Matches the current decor. A stainless steel utility tub half the size will run you $625++

Are you totally content with the open-plan w.c.?

I'd advise against painting the sink, as water+paint never seem to work well together (it'd likely chip off shortly).

The faucet holes are much further apart than a standard sink, so you'll have to do some plumbing work if you want to replace the tub.

Do you use it regularly, or is it taking up valuable space? (My sis had a concrete one that size and never used it in 10 years...she eventually got rid of it once she found someone to haul the darn thing upstairs.

If you are using it, and aren't finishing the basement, there's little harm in leaving it as-is.

If you want to finish the basement in the near future, I'd still likely wait until you've gotten all your layout etc figured out before replacing it, cause walls occasionally move, things don't fit, and styles change.

I fought to keep ours, but my husband's father won the battle :-( He is a plumber and said the drains are horrible (it did clog really easily). I still miss it!

You’re worried about the sink with that toilet just hanging out there?

Hmmm.

Those toilets are not at all uncommon in some areas. They aren't really intended for use as such. I'm sure they got used, but not as the primary bathroom. "As cities developed, there were (sewer) problems ... they would have backups," Martin, who is also involved with various historical societies and boards, told TODAY. "When a sewer backs up, it backs up into buildings. So the idea was to put a fixture in the basement where the line came into the street, so if there was a sewer backup, it would go there instead of the main house." From https://www.today.com/home/what-heck-pittsburgh-potty-why-it-your-basement-t117879

Lots of people around here just kind of leave them - it's a bit of a story and if you do have a bathroom emergency, well... It isn't that uncommon to see them walled in somehow, though - often if people are doing any work on the basement, it gets refinished into a little spare bathroom, with a small sink and a shower stall.

That is the nuttiest, grossest, most interesting thing I have read today!

I am so fascinated and horrified at this solution.

The preferred local legend is the dirty coal miner/steel worker one, where they'd come in through the basement and clean up. But that doesn't make much sense when there is only a toilet, no real shower or sensibly located sink. Less gross to think about though.

The toilet gave me pause, and the explanation, even more pause. But it is always nice to have another john somewhere just in case.

As for the sink, it looks like a double sink, and close to laundry, which serves some purpose. Dirty, stinky things that need to soak have a place to go. I had a utility sink near my washer when potty training kids, and used it a lot. The second basin can be handy for paint projects or the like. If it works, I'd leave it.

Unless you are going to reconfigure this setup to make a nice basement bathroom, I'd leave it alone. And enjoy a sink for dirty stuff. I have a utility sink in my basement. I don't use it often, but am so glad it is there.

Well, keep in mind also that these weren't finished basements at all. Usually a packed dirt base with an inch or two of concrete spread over the top. So if you store anything in them you usually want to put it up a bit so moisture isn't trapped against the concrete, and the nicest thing you put on the floor is maybe a rag rug in the laundry corner that could be boil-washed. If anything in the house was going to get dirty from backing up sewers, that's probably the place easiest to clean with least chance of damage.

Is looks the problem? I think it's a great size and serves it's purpose. It's not pretty, but does it have to be?

Just clean it up and call it good.

I have a very similar sink in my very similar basement. I like it for washing up dirty things like paint brushes and other messy stuff. They can crack, though so keep your eye out. Also, as an above poster mentioned they do clog easily, especially with lint from the washer so you'll need to liquid plumbr it yearly at least. Bear in mind that they are really heavy so if you do remove it, you'll likely have to break it up. I vote to keep it. I find that my similar basement is altogether quite a dirty place (lots of dirt and dust coming off unfinished walls and through the subfloor so having a super clean tub isn't reality for me.