OK, thanks for your answer, kudzu9. First I'll give you the details of which you asked, and then I'll tell you another thought I have. 1. The sink is stainless steel. I looked at the underside and the bottom of the sink is some blackish material, don't know what it is. 2. There is a garbage disposal attached to the pipe at the bottom. 3. It has a flexible hose somewhere that I see, I'm not sure exactly which it is attached to, I think it might be to the dishwasher. 4. I was thinking to put a flexible liner and then polyurethane over that. I know it sounds crazy, but that's kind of what I wanted to do. I did it partially to some of the counter, but realize I have to get under the lip of the sink for it to be really good. Now ... if that is impossible (too hard for me to do by picking up the sink slightly), I have another question. I am hoping to replace the faucet situation. I have a faucet assembly now with three holes I suppose. One for the faucet and two for the handles. I want to replace that with a pull-out spray faucet, I suppose with only one hole, which would mean I'd have to take out the entire first assembly including the base for the faucets. Let's start with your comments on this project as I've described it before I go on with my other ideas for the sink, thanks!

We've been without a sink since July 7th. Our German au pair arrived on July 12th. It's been a long haul, and I'm soooo excited that the project is nearly done. Assuming all goes well with the countertop installation next week, we'll have a fully working kitchen by Oct. 15th. Our au pair has been great - when the kids are in school, she goes out and stays out of the way of the workmen. We were very open with her about the renovation before she came and told her what to expect - the last thing we wanted to deal with were dashed expectations.

Our bar sink is a SS undermount in waterlox'd cherry wood counter. Our faucet mounts directly in the wood, no deck plate. We're careful to wipe around it if it gets really wet, but otherwise no special treatment. It does not get heavy use, though: mostly once a day since it's really mostly a coffee prep area. My mom had a similar setup for a main sink. It was on a varnished (not waterlox'd) wood counter. I do not think they wiped up. After a few years the finish around the faucet started peeling. I don't know if the difference was lack of wiping or the varnish versus waterlox finish.

It's understandable that a homeowner might not be familiar with the design of bath cabinets, counters and lavs but a homeonwer should want to learn how to avoid the kind of faucet problem described in this thread. So, those of you who want to learn, read on. I am an experienced architect and thought I understood how to design undermount lavs until I undersized a vanity cabinet for one in the 80's. I now have CAD templates for all the lavs I am likely to use along with their spec sheets and templates. The clear bowl dimensions front to back of oval or elliptical undermount lavs commonly vary from 12" to 15" with oval 14" x 17" popular for modern style bathrooms and elliptical 12" x 21" popular for for vintage style bathrooms. My favorites are the 12 x 15 Kohler Caxton K-2209 and the 12" x 21" Kohler Vintage K-2240 but when there is more depth than width available I will use the 14x17 Caxton K-2210. These are clear bowl sizes; subtract 1/2" or more each direction for the overhang of the counter to get the counter opening. For the smallest cabinet size front to back add 2 1/2" at the front and 4 1/2" at the back to the clear bowl size: 22" cab. for 15" lav. (23" for backsplash, 24" OK if space available) 21" cab. for 14" lav. (22" for backsplash, 23" OK if space available) 20" cab. for 13" lav. (21" for backsplash, 22" OK if space available) 19" cab. for 12" lav. (20" for backsplash, 21" OK if space available) To match a faucet to a lav read the specs of each and align the spout opening with the drain opening. To make a long spout align with a lav designed for a short spout (drain off-center to the back), rather than making the cabinet larger and pushing the faucet back, use an elliptical bowl like the 12" Kohler Vintage which would allow the faucet to be farther back from the bowl without making the user reach farther back to operate the handles which are already back more than required for any other kind of lav. It is also possible to place the spout of a wide-spread faucet farther from the curve of the bowl than the valve handles. These custom design ideas would require printing the installation template, marking up the new faucet hole locations and issuing it to the GC who would otherwise have no way of knowing the design intent. That design should be confirmed with counter shop drawings from the fabricator. A counter should not be fabricated without he signature of the designer/owner and the GC. I would not allow field cutting of openings but that has never even been suggested. The counter shop drawing below is for 14x17 lavs on a 22" cabinet with a 3/4" backsplash. If the bathroom had been tight I could have used 12" lavs.