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.

Shanks Cracked Sink Restoration

Cracked sinks have presented quite a problem as far as repairs are concerned. Repairing a cracked sink was very hit and miss. If the crack was stable then possibly repairing the crack and resurfacing the whole sink would be a solution. There was no telling if the crack would grow or not however.So this work could not be warranted. If the cracking was really extensive and also on the underside it was impossible to say the repair would last for any length of time.

With antique sinks, cracks are fairly common so this presented a big problem. Also if we did resurface the sink completely the logo or makers stamp would be lost. Many clients felt this was unacceptable and were unhappy at losing the stamp. So this was another problem we would have to resolve in restoring the old wash hand basins.

The Bath Business have restored old sinks for many years now. Over the last 18 months we have been piloting a new technique to sort out the basins with cracks. We can even sort out bits of the sink that have come off or broken off completely. We can now restore these sinks. Whats more we can also retain the manufacturers logo or mark. As we have been doing this service successfully for 18 months we feel we have tested the techniques enough to warranty this restoration work.

Below is a lovely Shanks sink we restored in our workshop. The sink is a great example of a classic large Shanks sink. It had manged to get damaged quite badly in the inside and underside. Normally this sink would not be repairable. Certainly it would not be repaired with any confidence that the repair would last.

We repaired the inside and outside of the sink. We restored this sink before we had developed a method of preserving the makers stamp or logo. As Shanks sinks are so distinctive in style and shape it was not viewed as a problem at all by the client. As you can see it has come up beautifully.

In addition to repairing and re enamelling the sink we also refurbished the basins taps. This involved taking them apart completely to refurbish the workings of the tap. We also had the basin taps silver nickel plated. Finally we found an original plug and stay for the basin and had the chain stay and chain silver nickel plated also so it was in keeping with the age and style of the basin and taps.

Now the basin takes pride of place in the clients bathroom.

If you are looking at getting your antique basin, Art Deco basin or any fine sanitary ware restored then do contact The Bath Business. We can help repair damage or restore taps or both.

Also if you are looking to source an antique Victorian washstand or taps then do contact us. We frequently have these in stock or indeed we can source them for you.

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.

Thomas Crapper. Original Lever Taps Fully Restored

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 Thomas Crapper and Co were very well-known for the quality of their products and received several Royal Warrants. It is a name that exudes quality to this day.

There are quite a few Victorian company’s that helped establish and promote high standards and quality of  British workmanship. Within the fine sanitary wear business John Bolding and certainly Thomas Crapper and Co would be counted amongst these. If you are lucky enough to have some Thomas Crapper taps it is well worth restoring them.

Here are some stunning original Thomas Crapper taps. As you can see they were in a terrible state. One of the handleswas completely missing and they were unusuable. 

To recondition and re plate these taps first of all the taps would be taken apart and inspected thoroughly. If any parts were found to be missing or faulty these would be replaced. Then the taps would be put back together again and tested to ensure they worked correctly. After this the taps would need to be taken apart again to be plated. In this instance a lovely silver nickel plate was applied. Again the taps would be put together again and tested before finally being packaged a returned to their owner. Arguably more work goes into reconditioning and re plating the taps than the original construction.

The specialist tap technician has done a fantastic job of restoring the taps so they look absolutey stunning.

If you would like to have some original taps restored contact us at The Bath Business.

We also sell original restore antique taps by Thomas Crapper, John Bolding, Dent & Hellyer, George Jennings to name a few. Contact us if you need to source a particular style or make. If we don’ have them in stock we can probably find them for you.

Aston Matthews Restored Shower Mixer Bath Tap

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Here is a lovely “CHUNKY” Aston Matthews Shower Mixer Tap retailing at £380 plus vat

The Shower/Bath handle is ceramic and both cross handles have the HOT and COLD indices respectively. The Mixer is finished in polished Brass which is very attractive. A silver Nickel or chrome finish can also be achieved if desired.

The Shower Mixer can be fixed to the bath by a qualified plumber or, if you prefer, the Mixer can be mounted on a Stand to make them Deck Mounted. Our workshop technician can also make you a bespoke brass stand for them if you desire.

Contact  The Bath Business directly for more information on original antique taps for sale.

Resurfacing a Roll-Top Bath

Here at the Bath Business we resurface a lot of Victorian Roll-Top Baths. This isn’t really surprising when you look at how expensive they are to buy, even second hand. Many people like the classic look of these baths, and in the right setting they can be truly spectacular.

And that keeps demand for them high. So if you have a roll-top bath or any cast iron bath, then getting it resurfaced if it’s not looking it’s best is a very cost effective solution compared to replacement.

Resurfacing or re enameling,  a quality bath breaths new life into it. It looks and feels new. The fact that it is done in situ by The Bath Business in less than a day makes it not only economical but also a lot less disruptive than replacing the bath.

