tough call but i would say the plumber.

Thanks, thats my thought also. I just spoke to the plumber, he blamed it on sink without even looking at the photos I sent. I am so angry right now.

Well it looks like I'm on my own getting this fixed. The plumber said its a manufacturing defect, I called the online store I purchased the unit from, they don't warrent the sinks as its usually a plumber error, I can buy a new one from them at full cost and they will ship it up to me.

So. I was able to get the sink dimensions - 18 x 15.2 outer, 16 x 13 inner. It looks like at each mount I have about 1/2 inch to play with.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I found an American Standard sink that is 19 1/4/ x 16 1/4 outer and 17 x 14 inner. If I can order this from my plumbing supply, would this work?

Here is a link that might be useful: ovalyn undercounter sink

I think the sink you found may be slightly too big to fit between all those bolts. Of course, those are not the only thing holding the sink in place. There's also a ring of silicone between the sink and the countertop, which is a pain in the you-know-what to pull away from. You may have to get crafty and it will likely take two people. One to catch the sink when it's about to fall, the other to cut through the silicone. Knife? Dental Floss? I'm not sure what you could get between the countertop and sink that won't damage the top, too. (Of course it's possible. Don't panic!)

It looks to me like the plumber overtightened the drain to the sink. Those are supposed to be hand-tightened. If you need a wrench to get it off (with it being so new) it's probably too tight.

The broken area appears to simply be the overflow. I bet you could still use the sink and the water would just fall to the overflow path and into the drain. Unless, that is, there's more cracking that we can't see from the photos.

If the sink is truly unusable, remove it and then measure your distances between the bolts. (NW to SE, NE to SW corners.) That may help you walk up to one in a store and slap a measuring tape on it to find the fit for your situation.

Thank you for the reply. I've been checking online and that 19 X 16 seems to be a standard size. To get smaller I will have to have the place send me a new sink.

I did put a big pot under the sink and turned on the faucet, and yes the break is only on top piece so the sink is usable.

Do you think it is do-able to replace this from underneath, or will we need to pull the top off to replace it? I know about the silicone bead and imagine it will be a bear to remove and then replace it.

i would call the plumber back and DEMAND he come look at it. he tightened that too much and he knows it. i guarantee you he heard the crack when it happened and is choosing to ignore it.

It appears that, as long as you have the plumbing disconnected from the sink, you'll be able to remove it. I think the only advantage to removing the top entirely would be to provide a better angle. I'd start by removing the plumbing, then the "L" brackets and then tackle the silicone.

I've never removed an undermount sink before, although I'll be installing one this year. My first method would be to put dental floss, or something similar, on a needle and see if it can be thread through the silicone bead. Then you could grab both ends (or your helper could grab one end) and 'saw' it out with the string. Of course, getting a needle through there could be difficult enough.

Unfortunately the plumber who owns the business is not the plumber who did the work, his employees worked on my bathroom. A plumber and his helper. I also had other work being done in the bathroom, so I don't know which one put the drain together. The owner of the company is the son of a good friend, guess I expected better of him.

I looked again at the plumbing today and it looks to me that where it connects, it is crooked, so I am guessing that caused the stress.

{{!gwi}}

My BF thinks we can do this ourselves. I hope he is right. Thanks for the tip about using dental floss to cut the silicone.

I have examined all the photo's very closely and I cannot see one iota of evidence to indicate any wrong doing on the part of the plumber.

It has been previously mentioned that the mounting nut is only supposed to be hand tightened, but that is not correct. Properly the nuts are to be hand tightened then turned 1/2 to one full additional turn. In fact, in the plumbing supply catalogs they list a specialized spanner wrench for a mere $18.95 that is designed solely to tighten that nut.

Having examined the photos of the drain from both the top and bottom view there is no evidence of any miss alignment on the pop-up drain assembly. The P-trap is slightly miss-aligned by about 3 or 4 degrees but that has no effect on the stress to the bowl, and that could easily be corrected loosening the two slip joints on the P-trap and re -tightening them again.

Contrary to the popular opinion what you have is a prime example of the most common factory defect in lavatory bowls.

Lazypup, thank you for your point of view. I doubt that I will ever know the true cause of this. While you viewed the photos, my plumber decided sight unseen that his guys couldn't have made a mistake in the installation. Either way as neither the manufacturer of the sink nor the plumber will own up to it being their fault, I'm stuck with a broken sink that I need to replace.

First, if you paid for the sink with a credit card, dispute the charge right now.

Second, ask the plumber to help you (that way he will be more likely to talk to you) with a dispute with the sink company. Ask how far part finger-tight he turned the nut. Did he hear or see anything unusual during installation? Hopefully, this way you can get your money back or get a replacement sink.

If you do have to get a different sink, the hole in your counter can be cut larger.