Shop Utility Sink

[Bib Overalls]

Every shop needs a utility sink. The ones you can buy these days have a fairly decent plastic tub. But the legs are flimsey and in a small area they make it difficult to sweep under. And I like to set the sink a tad higher than the legs allow. Makes it easier to bend over and reach stuff on the bottom.

I recently installed one in a friend's small shop bathroom. To get around the deficiencies noted above I fabricated a simple wall mount out of thin guage 1" square tubing. What the picture does not show is the tube across the back. Two 1/4" lag bolts pass through it and the wall sheething and into the studs. They carry the weight. Very simple to make.

 

[Coach James]

Nice work. I like your set up better than the flimsy legs I have on my utility sink.

Coach

 

[ovilla]

Very nice idea! I was wondering about the back support and am glad to hear that's what you did here. I'm looking to add one to my 3-car garage. Maybe even a urinal next to it too to take advantage of the plumbing that will already be in place.

 

[larry4406]

Good mod to an existing unit. They make nice wall hung units. Checkout out ones made by Swan.

 

[Bevis]

I just fabbed a bracket like that for my neihbors shop sink after one of th elegs broke off.

 

[1320stang]

I didn't use the legs on mine either, in fact, I got it half off because one of the legs was missing. I made a plywood surround for mine and supported the bottom after watching a biker build off show where a guy accidently dropped something in the sink and it went thru to the floor!!!

 

[kbs2244]

Looks real good.
Now go back and tack on a towel rack.

 

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

I plan on doing the same thing only with an old cabinet and countertop I got from a co-worker.

 

[PoorOwner]

I guess great if the studs happen to line where you want to put the sink?

Very nice idea! I was wondering about the back support and am glad to hear that's what you did here. I'm looking to add one to my 3-car garage. Maybe even a urinal next to it too to take advantage of the plubming that will already be in place.

I would not put a urinal unless that is in a stall, there many occasions I just used the utility sink Gives the U a new meaning.

 

[Bib Overalls]

I guess great if the studs happen to line where you want to put the sink?.

The sink I used was about 24" wide. And studs are usually 16" on center. So there should be two studs behind the sink no mater where you place it on the wall.

 

[Bevis]

gonna get me a stainless steel sink from the county surpus this weekend. guess the school got some new ones.

 

[kwb210]

gonna get me a stainless steel sink from the county surpus this weekend. guess the school got some new ones.

Oh boy, that's what I have wanted, mmmmm, stainless steel sink and surround, but, unless I find the school surplus sale...buy one and think of all of us! Hope you get a great deal.
I really like the hanging utility sink idea. I had decided against the plastic sinks because of the lousy legs, both for weakness and having to lose the under sink space which I would like to use for a small hot water tank. Nothing like hot water to aid in cleaning parts.
thanks for posting such a simple and practical idea.

 

[MikeN]

Cool... I built a base for mine forever when I installed mine too...

 

[boiler7904]

The builder of my house included a wall mounted laundry tub similar to this in the laundry room.

Wall Mount Laundry Tub

It's OK except that you can't really have any weight in it - I don't trust the mounting at all. The entire unit flexes like you wouldn't believe when it gets some weight in it.

Our plan is to eventually remove that sink and install a base cabinet with countertop and a deep stainless steel drop in sink.

 

[kwright]

Anyone build a wall-support similar to the original idea (which was square metal tubing) in wood?

I'm thinking of a sink supported/cantilevered directly from the wall without a vertical base supporting the sink from the floor... made of wood framing.

Just curious, if this has been done buy someone here, I'd be interested in the specifics of how it was done.

 

[sharage71]

Any one of you gentlemen have any pics of pre-slab work on plumbing of a drain and water line install? I would like to run a U-sink but would like to see pics beforehand. I don't want to call the plumber.
Hey BibOveralls.. I used to live in J'boro. Worked at Frito for 5 years.

