sorry. wrong forum. I put this into the kitchens area so just disregard.

Linda - From your description, a 100" x 36" island (I'm thinkin' a simple rectangle - correct me if I am not visualizing you island correctly) should NOT be a problem putting a farm sink opening in it and maintaining the integrity of the assembly. This has been done on much larger islands.. HOWEVER - That being said, AND in all fairness to your Fabricator - there MAY be a reason that he is advising you that a seam has to be done, and something that is not being said here in the thread.... Like I always say - it's easy for me to sit out here in Arizona and "second guess" somebody - when I am not there on the jobsite or involved with the details of the project, So, AGAIN....... IN ALL FAIRNESS to your Fabricator ( I am one too), perhaps there is a valid reason WHY he is proposing that a seam be used in this assembly. MAYBE your stone is prone to breakage, and this is why he is proposing the seam...... MAYBE it's where the sink is located that he feels that the structural integrity of the piece could be compromised IF he attempts to ship and install your island in one piece. Bottom line here is this: Give him an honest chance to explain why the seam needs to be done - Chances are. he may be SO good at doing seams, that you will hardly notice it once it's done... I dunno... Just keep an open mind, be fair and considerate, and IF things don't sound right and you need some reassuring, post again here in GW and on this thread - After all...........there's LOT's of prople that are here to help you (including me) hope that helps..... ;) kevin Kevin M. Padden Fabricator, Trainer & Consultant to the Natural Stone Industry www.azschoolofrock.com

Mine smack dab in the middle too. Rationale was explained several ways: place faucet in between seams, helps minimize it. If there's a pattern, can symmetrically bookmatch there. Smaller seam that results behind the sink is stronger than longer one to the side. If you do opt for mid-sink, check that the joining slabs have even thickness! (grrr).

I am a fabricator. We do not seam at the sink except in special circumstances. It doesn't make sense to me to have a seam at the busiest location in the entire kitchen. Fabricators "sell" the seam at the sink because it eliminates their risk of a cracked sink rail. However, the vast majority of the time a seam elsewhre is preferable. sink rails can be "rodded", which involves epoxying a steel rod into the underside of the sink rail, to minimize the chance of a crack. when I started my shop I made an arrangement with a local engineering college to do a test of rodded vs. unrodded. The materials science professor (one of my partners teachers) assigned the project to 3 senior engineering students. They built a hydraulic test fixture with computer data acquisition and confirmed that rodded rails are substantially less prone to cracking. (I mention this because there are a lot of "opinions" in the industry about the benefits of rodding and the people that assert that rodding doesn't help are simply wrong.) With rodding and proper care during install most granites can have an undermount sink without a seam at the sink.