I’m not going to lie….I was pretty excited when it actually worked! Spoiler alert ha!
Both myself and Andy love a bit of concrete. It’s so versatile and looks great when textured or smooth.
If you haven’t seen our Instagram, our stairs are actually concrete too and we’re going to show it off together with wood treads and a black metal balustrade
And so we decided to experiment with a concrete sink DIY project! I really like the blush concrete look…similar to this but maybe a little more textured…
And, having googled, I came across some coloured dry pigments
This one from Hemway is called “metallic tangerine orange”…okay it sounds a little out there but I figured something peachy could come out of this! And so we had a little practice first, using cement, powder pigment and water..
Literally mixing the three together, and these cactus silicone moulds from Lidl worked a treat to experiment! The concrete just popped straight out of them
Check out our DIY projects highlight on instagram for a step by step guide. The colour definitely came through and was pretty understated, not too orange at all!
So next up…a sink! And firstly the mould…
So after watching some youtube videos we realised the best way to make the sink is upside down, after a bit of thinking we worked out what we needed… a circular base circa 35cm across, some flexible plastic to form the edge, a bowl slightly smaller than the base and a sink trap. We luckily had an old stool which was perfect for the base, we had some plastic roll in the garage and got a bowl with flat edges from B&M. Screwing it all together and using silicone seal in all the joints we made it water tight.
We then mixed 4 spades of cement with 4 spades of sand including 50g of the orange pigment, and mixed with water until it was a smooth like consistency. Pretty much like making a cake!
Once well mixed, next up, pouring into the level mould and I can’t believe this but we made pretty much exactly the right amount!
At this stage it is important to knock out as many bubbles as you can, (we used a mallet), if you would prefer a smoother finish. In our case we quite like the different textures so we didn’t go too crazy with the bashing!
And now it’s time to leave for around 48 hours to give it chance to dry. Have patience ha! After which the perspex can then be removed and the mould! This is the most satisfying part by far…well it was for us anyway!
We then decided to leave the sink to, again, dry out, for a few days.
And here we are! A little in love with the look, very pleased
And lastly a sand and a seal. We sanded under the sink to give a smooth finish and a little round the rim
We used a water sealer however I have ordered a concrete sealer that should protect against anything acidic too…prosecco etc.!
What do you think to the samples inspo! So excited when the ensuite eventually comes to life!
Check out our YouTube for a step by step….
Selfbuilddreamers
Caz and Andy x
Self_Build_Dreamers 