a white hard paste and one particular area with staples. Staples or riveting was a common way to repair ceramics from the 18 century up until approx. 1910. We think this basin may first have been repaired circa 1885.

Here are some pictures showing the basin prior to restoration and with the poor repairs.

Some of the repaired pieces of porcelain were sitting proud of the rest of the sink, especially around the edge.

The first thing that was done was to break the bowl back down into its pieces and clean off the glue, etc that had been used in the previous repairs.

Then the bowl put back together with the parts fitting as tightly together as we could get. Sometimes this required grinding small areas away to allow the pieces to slip together. Once the basin was all back together there were still some areas sitting a little high.

To handle the high areas the basin was treated with high build primers and fillers to smooth out these areas.
Then the basin colour was matched and the basin sprayed.

The brass pivots need to be re-attached, but this is going to be left until the basin gets back to its home and the positioning of the pivots can be checked to ensure they are fixed in exactly the right place.
Then the pivots will be fitted in place using a putty mixture which is what was used originally for this type of work.

Here are some pictures of the basin after restoration. Hopefully we will get some pictures from the client with the basin in situ again and ready to be used again for another hundred or so years!

French Jacob Delafon meets Melbourne Australia

Here is a fantastic double ended Jacob Delafon bath that we couriered to Melbourne, Australia. The feet are really exquisite. Every Delafon bath has the model number cast into it’s feet. This particular model is number 38. Here is the bath in it’s raw state.

As the bath is French and not typical in height or depth we had bespoke standpipes made in Silver Nickel so that the clients could deck mount a lovely set of antique bath-shower mixer taps. The mixer taps were also in Silver Nickel. All this was packaged up and sent to Melbourne.

The client had the interior re enamelled in a soft blue/white and simply brushed down the outside, whilst the feet were electro copper plated.

They have done a fantastic job with the whole room. We think it’s a beauty! What do you think?

TAP REFURBISHMENT & REPAIR SERVICE

A very popular service we provide is tap refurbishment or reconditioning and re-plating. The finishes available for replating are CHROME, NICKEL and GOLD.

Our workshop has been refurbishing taps for over 20 years. Our clients base ranges from owners of traditional home owners, interior designers, fine country homes, Banking establishments and Royal Palaces.

We have facilities to restore and and re-plate Modern, Art Deco, Classic and Vintage taps. We mostly refurbish original Antique Victorian or Edwardian Taps. However we can restore and replate all types of mixer taps, bath taps, basin taps, chain stays, and other bathroom fittings. Below are some traditional lever taps refurbished and plated.

Sometimes the taps are that old and worn parts are impossible to find. In our facilities we will replace parts by making them if need be. We are confident that we can restore ALMOST any tap. And if we can’t probably no one can.

PRE ART DECO MIXER TAP CICA 1916

If your waste or overflow is covered in lime-scale or tarnished we can refurbish and re-plate them if necessary. This is particularly helpful in antique baths where the wastes or overflows are often unusual sizes and are no longer available & cannot be replaced with new. On a re enamelled bath this can be the finishing touch to the bath that makes it pristine.

If your antique Victorian or Edwardian taps affected by lime-scale, hard to turn on or off or even not working at all then you can send them to us for restoration in our work shop. We aim to refurfish your taps so well they can be used for another 100 years!If you so wish we can then have them plated in Chrome, Nickel or Gold. Alternatively if the tap is originally a brass finish you can have the taps fully reconditoned and then polished. This is more popular with antique Victorian or Edwardian taps. They can look quite spectacular.

Above are John Bolding basin taps and John Bolding Bath/Shower mixer taps. These are rare taps and it’s fantastic to have restored a matching set.

For the re-plating process the taps are taken apart completely and chemically stripped. The taps are then polished to a flawless finish before being re plated to the clients specification.

Chrome plating is very popular but Nickel plating proves the most popular for Victorian bathrooms. Chrome does give a mirror like finish whereas Nickel has a slight champagne hue to it. Traditionally taps would have been either brass or Nickel in Victorian or Edwardian times. Chrome began to be used in the mid to late 1920’s with the advent of the ART DECO era. Below are some typical GLOBE TAPS that have been fully restored and plated. They could also have been finished in polished brass and would look equally fantastic.

