Sinks in granite worktops??
Discussion
Whats are peoples thought on overmount (drop in) Vs undermount sinks in a granite worktop?
We have paid for an ikea kitchen and have bought one of their overmount 1.5 sink and drainer units but I'm unsure about it. I'm thinking about cancelling the order and going for an undermount with drainer grooves ground into the granite.
There's an increase in cost and installation will be more tricky (doing it myself) but not sure if I should save myself £400 and just stick with the overmount jobby...which looks nice enough!
What do you lot think...are there pros/cons to each?
We have paid for an ikea kitchen and have bought one of their overmount 1.5 sink and drainer units but I'm unsure about it. I'm thinking about cancelling the order and going for an undermount with drainer grooves ground into the granite.
There's an increase in cost and installation will be more tricky (doing it myself) but not sure if I should save myself £400 and just stick with the overmount jobby...which looks nice enough!
What do you lot think...are there pros/cons to each?
Edited by dave_s13 on Tuesday 9th November 10:20
I fitted an undermount one myself, so I can only offer the following advice: Don't just stick it to the underneath of the granite with silicon! I've heard of countless cases where the sink has dropped out a few years later, usually when full of water. I fitted mine so it was supported by the unit underneath...it took a bit more effort to route into the cabinet to allow the sink to fit flush and put in an extra wood support, but it's good piece of mind. Of course they used silicon to seal round the concealed area under the lip of the sink cutout when they fitted the worktop, but that's fair enough to stop water getting past.
If you've already got the sink it might be a bit of a waste, but IIRC Ikea will refund you if you still have the receipt (or at least give you a credit note), though I'm not sure if this applies to kitchen stuff though.
Seems a shame to have a nice worktop and then spoil it with an overmounted sink, but I'm sure there are others that think differently.
Pictures added to show prep and finished article (I pealed off the excess silicon you can just see in the second picture as it looked crap to me).
If you've already got the sink it might be a bit of a waste, but IIRC Ikea will refund you if you still have the receipt (or at least give you a credit note), though I'm not sure if this applies to kitchen stuff though.
Seems a shame to have a nice worktop and then spoil it with an overmounted sink, but I'm sure there are others that think differently.
Pictures added to show prep and finished article (I pealed off the excess silicon you can just see in the second picture as it looked crap to me).Edited by OldSkoolRS on Tuesday 9th November 10:57
Either way you choose,think to the future,can you get another sink the same size to replace it.
Under mounted,yes you can probably make another one fit.
Inset can be a problem,Mrs N. didn't like the Stainless steel sink we had,so set on the kitchen fitters to exchange for a black one,of course this was slightly bigger.
The fitter set about the granite with an angle grinder,within 15 seconds the whole place dissappeared in a cloud of choking dust.
He then had to find a mate to wet the wheel while he did the rest of it.
It took weeks to get rid of the dust and Mrs N refused to pay for the job,the firm put up a token fight for a while but finally gave in.
Under mounted,yes you can probably make another one fit.
Inset can be a problem,Mrs N. didn't like the Stainless steel sink we had,so set on the kitchen fitters to exchange for a black one,of course this was slightly bigger.
The fitter set about the granite with an angle grinder,within 15 seconds the whole place dissappeared in a cloud of choking dust.
He then had to find a mate to wet the wheel while he did the rest of it.
It took weeks to get rid of the dust and Mrs N refused to pay for the job,the firm put up a token fight for a while but finally gave in.
Spudler said:
defblade said:
Just to swim against the tide, I think undermounts are rubbish as those "draining" groves will do nothing of the sort unless the whole area of granite is sloped towards the sink.
The draining grooves fall towards the sink.
m4ckg said:
undermount every time but why is it £400 more ?
Extra cost of sink + extra charge from granite supplier to polish edges of cut out and grind out drainer grooves.Deffo going to undermount now. Quick look on ebay should sort a cheap sink out. Oh and sink is above dishwasher so will be primarly used just to rinse before loading, and for decoration of course.
Now, next conundrum. Do i have a negative, positive or flush cutout detail? Hmm...
If it helps I got my black granite one from this place and they do all the Franke range I believe. I didn't want to put a granite worktop on top of a sink that might not last very well, hence the Franke as it has a 25 year guarentee.
http://www.simplykitchensinks.co.uk/?SKSID=836&...
http://www.simplykitchensinks.co.uk/?SKSID=836&...
defblade said:
Just to swim against the tide, I think undermounts are rubbish as those "draining" groves will do nothing of the sort unless the whole area of granite is sloped towards the sink.
Unless you use a dishwasher 100% of the time, and the sink is simply for "show", of course.
Im with defblade, we had the same conundrum when we had ours done and went for a square under mount with the groves in the granite, looks wise its 100pct however practicality is not so good, not only will you spend all your time trying to clean the granite, but the surface is so much harder than stainless steel means smashing something delicate a very real probability.Unless you use a dishwasher 100% of the time, and the sink is simply for "show", of course.
However our sink is just for show, we are 100pct dishwasher users, and if we really have to, we use the utility sink, much less cleaning
grooved drains are a waste of time and money on an underslung basin - been there, done that
unless the drainer is recessed cut into the granite you'll end up with water everywhere
also, whichever one you pick make sure that the granite has reinforcement bars chased into it as over time the granite will stress and eventually crack along a seam
unless the drainer is recessed cut into the granite you'll end up with water everywhere
also, whichever one you pick make sure that the granite has reinforcement bars chased into it as over time the granite will stress and eventually crack along a seam
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