DIY Monday: Dresser to Bathroom Vanity? Part 2: The Fix

We found the dresser we wanted to use for our bathroom vanity. One of my "conditions" for the right piece, though, was that it had to be banged up enough that I could bear to paint it and cut holes in it to work in our bathroom. And this piece needed some TLC.

One of the lovely little feet was only half there. It needed repair. And I was just the girl to fix it!

First I turned to the Internet to find a molding compound that would make a mold of the foot that was still intact. I found something called Easy Mold Silicone Putty that was used for jewelry making, but I knew would work for this purpose. It's malleable for a few minutes and then takes about 30 minutes to "cure" or take it's final form. I shaped some of the putty around the remaining foot, left it to cure and then pulled off the finished mold.

I then took the mold to the missing foot and marked in the mold what was left in the foot. This gave me a measurement to follow when pouring my replacement foot. Since it was on an angle, I needed to tilt the mold so that the plaster would dry with a smooth surface at the right angle. I mixed some Plaster of Paris (from the paint section of my local home improvement store) and poured it into my mold. Since the mold is flexible silicon, I didn't worry about coating it with anything to make it release my form. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the black marks in the sides of the mold where I marked placement. I also placed the mold in a measuring cup to help tilt it in the correct position to dry at the right angle to attach the foot.

Once the plaster was cured (per the instructions on the box), I pulled it from the mold and fitted it to the foot of the dresser. There were a couple places that had to be gently filed down (with a metal nail file) for the fit to be perfect. Once I was satisfied with the fit, I then put a bit of liquid nails onto the plaster piece and fitted it to the existing leg. I left it alone to give it time to cure and then took some paintable caulk and filled in the seam where the two pieces joined, smoothing it with my fingers. Since I used oil paint on the piece to finish it, I didn't worry about sealing the plaster before painting. If, however, you are using latex paint, you should seal the plaster with a primer before painting.

Next up, preparing to paint...