The Bath Business can resurface cast-iron and modern baths. We can re-enamel claw foot baths, classic antique baths, slipper baths, roll top baths etc. We can resurface and re-enamel cast-iron, plastic, acrylic or fibreglass baths as well as porcelain.

Recently there has been a move to using roll-top freestanding baths in very contemporary surroundings. This can work surprisingly well.

A recent customer had had his bathroom completely re-done, but wanted to keep the roll-top which was original to the house. So he decided to have The Bath Business come and resurface his bath.

He’d had taps installed which were on a stand-pipe, separate from the bath itself. The taps were a mono-block design, done in chrome. The stand pipes were in chrome too. (Another way to achieve a similar affect would been to have  the taps coming out from the wall above were the bath was to be positioned.)

So the bath was not going to have any taps on it at all, which gave it a very uncluttered, modern look

However, this left the problem of what to do with the old tap holes. The Bath Business were able to fill the tap holes and resurface the bath. The end result of that was a bath which looked like it had never ever had taps, thus giving him a bath which was both original but also thoroughly in keeping with the bathroom make-over.

A bath with the taps holes made to “disappear”.

Services include: bath re-enamelling, bath chip repairs, bathroom suite, enamelling, bathroom renovation, re-enamelling, resurfacing, bath re-surfacing, enamel repairs, chipped enamel, cast iron bath, bathtub refinishing, bath tub resurfacing,

A Bath Resurfacing project in Bridge of Allan

05/03/09

I went to Bridge of Allan to do a job. The main thing the customer wanted was a chipped area of the bath repaired. Apparently it had just had a little chip originally, but one time he was in the bathroom,  the area around the chip just started flying off the bath until there was a large area that was just exposed cast iron.

I went and had Lunch in Bridge of Allan itself. It’s not a huge town by any means. Just one street with shops and restaurants on it. Lots of restaurants. They were all very upmarket. I was quite surprised by this. I mentioned it to the customer and he said that Bridge of Allan had rail and road links to both Edinburgh and Glasgow, good schools and a rural location and as such was much in demand as a place for the affluent to live.Not fitting into this category I was unaware of this haven in the countryside. It certainly is a beautiful place.

It also started snowing again. I was planning to go to Helensburgh to visit some family after I’d finished work and wasn’t sure I was going to make it if the snow kept up.

Snowing in Bridge of Allan.

The Customer and his wife run a company called Bouvrage. They produce all natural berry drinks from raspberries and European Blueberry. You can visit their website at www.bouvrage.com if you’d like to know more.

Got the job finished and did make it to Helensburgh. Scottish weather can be a bit unpredictable and annoying at times but it never got in the way of getting the job done and seeing the family. That makes a nice wee change.

Finished job.

An Interesting climate change – Edinburgh to Melrose

04/03/09

I was in Edinburgh and travelled down to Melrose to resurface a bath. In Edinburgh it felt quite spring-like (as it should be) but as I travelled down you start to climb a bit and it eventually got quite wintery.

View from A68 looking down to the Firth of Forth.

Melrose itself is a very typical Scottish Borders town. Pretty but small. Lots of independent shops doing their own thing.A great place to visit and like most of the Borders town a very pretty place as well.

Melrose

The bath I was resurfacing was in a house that dated from the 1880’s, and the owners thought that the bath was original. It was a plunger bath and these are very old baths. It seemed very likely this bath was original to the house as there was a button above the bath that you could push to ring a bell for a servant. If the bath was original then it was one of the very first cast iron baths. It has the unusual feature of the plunger for the bath also acting as the overflow. You don’t see this in later baths.

Melrose Abbey

Dedicated services in Scotland and England which include:bath re-enamelling, bath chip repairs, bathroom suite resurfacing, enamelling, bathroom renovation, re-enameling, resurfacing, bath re-surfacing, enamel repairs, chipped enamel, original cast iron bath sales, bathtub refinishing, and bath tub resurfacing.

Changing the Colour of a Bath

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We can change the colour of your bath. Or restore the colour of an existing bath that has gotten worn or damaged.

Generally the colour required is made on-site, matching it to an existing coloured fixture. This is quite a time consuming process so it adds a little bit to the price compared to restoring a bath to white.

If you don’t require or need you bath resurfaced to match existing fixtures, but just want it coloured (for example, someone requested their bath be resurfaced in black) then the colour can be obtained ready made and this brings costs down.

If you have a roll-top style of bath, then usually the outside of the bath is painted, often in a strong, bold colour. The specialist materials we use for the inside of the bath are not required, although if we do the outside for you in white we will use these materials.

This is something you can do yourself as the finish on the outside is not as critical as on the inside. After all, you are not going to be sitting, naked, on the outside. Nor is it going to be getting immersed in water.

If you do plan on doing the outside yourself, I’d recommend not using a high gloss finish as the outside of a cast iron bath is often quite rough and pitted and a glossy finish will just highlight this. A satin finish should look much better.

Also, doing the feet in a different colour helps to draw attention to them, and if you have clawed feet or the like (some of these baths can have quite impressive feet with a surprising amount of detail) then a different colour is really worth considering.