 

[sberry]

I like those wall mounts, good idea. I am tall enough that the legs are too low for comfort so I put them on a mount, screw them down and sometimes screw it to the wall or simply silicone it. I have a urinal in one location, this pic doesn't show it real well but there is a privacy sheet hanging in front to make a stall. I was going to find a ceramic fixture but my plumber bud said the bucket added a real touch to this.
The yellow desk one is installed in the traffic area, very convenient and the sink in the bathroom is on the other side of the wall to use the same plumbing, both the supply and the waste.
We also slightly modify the sink to accept a single handle kitchen style faucet, really saves mess when you can use the back of your hand to turn the water on vs fooling with knobs.

 

[kbs2244]

Man, you are tall!
And I guess you don't hire guys with short legs either.

 

[PurdueSD]

They make ones that are wall mount... They have a wide bracket that attaches to the wall that the back lip of the sink attaches too. Thats what ive put in my shop. You can fill a 5 gal bucket of water in mine without it moving. The sink is made from a different material that the plastic ones with legs. Seems like an fiberglass/ resin based, but i dont think it is.

 

[InPrimer]

I also have a resin sink in my garage, I've been looking and figured out that I can install a faucet from a kithen sink with 8" centers versus 4" that come with the sink. I was given a new faucet with spray and what I call a gearshift handle ,should work well since the underpinnings are all the same. and when hands are dirty or greasy, easier to turn on.

 

[BLUBAYOU]

The sink I used was about 24" wide. And studs are usually 16" on center. So there should be two studs behind the sink no mater where you place it on the wall.

unless you have a stud near the center of the sink. One in the middle puts the next stud in either direction ~16" each way (32" apart) and the edges of the sink are only ~12" away

 

[goatram]

Very nice idea! I was wondering about the back support and am glad to hear that's what you did here. I'm looking to add one to my 3-car garage. Maybe even a urinal next to it too to take advantage of the plumbing that will already be in place.

Check out port a potties for the urinal. Cheap, plastik, easy to mount, and hook up use the sink sprayer to flush. paid $35. from ace septic in Arlington, WA.

 

[Bevis]

Check out port a potties for the urinal.

that's what I used too..

 

[Charles (in GA)]

There are several previous posts on sinks in the shop. Here is a pic of my double laundry sink in my shop. stood it up on its weak legs and it promptly fell over. Threw the legs away, and build this frame, Its too low, I was replicating the height of the original, and probably need to raise it up, but too lazy to do so.

Had a cheap laundry sink faucet in it, got tired of it shutting off when you ran hot water (temp change, faucet stem expands, shuts off), so I bought a American Standard kitchen sink faucet on HD clearance and install it with sprayer. Works great.

Water heater is below sink, too small but it works. Will eventually mount a 20 gal unit up on the wall above the sink.

Charles

 

[PoorOwner]

I like the spray function, I bought the plastic tub kit with faucet,
I hate the facucet it comes with, which is a little bathroom sink faucet does not have enough reach.

They have some now with a big arc and pull out to the tip like a sprayer. But the wife will not let me get a fancy faucet over $50, I will have to check out the clearance sales more.

 

[NotEnough]

Been lurking for awhile. Wish I would have found this site prior to building my house 2.5 yrs ago. I would have done a couple of things differently.

I've got the std plastic u-sink in the garage. The plumber caulked it where it meets the wall, but otherwise its just the sheetrock. I got tired of dirty water splashing onto the sheetrock and staining it. I put a pc of the lens mat'l from a fluorescent light fixture used in a drop ceiling as a temp fix (read cheap). Anybody else come up with a creative idea for something more permanent?
A pc of SS would be ideal, but a bit more $ than I care to spend.

 

[bgott]

I've been keeping my eye out for a faucet assembly out of a doctors office or a hospital. I figure the arm operated levers they use would be great for washing greasy hands without getting grease and hand cleaner all over the faucets.

On edit: Something like this, except for free, or close...www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/T-S-Brass-B-0350-04-Surgical-Sink-Faucet-With-Wrist-Action-Handles/58302

 

[RWD]

Here's my sink and faucet that I got off of Craigs List. It was about a year old and used in a flower shop. I like the faucet because it's great for washing my dog.

 

[DYNODANNY]

Here is my sink- it's old but it works...

 

[PoorOwner]

Here is one going into our kitchen I think most of us would love. I am too poor to have this to use in the garage