mike_lee- Are you saying that you're sure the hole for the sink is not in the center? The point vithdude was making is that, if the hole in the sink was larger than the drain tailpiece you mounted into it, you could have tightened down the basket strainer off-center. If, indeed you know that the hole in the sink is manufactured off-center, then nothing is wrong, other than that you are bothered by the slight mismatch of the grate with the drain. I doubt very much that your sink is any different from all the other ones of that model. That type of sink is typically formed by giant presses where the die shapes are fixed in place and do not depend on the skill of an operator to align anything. I think the tail is wagging the dog on this: you are concerned about a relatively minor asymmetry issue that you wouldn't likely have noticed if you hadn't decided to add the grate. I still don't see that this is worth any kind of radical tear-apart.

We did this, and after a year we have no issues. We love it! We sealed our countertops with a hardwax oil product called Rubio Monocoat that's often used on wood floors but is foodsafe. Unlike with Waterlox, we can spot sand and refinish easily, but unlike with mineral oil only, we don't HAVE to re-oil every month. In fact, a year in, we are just starting to look at the finish and think that in the coming months we might retouch a few sections that have seen really heavy traffic. Standing water generally beads and evaporates, scratches can get buffed out, and we are just very careful around the faucet to make sure it's wiped dry every time we are using the sink. Ditto with staining things; we are careful to wipe up and not let red wine or balsamic vinegar, etc sit. But we're not eagle-eyed about it or on top of every drop the second it hits the surface. Just when we're cleaning up. I try not to let wet dishes sit on the counter, that sort of thing. The great thing about wood and the hardwax oil finishes are that--unlike granite or stone--if the section around the sink ever did get irreparably water damaged, you can cut out and replace a section, too...and with way less weight and expense. We have no regrets at all.

So I actually don’t need the extra counter space as work space per say. I want the cabinets themselves (2 12 x 24” cabinets on the back side of an island) as space for paperwork and bills tha I’m working on in one, and for my daughters schoolwork and homework in another. We both do our work at the island and it would be nice to have a dedicated space nearby to tuck our day to day papers away when not in use that is near by where we actually work on them. That being said, if I can make these cabinets removable, I’d be able to fit two more people on my island when needed. With s living right next door to our in-laws, casual week-night dinners can get quite large (8 people) and just having extended local family and close friends over stretches that to 15. So every seat counts but I don’t want to exclude day to day function, either.

"or can I predict how much underneath plumbing will show? " All of it if it is truly exposed. Look under your current sink, that all needs to be somewhere exposed realistically.