Once the taps have been restored and re plated we put them back together again and then test them for a second time to make sure they are working perfectly. We are very thorough in our testing regime.

We have restored Jacob Delafon, John Bolding & Sons, Thomas Crapper, Porche, George Jennings and Aston amongst others. Your original antique taps are in good hands.

For taps that are originally finished in brass you may wish to have them polished after refurbishment rather than have them re plated to chrome or nickel. A polished brass finish does require a lot more maintenance and polishing to keep them in the pristine condition you recieve them in. Due to this some of our clients prefer the Nickel over the Brass finish but both finishes look great in a traditional bathroom. Below is a traditional restored Bath/Shower Mixer tap in a polished brass finish.

Whether you own a fantastic antique bath or wash hand basin with tarnished and worn taps or waste or a spectacular Art Deco bath with matching taps you can now use our refurbishing service to bring your fine sanitary ware back to it’s full and former glory. You can even create a completly unique look can be created with a modern bath fitted with luxury antique taps fully restored.

We can also restore the feet on cast iron baths. Original Ball and Claw feet can come to look very old and rusty over time. Once we clean them up and Silver Nickel or Chrome plate them. They look absolutely stunning!

All the taps shown here are original taps we have refurbished and plated. They are all for sale now. Do fill out the quick quote form if any are of interrest to you.

You will require a plumber to remove your bath taps, basin taps or overflow and have them sent to our workshop if you require restoration services. Contact us via the quick quote form and we will provide you with a quote. If you can also email us a picture of your waste, overflow, taps or claw feet that would be most helpful. Our email address is thebathbusinessuk@hotmail.co.uk Alternatively call 01342324577 and ask to speak to Teresa Kane.

REPAIRING A SMASHED WASH HAND BASIN

We often get calls from clients asking us if it is possible to repair cracked sinks or even broken sinks. Until recently basins with extensive damage could not be repaired. However we at The Bath Business are continualy trying and testing new procedures for all our bath re enamelling work. We can fix all of these problems with a sink or wash-hand basin due to our innovative research and work. Our technicians are highly skilled and the best in the repair & re enamelling business as far as we are concerned. Despite our confidence in our ability to do a good job for our clients we had never had a basin that had been completely smashed. So a smashed wash hand basin was new for us.

I got a call in the office from a chap called Colin Slater. He had bought a beautiful basin and was very excited about getting it home. He was busy renovating his property with his partner (an architect called Singa Govedi) and this wash-hand basin was part of their renovations. They had searched for the perfect basin for their bathroom. Colin worked long hours as a Deputy Head Teacher in a London school. As you might imagine it was hard enough to fit everything in with work and also work on the property at the same time.

The Clayton Sink was perfect for their project and completely in keeping with the style of bathroom they wanted. As well as being a lovely sink it also had a gorgeous cast iron wall mounted frame that it sat in. It was a lovely antique basin. It was being delivered from Yorkshire. Colin was so excited about the basin arriving he was looking out of his window as the van pulled up. To Colin’s horror he watched in slow motion as the package was DROPPED out of the back of the van. The results were not surprisingly devastating. The basin was completely smashed to pieces. Colin was very upset as this was an important part of their restoration work.

By the time Colin had called us he had already spent around 60 man hours putting the wash-hand basin back together. His partner had then spent around about 240 man hours filling and sanding the basin. It was a very labour intensive undertaking but they loved the sink so they wanted to have it saved from the rubbish dump. After all it was an antique and had survived so far.

Colin and his partner had done a great job thus far but they now needed to have the basin re enamelled professionally by a reputable expert restoration company. They wanted to keep the logo. Also they wanted the original colour to be maintained. This meant we would need to do some special restoration work to retain the logo and make the colour of the basin to get a perfect match.

They were delighted with the result on the sink and the fact we’d retained the logo whilst resurfacing the rest of the sink. What do you think?

As you can see in the above photo the basin is fully restored and has the logo retained. Apparently the basin causes gasps of amazement from Colin & Singa’s guests.