Or, if you prefer, we can do it for you.

Services include:Bath Re-enamelling bath chip repairs, bathroom suite, enamelling, bathroom renovation, re-enamelling a bath, resurfacing, bath re-surfacing,enamel repairs,chipped enamel, cast iron bath, bathtub refinishing, bath tub resurfacing,

When Should One Look at Having a Bath Resurfaced

Bath tub refinishing, Bath tub Resurfacing

The majority of the baths we resurface are done because the bottom area of the bath has become dull, rough stained and hard to clean. These are, almost all of them, cast-iron baths.

Pressed-steel baths and plastic/acrylic don’t usually have this problem to the same degree because their finish is tougher and more resistant to chemical attack by modern cleaners, acidic water and so on.However they can become patchy and look bleached as well as suffer from lime-scale and off course they can be chipped or damaged in some way. As far as repairing a bath is concerned we do more repairs to pressed steel and plastic baths but not so many repairs to cast iron bath.

We also get asked to do baths to handle things like chips in the bath or to change the colour of a bath or cover in tap holes when taps have been moved (onto the wall, for instance).

We do also resurface some pressed-steel and plastic baths, particularly when removing them would result in expensive redecoration. Pressed-steel baths are prone to chipping but apart from that they usually last very well. They can become discoloured and a bit rough. Once in a while you come across one that has had damage done due to corrossive cleaning agents, but compared to cast-iron baths this is relatively rare.

So of the pressed-steel and plastic baths we resurface, the main reason for resurfacing tends to be to change the colour (currently the trend is to get a coloured bath changed to white) or to give the coloured bath a new lease of life.

Resurfacing versus replacement?

I suppose as it’s my business I ought to say it’s better to resurface. However, I think there is a valid case for both depending on what kind of bath you have and where it is fitted in the bathroom. Also it depends on what you are planning to do with your bathroom. Another factor is what will be what is the most cost effective. And finally there is the age of your home.

For example, if you are planning to completely change around you bathroom, moving the fixtures and so on, I would replace the bath if it is a pressed steel or plastic bath, as these are quite inexpensive, easy to get hold of,  and you are already going to be redoing the plumbing, plastering, tiling and so on.

If you have a cast iron bath then it may be more sensible to keep it and get it resurfaced, especially if it is a roll-top or 1930’s style of bath. These are not easy to replace and costly to buy even second-hand and are very desirable. If you are planning to get rid of a roll-top, then don’t throw it out. Sell it! People want these.

If you have one of the plainer cast iron baths from the 1950s or ’60s (these baths are usually large and boxed in) and you are planning to completely change around your bathroom then you may well be better to replace it with a plastic or pressed steel bath. I think in this instance it comes down to personal preference. Some people like the fact that a cast iron bath feels substantial when they are in it and these baths tend to be a bit deeper and wider. Others like the modern designs you can get with plastic baths. If you are a bit bigger like myself then a cast iron bath is a must have. But as i said it is down to personal preferences.

If you just want your existing bath to look better and are not planning to change things around in the bathroom (and this is the scenario in the majority of the jobs we do) then resurfacing becomes a good option because it will generally be cheaper, easier to organize and the bath will be out of commission for a shorter period of time (with us you will be able to use the bath the next day).

But even in this scenario, if you live in a modern house, it may be as cheap or cheaper to replace your existing plastic bath as it will be a standard size which is easy to get hold of and not expensive. It should be quite straight-forward for a plumber to change the baths around so his costs will not be great. You shouldn’t need to re-tile as the new bath ought to slot right in where the old one was.

But even with new-build houses there are exceptions. I recently did a plastic bath in a new-build flat for a single guy. He wanted it resurfaced because he worked all week and didn’t want the hassle of trying to source a new bath and organising a plumber and having to take a day off work to let the plumber in. As I was willing to work on a Saturday then resurfacing, for him, was a better option.

If you are not sure what would be best for yourself in terms of resurfacing you bath or replacing it, please feel free to e-mail me and I’ll do my best to help you out.

The Bath Business –
Repairing chips in a bath
We can repair chips in a bath. If the bath itself is in pretty good condition and just has a chip or two, then rather than having the whole bath done, the chip itself can be fixed. It is cheaper than resurfacing the whole bath. This repair service works best on a relatively new bath where one or two chips exist. Also we can repair small cracks or holes in the bath.

I wouldn’t recommend doing a chip repair if the bath is starting to feel a bit worn and rough, especially if the chip is in the worn area. The area repaired will have a different texture to the surrounding area and as the old surface is rough it will tend be hard to clean and discolour, making the repair very noticeable.

Another point to make in relation to chip repairs is that even if your bath is white, we will still need to colour match the repaired area to the existing bath otherwise you have two different shades of white right next to each other and the repair stands out like a sore thumb.

Probably the majority of  repairs we do are on pressed steel baths, as these are especially prone to being chipped.

The Bath Business –