But what is worse - having to clean out the gunk that builds up with a top-mounted sink? Our new bathroom counter will have an undermount because of this issue.

Just wondering how hair migrates up the sink - it should in theory fall down straight? Perhaps you need to wipe down towards the drain, not up towards the countertop?

amberm145, I completely understand your problem.

I had looked at those cultured marble sinks for my own bathroom - but I'm not going to get them. The cultured marble, from the experience of my friends (I never had one) is that they scratched or stained too easily. Plus I always associate them with being in inexpensive homes with lower quality cabinets and faucets. This is my own personal bias and may not be yours.

I currently have drop in sinks in most of my bathrooms and I can't wait to rip them out and get more undermount sinks - I love being able to wipe the counter without being hampered by the edges of the sink. I think you will quickly become annoyed trying to clean up hair trapped in that edge. True it would be smoother than the unfinished rough side you encountered at the hotel.

I think you choices are:

1 Stick with your cultured marble/integrated sinks
2 Install undermount and change how you clean the area - wipe your hair down towards the drain and then lift it out.
3 Check out Corian and other counter materials that offer an integrated sink which would give you that same smooth joint.

It's a new house, so keeping the sink from the other house isn't an option. Getting a new one to fit the new bathroom is big money for a custom made cultured marble top. They're only cheap if you can get a pre made one in the right size.

The hotel may well have been clean. But when your hands are wet, and have hair on them, that rough edge feels awful. And it would have to be a true flea bag of a hotel for their cleaning standards to be lower than mine.

I asked the fabricator if I could at least make the underside smooth, and they said no, because the glue wouldn't hold. Again insisting there was no reason to touch the underside of the counter, despite the fact that I DO.

Where does gunk build up on a drop in sink? Wiping around the rim once a week seems less gross than the daily experience of having to rub the underside of the counter.

I wipe away from the drain because the whole point is to keep the hair from going down the drain and causing clogs.

Why don't you do a positive reveal?

Flush or positive reveal, and an undermount sink needs a mechanical fastener, not just "glue" (hopefully they mean silicone)

Custom sized cultured marble tops from my vendors are only about 10-20% more than the stock sizes they offer. You could do a top with integral bowl, but have the bowl finished white, and pick one of the stone/solid surface colors. You should also have the option of having the top done in a 1.25" think top.

Or use a vessel bowl

Or solid surface with solid surface bowl.

I'm with Taylor- flush or positive reveal with clips and not just silicone.

Just because you don't "see" the gunk underneath doesn't mean it doesn't build up. It's a lot easier to keep it clean with a slightly positive reveal. A little trickier to fabricate IMO because if it's off on one side or the other it's visible.

Your sink, your countertop, your money. No need to justify. If your fabricators can't or won't, find someone who will.

Just my 2 cents- Lisa

Nothing but undermount! The master bathroom remodel has 2 sinks with a flush reveal. I will be doing the same thing in the secondary bathrooms. BUT the best thing for potential hair clogs is to abandon old products like the pop up drain, that are a pain to disassemble to clear out the clog. We used the zero drain from California Faucets (linked below) and it is great. No more lieing under the sink with water dripping while you try to line up the metal rod and plastic ball into the drain pipe. No more having to replace the rusted rods that hold up the pop up assembly. To clean out the hair lift up the drain stopper, wipe off with a paper towel, put it back in the drain hole and you are done. I don't worry too much about wiping down the sink any more.

http://www.calfaucets.com/zerodrain

A positive reveal isn't possible because the top (horizontal part) of the sink isn't glazed.

And when they said glue, they meant glue. They specifically said they do a negative reveal so they don't have to use silicone, which they claim collects gunk. I'm guessing that I really just need to find a different fabricator.

The 100% silicone in undermount sink installation has multiple purposes : avoid sealant cracking in long term use , adhere the sink to the CT underside , avoid water penetration , prevent staining of the absorptive materials -- granite or marble -- .

A flush reveal sometimes work best but it always depends of how well the sink is fabricated -- straight or regular edges lines .

A negative reveal -- how much to be determined -- can '' hide '' imperfections of the sink edges -- warping , uneven edges , transfer from the finished to unfinished coating , etc. It can also '' protect '' the top sides of sink from accidental falling of objects . To eliminate the roughness of the underside of the CT slab , you can ask the fabricator to dry polish it or make it smooth -- honed finish could work -- .

Make sure the underside contact surface in between the under mount sink and CT is free of dust , oily residues ........ in one word clean , before the silicone is applied . Same goes to the edges of the sink to be installed .

chispa, thanks for posting that link to the pop up drains.

"And when they said glue, they meant glue. They specifically said they do a negative reveal so they don't have to use silicone, which they claim collects gunk."

I sure hope these guys are in southwestern Florida. I need the repair work.

"I'm guessing that I really just need to find a different fabricator."

Yes.

ask your fabricator if you were to give him or her an extra 500.00 can they smooth the bottom and use 100% silicone and make you feel satisfied?. Now if they say ok, You know its about price and then get another fabricator because this one fibbed to you. If they never done that they can ask friends in the industry advice on how to do this properly. If they dont know anyone else in the industry for advice, tell them to call the place that they got their training from for advice. It doesnt mean they are stupid, they just might know its a simple request you are asking for. If they pull out a bottle of Elmers Glue to install your sink, call the police, because you do not have a countertop fabricator/installer in your house you have an imposter tresspassing. :)

I don't understand the statements about gunk collecting around a top mounted sink. I haven't had that happen with mine and I am not a meticulous housekeeper. We went with the top mount drop in kind because our fabricators charged an arm and a leg plus an extra eyeball to cut the holes for undermount sinks. It was just a big savings for us for three bathroom sinks.

Jdez, many people just get gunk between the back wall and the top mount sink, I think it all has to do with what type of top mount sink. They are all different, I installed some big boxy square top mounts and they only show the caulk job where it meets the top..Vessel top mounts sitting on top have different gunk collecting areas..If you don't have any on your top mount..i am sure its not the top mount that was shown to somebody that made them say heck no..I want an undermount.:)

Some are nice, but where it seals to the top I think due to these sinks not laying flat it might draw attention to caulk. Behind the lower one is an area that might get water sitting ..which if not seen or cleaned can create the infamous GUNK..

ks

Thank-you for explaining that. My integrated bowl sink gets crud behind the faucet. An undermount sink isn't going to be any better. The only way to avoid that is to have a wall mount faucet, and I couldn't justify the cost of that, so there's no valve already in the wall for it. Deck mounted it is.