This wash basin is a good example of a Victorian basin with cast iron frame. If you would like to purchase an antique basin such as this or any other traditional design contact us at The Bath Business. We can source original antique basin supply quality reproductions, or, if you are looking for something particularly special let us know and we will source this for you.

For more information on our re enamelling and restoration works please contact us on 07967333030.

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VIVE LA DIFFERENCE!

We got a call quite a few weeks ago from a lady in Woking whom our services had been recommended to.

She had just moved into a fantastic new home and inherited some amazing Antique roll top baths and French basins. She had some lovely antique French wash-hand basins which required full restoration work. One had a large crack, the taps needed reconditioning and nickel plating etc. Have a look. You’ll see they are quite special basins but definitely in need of some TLC.

French sink prior to restoration

It took around about 12 days to do all the work required on the basins. We had to re-condition the taps and silver nickel plate them, replace a set of taps withoriginal antique French lever taps, silver nickel plate the wastes, covers etc and we also had to rectify the cracked sink after which point we could then re enamel both wash-hand basins whilst retaining the logo in one of the basins. It was quite a lot of work but we were quite pleased with the end result as was the owner.

Above is the basin with the crack rectified, new taps, new old style plug and chain and re plated waste. It’s a very unusual French basin. Finding the taps was a minor miracle. We think this particular set of taps are actually the original taps that the basin had on it when it was made. There is a special fitting for the tap that would have been made specifically for the basin they were being attached to and this particular set of taps fitted perfectly! So somehow we brought them back together again after many years apart.

Here is the basin with the logo “SUPERBUS  Patent” retained after the re enamelling work. The basin also has the waste replaced & the cover, plug and chain stay nickel plated as well as the taps reconditioned and then also plated. Quite lovely.

If you have any antique sinks with cracks or taps needing restored please contact us. If we can’t do the work in situ we will more than likely be able to do the restoration work at our workshop.

Do let us know what you think of these little beauties. If you would like updated on any of our special offers or new items for sale please follow us on Facebook.

BASIN, TAPS, WASTE AND PLUG FULLY RESTORED!

We had an inquiry from a lovely lady in Ludlow. She had a very pretty little wash-hand basin that had a crack in it and some very worn taps, waste etc. Have a look. What do you think?

We do get quite a lot of enquiries from clients wondering if it’s possible to fix cracks in a wash- hand basin. Most companies would say it is not possible or would simply go over the damaged area hoping it would be fine. If you do have a badly cracked or chipped basin it’s best to look for a company such as ourselves. Most antique restorers or porcelain restoration company’s would refer you to a company such as ourselves to fix this. We believe we are the only bath re enamelling company who can fix badly damaged cracked sinks.

This particular basin had been resurfaced before but the cracks underneath had never been fixed. The surface was coming off again. We had to strip the basin completely before we could fix the bad cracks and also fix the damage around a tap hole. We did remedy the cracks however and repair the damage around the tap hole before we resurfaced the basin. If your bath is as badly damaged as this then we would want to do the restoration work in our workshop.

The basin did also have some lovely taps and an old-fashioned rubber plug and chain stay and a brass waste. They were not in very good condition however and the owner was thinking she might have to replace all of them. Luckily she didn’t have to do this so we were able to recondition the brass ware and taps.

We were fortunate enough to have some original old stock plugs and chain stay in our workshop. Although old style they were brand new straight from the factory. Never sold or used so perfect for the newly restored basin. The taps and waste had to be reconditioned and the brass polished. Here is the result. What do you think?

As we said fixing cracked sinks isn’t a DIY job. If you have a badly damaged or cracked wash hand basin give us a call about repairing the basin and re enamelling it for you.

Let us know what you think of our pretty basin and tap restoration. More to come in the next blog.

Renovating your Bathroom

Renovating your Bathroom

Bath Renovations and restorations in London and Edinburgh

Bathrooms are a little like cars. Compact models condense the basic functions into an economical package. The larger models put a premium on spaciousness and luxury and the middle-of-the-range versions try to balance cost and comfort. As with cars, you generally pay more for a larger bath and bathrooms, but you also have more options. Area size, however, isn’t always key; bathrooms of all sizes can be functional and stylish. The challenge is to let your personal preferences drive your design without exceeding the space available and budget limits.