A kitchen sink can last for years, but its surface may chip, scratch, or get marred with stains due to use for long. Though you can install a new sink to sort out the problem, resurfacing or refinishing the kitchen sink is more cost-effective. You can also use the opportunity to redecorate your sink during a kitchen sink refinishing.
A white kitchen sink may catch and show dirt and stains easily, but you can change its color during resurfacing. In this article, you’ll also learn how to resurface a kitchen sink and those made using other materials.
Table of Contents
7 Steps to Resurface Kitchen Sink:
Most sinks, including the granite composite sink, are ideal for reglazing or resurfacing. Fortunately, the process is easy and safe, making it qualify as a DIY project.
The following are things you’ll require for your kitchen sink refinishing;
- Steel wool
- Rags
- Trisodium phosphate cleanser
- Masking paper
- 180-grit sandpaper
- Acrylic spray primer
- Epoxy spray paint
- Professional painter’s tape
- Metal-etching spray primer
Step 1: Sink Cleaning
Apply trisodium phosphate to a soft cloth and clean the sink. Trisodium phosphate is a substitute for TSP and is environmentally-friendly.
You can find it from any hardware store. It’s renowned for cleaning off the residue, old soap, and accumulated dirt from a porcelain kitchen sink’s surface with ease and excellently.
Primer does not stick on a dirty sink, and residues may be left when using the ordinary cleaners. Look for a soap made using heavy-duty trisodium phosphate, and then rinse the tub thoroughly. Then allow it to air dry for around two hours.
Step 2: Sand the Sink’s Surface
Get medium-grit sandpaper and attach it to the hand sander’s clamps. Then use it for sanding the kitchen sink’s surface thoroughly, not forgetting the edges. As a result, the surface will become rough, allowing the paint to adhere better.
Sanding will also smoothen small chips and minor scratches. None metal sinks are stubborn in having the adhesion stick. They should, therefore, get sand until they become coarse.
Step 3: Smoothen the Sink’s Surface
First, take a masking paper and cover the faucet and kitchen countertops. Secure it with tape and apply it to the sink’s metal drain. Then look for reliable fine-grit sandpaper and use it to smoothen the sink’s surface after sanding. Ensure you remove all debris and dust. Using a damp cloth will work out great.
Step 4: Apply Bonding Agent
When the surface is smooth, and you’ve removed all dirt, apply the bonding agent. The coating should be thin for an even surface. Then allow it to dry for 5 – 10 minutes.
Step 5: Apply Epoxy Primer
After the bonding agent has dried on your kitchen sink surface, take the epoxy primer and brush it on the porcelain surface. As the bonding agent, the coating should be light. Use the same direction to move the paintbrush to prevent visible brush strokes. When the entire surface gets brushed, leave it for approximately 15 minutes to dry.
Step 6: Re-sand the Sink
Take fine-grit sandpaper and sand the sink’s surface again after the epoxy primer dries up. Then clean up the accumulated dust using a damp cloth.
When the surface becomes sparkling clean with no particles of dirt, take the epoxy primer and apply the second light coat. Then allow it to dry for approximately 15 minutes.
Step 7: Apply a Thin Acrylic Topcoat
After the second thin layer of epoxy primer dries, use a high-quality brush, and apply a light acrylic top coating. Remember to use the same direction while brushing to avoid brush marks on your kitchen sink’s surface.
Then leave it to dry and apply the second acrylic top coating. The acrylic spray primer works out best for the nonmetal sinks. But for the metal kitchen sinks, the metal etching spray prime is best suited.
Repeat the same procedure for the other two applications, ensuring that each layer is thin, and enough time has been allocated to allow sufficient drying. After the last coating, allow the kitchen sink to dry for a day or 24 hours before cleaning or washing. For better results, avoid using it heavily for about five days.
If you see a small kitchen sink battered or with chips, stains, or scratches, the possibility is that it has gotten used for many years. But this should not worry you because you can transform it to look as new as you bought it.
The process of renewing it is called reglazing, or resurfacing, or refinishing. Check out the following so that you can resurface your kitchen sink with the facts at hand.
Porcelain Kitchen Sink Reglazing
Most homeowners think that reglazing or resurfacing a sink is expensive, but they are wrong. Installing a new sink is not a bad option, but it’s messy, costly, and time consuming.
But with reglazing, you only remove the hardware to start working. The process is fast and straightforward, and you only invest in the materials used to reglaze the sink.
For optimal results during reglazing, you need to ensure that your sink has gotten thoroughly cleaned. Use products designed to clean deep dirt and stain to avoid sealing them wile reglazing. The beauty of this process is that it’s simple and anyone can do it!
Conclusion
Though the procedure may change slightly due to the material used in making the sink, it is simple, fast, and cheap. More so, the stainless steel kitchen sink becomes as good as new with proper resurfacing or refinishing.
