Do-it-yourself washbasin: Upcycling from an old chest
- Difficultymedium
- Cost25-35 £
- Duration4-5 h
Introduction
You have an old wooden chest in the basement and want to build something out of it? Turn it into a neat and handy washbasin for your bathroom in a few simple steps. We’ll show you how it’s done.
Have you heard about our 18V system yet? It offers a huge variety of devices for many different applications. The thing that makes the project below so special is that you can use the same rechargeable battery for every part of this project. Simply swap out the battery pack, insert it into a different device that’s part of the 18V system and move on to the next step.
It should go without saying that your safety is paramount at every stage of the project. Make sure you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself. You can find everything you need to know about the correct protective clothing you need when using each type of tool in our overview.
- pocket rule
- pencil
- g-clamps
- paintbrush
- Old, large wooden chest with a lid
- Sink
- Tap
- Case legs (matching the chest)
- Matching wood screws
- Wood varnish
Let's go - step by step
Mounting the case legs
You need: Cordless combi drill, X-Line Drill and Screwdriver Bit Sets, g-clamps, Old, large wooden chest with a lid, Case legs (ideally matching the chest), Matching wood screws
The first step is for you to furnish your chest with legs. You should try to find case legs that are suitable for the size of your chest and result in the desired height.
If the available base is wider than your chest, you may need to work with small wooden slats. This allows you to make your chest a little wider.
Mount the case legs to the right and left sides of the chest using suitable wood screws.
If your chest has a hinged lid, make sure it will open to the front.
Deciding on the position of sink and tap
You need: pencil, Chest with case legs from step 1, Sink, Tap
Once the chest is standing firmly on the legs, you can position the sink and tap where you want them.
Do so by using a pencil to mark the centre of the drain hole in the sink and then outline the base of the tap with the pencil.
Cutting out holes for the sink and tap
You need: Cordless combi drill, Holesaw Sets, Wooden chest with marking from step 2
Now it’s time to saw out the holes for the drain and tap. For the best results, use a hole saw drill bit of the appropriate size for each hole.
Sawing out an opening on the back
You need: Jigsaws, Jigsaw blade, bi-metal, T 101 BF, Multi-sander, 80 to 120-grain sanding sheet, g-clamps, pencil, Wooden chest
Now place the whole corpus (without sink and tap) on the workbench – with the back of the chest facing up. Hold everything in place using G-clamps.
Now draw a larger oval shape and saw it out with a jigsaw blade. You will need this opening later on for the connections and drain pipes for the tap and sink.
After cutting, thoroughly sand the sawed hole edges (including those from step 3).
Mounting the sink and tap
You need: paintbrush, Fully prepared wooden chest with all required holes cut out and sanded, Wood varnish
In the final step, you will mount the sink and tap.
Fix the sink to the wooden board by inserting the drain from the top through the hole provided. Do exactly the same for the tap at the other hole and secure it with the matching counterpart from below. In these steps, you should also heed the manufacturer’s instructions – also regarding the water connection. When in doubt, you should consider consulting a specialist.
Before your washbasin is ready for use, you should glaze the wooden parts so they are better protected from water. If you want, feel free to paint the basin to add colour to your bathroom. Your upcycled washbasin is done! We hope you enjoy it.