TROUGHS

[Maggi Young]

Lovely sink for a trough, David.... bet Mrs N. was a bit worried in case you planned a kitchen re-fit for  her Christmas treat, eh?

[mark smyth]

10cm is OK. I know someone who made a stone sink from a shower tray. The 'soil' is heaped. I'll get a photo next time I'm visiting

[Slug Killer]

Just watch your back as it will be even heavier when finished.

Good luck.

[David Nicholson]

She knows the limits of my DIY skills!!

Maybe Maureen could move the trough when I've finished it, she always says she's borne a heavy load these past 38 years

Thanks Mark.

[Lesley Cox]

In theory anyway, I suppose one could put some kind of boxing in and around the sides and so build them up higher. Has anyone tried that?

[David Shaw]

David, lay the sink where you plan it to finish up and do any work on it there. It will weigh a 'ton' when it is finished.

[ian mcenery]

David

A word of warning while I have never tried converting a Belfast sink I do know that you will need to coat the surface with UNIBOND to give the glazing a surface to which the mix will stick. I have even seen the use of chicken wire advocated for this. Many of these sinks I have seen have in time lost part of their coating and obviously don't look so good when this happens. Partly this seems to be due to that fact that only a relatively thin coat of hypertufa coating or mortar can be appied before the thing becomes overly clumpy. With that in mind when I was first wanting sinks and couldn't afford the real thing I cut out the middle man and made hypertufa troughs. These were made to Sid Lilley's recipe (a legendary grower of alpines who produced a booklet for the AGS on sinks  and troughs) I have his mix details and also the method of manufacture if you want it . These troughs are relatively easy to make and can be shaped as if cut from stone. Mine have lasted well and some are 30 years old now and now look like the real thing - or close enough. So if you want to change the shape of the sink, raise the sides, be able to lift this afterwards and be assured that the coating won't slowly disintegrate my advice would be to place the Belfast sink on a concrete surface and hit hard with a blunt instrument making it easier to get back to the scrap yard and then make your trough out of hypertufa

Hope this helps

[David Nicholson]

Ian you are probably right. Having lugged the sink from the tip into the car boot, and then from the boot into the garden, and then being accused (quite wrongly in my view!) of littering the garden with more junk, the idea was significantly better than the practicality of it. I shall return it to the tip in more pieces than it was obtained in, wait for better weather, and make a couple of hypertufa troughs. I have the AGS booklet as well as Ian's recipes, but thanks anyway. My problem is I can never miss a perceived bargain

[ian mcenery]

I know David I try not to miss a bargain but not all I have acquired have been useful. If you make your own do try to make it with heavier base and sides than is recommended I did and that is probably what makes them more robust. If the mix is hypertufa then it doesn't matter as the plants root into it. My original ones were almost solid but I trowelled the edges to make them appear thinner. Here is a picture of what I mean by finish and how well things have grown in a very shallow space. They have also had to put up with a lot of neglect re watering when I was more interested in other things like young kids and work. Here is a photo taken today. The conifer is Juniperus communis compressa and obviously likes this place it is now 3ft tall bigger than the ones in the scree and has quite clearly become part of the trough.

[Diane Whitehead]

David, now that you've got it, you can use it.
I keep an old porcelain sink under one of my garden taps. 
It is very handy for bottom-watering pots.

[David Nicholson]

Ian, thanks for those.

No, Diane back to the tip it must go I am under instructions!

[Lvandelft]

No, Diane back to the tip it must go I am under instructions!

Strange, just getting visions of Clive Swift when he has to.....

[ian mcenery]

Ah she who must be obeyed 

[David Nicholson]

....... anything for a quiet life!

[mark smyth]

Is the back garden really cluttered? Doesnt she see the potentional of this sink covered in hypertufa, nicely planted and raised off the ground?