Under mount sink with seam or drop in without seam
Natalie Hazen
3 years ago
We are having granite countertops installed as part of a kitchen remodel. After discussing with fabricator, we have two choices. If we choose to under mount the sink, we will end up with a seam in a main work area of the countertop. If we choose to use a drop in sink, the seams could be near the sink and much less noticeable. What would you choose, under mount with noticeable seam or drop in with seams that would hardly be seen? The photo is not my sink but this is what the edge of the sink looks like...flat and pretty flush with the countertop. Thanks for your help.
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Comments (6)
PROMain Line Kitchen Design
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoRelated Discussions
Top mount vs under mount sink?
Comments (9)I have a stainless drop in. I don't understand all the talk of crud catching in the lip, I don't find that to be the case. Regular cleaning around the sink area every day makes that a non issue for me.Having never had an undermount sink I can't say, but it would seem to me that more crud would catch in that area than in a top mount. I've never dented a stainless sink, I would guess you'd have to drop something pretty heavy in it to dent it. I guess it depends on how thick your steel is? But I do hate the water spotting on the stainless. Everything has its trade offs I guess. For the most part I find the drop in stainless pretty tough and easy to care for....See MoreGranite seams at sink - it depends?
Comments (10)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....See MoreIs seaming Granite at sink OK? How about rodding a 12in overhang?
Comments (8)jscozz, What was the title of your thread (so I can go review it?). I do have a bit of a problem following threads I'm interested in, cuz things move so fast on this forum. I also haven't been able to keep anything in 'my clippings'. I think I had them there for awhile, but they're all gone now- not sure if I'm missing something...? The one good thing about the company I am dealing with (I am the GC on our reno), is that they seem to be bending over backwards to make sure everything goes OK. Allright- it HAS been six months since I ordered cabinets and granite, and I STILL don't have all cabinets yet... but the manager has taken over our account personally and has probably spent close to 6-7 hours here (now I know that sounds excessive- but 2-3 hours of that was a second trip cuz we changed our minds about the overhang to go back to 9"- and when he came out to remeasure- he assured us he could do the 12" with rodding and it would be supported well enough- so we went back to the 12" again), just measuring and trying to figure out how he is going to fabricate/cut the granite. He prefers to overkill to make sure everything lasts a lifetime- and I really appreciate his enthusiasm and his attitude- just not totally confident in his lack of experience....See MoreGranite seam at sink, but off center?
Comments (5)Thank you all. The collective wisdom seems correct. We'll just suck it up with a centered seam at the sink. I didn't post the diagram, because we don't have one yet, and I feel confident about placement of the other seam anyway. We have some long runs, so seams are necessary. I just dislike it being at the sink. But, our fabricator has a good reputation, so hopefully it will look good. Now, them not wanting to put supports under our 12.5" peninsula overhang is another issue. But I argued that one, and am not backing down. We are paying for it, so why do some fabricators/installers argue that point so much? As always, thanks for chiming in!...See More
Shannon_WI
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoNatalie Hazen
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoThe photo probably was a mistake on my part...I was just trying to show that it was a dual mount type of sink & not a traditional drop in sink with a raised edge. I’m attaching a drawing of our counters (just for size dimensions- we won’t have a 4 “ backsplash). With the length of the counter and a corner in there, I don’t know there is an ideal place to seam. There is a dishwasher to the left of the sink if that’s important. A seam at the sink would be nice, but we are worried about it impacting the integrity of the granite countertop but I don’t know anything about it. It would be pretty skinny at the top and bottom of the sink but maybe that’s ok.. It’s great to get opinions...thank you.
PROJoseph Corlett, LLC
3 years ago- PRO
Main Line Kitchen Design
3 years ago
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