I truly am shocked by the comments from your countertop people. Starting from the back makes no sense to me at all. A 6" piece of counter in front of your sink makes it an ergonomic nightmare. Generally, cuts start at 3" to 3 1/2" from the front of the stone. Your sink is truly very small and will be difficult to use as a small double bowl sink. In the event the countertop people relent, please consider a larger single bowl sink. You will be much happier.

Not really able to answer your questions, but it appears that the manufacturer recommends installation as per photo.

huh. I wonder where they place the sink when it's on an island.

Cabinet installer set my dishwasher at 30" wide... before any manufacturer built them...

He was replaced the next day.

You have to ask yourself if it is worth fighting OR is it worth getting a larger sink and working with them to redo the front cut to accommodate OR replace the slab and maybe your can negotiate it at cost.

Or if the opening is centered in the slab then they installed it backwards.

Paul F., we had considered that too. But the sink isn’t centered in the slab, plus there’s another cutout to the left of the sink for our cooktop.

If they had the sink template I think you are right they dis it backwards See if you can get the sink template off the internet or maybe back from the fabricator. I do agree that sink is pretty close to useless for much of anything. If you can cinvince to get a new piece cut get a one bowl sink please .

How about replacing the sink with a wider one? (Note: width is front-to-back.)

The bowl of your sink (Kraus KBU29) is 15-3/4" wide and 31-3/8" long:

The bowl of the Ruvati RVH7515 is 18" wide and 32" long.

If the Kraus sink were replaced with this Ruvati and the cutout was enlarged to accommodate it and the back of the bowl/cutout remained where it is now, the front of the bowl would move 2-1/4" ( = 18" - 15-3/4" ) closer to the front edge of the countertop.

(This sink is just an example; I'm not promoting this particular model.)

"Are we unreasonable for thinking this setback is too big?"

Not at all. If a sink is strapped, not clipped in place, the front rail can be as small as 2 3/8":

I'd cut that sink out and install an apron front:

Of course the fabricator is going to try to sell you on the idea that you did something wrong. They don't want to replace the slab on their dime. We have all lived in homes and done enough dishes to know this is wrong. I have never seen a sink that is set back more than 4". The back setback is usually wider than the front setback to accommodate the faucet.

Just because they say this is the way they always do it does not mean that this is true or even if it is true that it is correct.

Max from front edge 100 mm. Standart from front  edge 75, 80, 85 mm

"When we brought this issue up to our builder, he asked the countertop installers, and here is the gist of their response: “When making the cutouts for kitchen sinks.................blah blah blah"

You go BACK to the builder, and declare it unacceptable. The fabricator is not your fabricator, he IS the fabricator for that builder.

The answer is unreasonable, if only because an 18 inch front to back depth is beyond commonplace in stainless under mount sinks, and I care not which way you turn the sink. It's 18 inches deep front to back. What IS unreasonable is a full six inches at the front.

I don't live in the back woods, and there is no fabricator here that will touch cut and polish without the actual sink in their hands. Not the template, the actual sink. For all you know? The fabricator used an incorrect TEMPLATE! One of many on the PDF with your Kraus.

My advice? Go back to that builder. Get the slab replaced. If he actually is custom, and the house is custom? He knows what to do. It is his battle, not yours.

Might be an opportunity to switch sinks to a single bowl. Once you have one? I doubt you'd ever go back: ) and it looks more up to date.

You don't need the slab replaced. You need a larger sink replacement. If you've got no more than 20" from the cabinet front to the rear of the cutout and have a 36" sink base cabinet, the Elkay Ferguson I pictured above will retrofit in a day, plumbing included.

You don't have to do an apron front either. wdccruise has proven above that the front rail can be reduced by 1/3 if you want to stick with stainless steel. No slab replacement required.

Idk why people on this thread are recommending the OP buy a larger sink - as if the contractor declaring her sink is too small is a correct statement. That sink is 30” wide x 18” deep. A commonplace sink size. It not only is set too far back, but the space for the faucet is too narrow. It’s a do-over. It will hurt your back to use it day in and day out. No one wants back pain, and prolonged back strain has serious consequences for the rest of your life.

Having said that, @Joseph Corlett, LLC has posted numerous times on this forum about switching out a sink for an apron front sink which solves numerous problems. Perhaps he can advise you on that here. But the bottom line is that it is a do-over and the contractor has to pay for that. He can’t risk your family’s backs because he is grasping at straws as to the bad installation.

There are few undermount, stainless steel, two-bowl sinks wide enough to significantly reduce the distance between the cabinet front and the bowl. Here's another:

Signature Hardware 447794

I'm guessing people are suggesting larger sinks as it may be easier to fix the problem that way while at the same time, giving the OP a more useful sink. If they go that route, I'd be negotiating with the builder about who pays for the new sink.

@daisychain Zn3b - that is a good point. I was thinking more that it was allowing the contractor an out by blaming the homeowner for her sink choice.

Although the current sink measures 18” wide ( front to back), the actual bowl width is only 15 3/4”.
Small for a kitchen sink.

I realize that the general consensus favors a single bowl configuration. Since I wash several items by hand, including fragile dishes, non-dishwasher safe products, and pots and pans, I prefer to have two bowls. The second bowl allows for draining. Otherwise I’d have to place a dish draining rack on the counter which would clutter the counter space, or dry the items immediately after washing. If using a rack, I’d then have to find storage for it when not in use. I do not have a baby or dog to wash in a sink, and can fit all my larger pans easily in the wash side bowl. I think that the choice of configuration depends on how one uses the sink.

I think I would tell them it was unacceptable (because it is) and that your sink choice is not too small, and you would like to see this fixed with that sink, but you would be willing to choose a different one if it will get this fixed with less conflict. (In other words, this isn't your fault, but you will compromise on your sink choice to get this resolved.) Then it's just negotiating the difference in sink cost ... they're responsible for the additional labor; I might accept the difference in sink cost or splitting the difference - absolutely no change fees, of course.

" It not only is set too far back, but the space for the faucet is too narrow. It’s a do-over. It will hurt your back to use it day in and day out. No one wants back pain, and prolonged back strain has serious consequences for the rest of your life."

The faucet is in the correct spot. There is nothing difficult or straining about its location. The countertop is not exceptionally deep and there is plenty of room for easy cleaning even after a backsplash installation. The pictures and tape measure don't lie.

" There is nothing difficult or straining about its location."

@Joseph Corlett, LLC - when I was mentioning back strain, I was referring to the subject topic - the sink's set-back. The OP also said she was feeling back pain using the sink. But since you thought I was talking about the faucet's location causing backstrain, I will say that the particular faucet pictured is also likely to cause backstrain. Its spout reach is quite small. A faucet should have a longer spout reach so that the user does not have to have a slight bend when they are rinsing or using the faucet - even a couple inches makes a difference. So the OP not only will get back strain from the sink's setback, but it will be exacerbated by her faucet's short spout reach. That is getting off topic from the sink's setback, but since you mentioned it, I expanded on it.

@daisychain Zn3b: "I'm guessing people are suggesting larger sinks as it may be easier to fix the problem that way while at the same time, giving the OP a more useful sink."

My goal in suggesting a wider sink was to be able to save the countertop by requiring only the enlargement of the cutout which would move the front of a wider sink bowl closer to the front of the cabinet. The goal wasn't to make the sink more useful, though I suppose a larger one would be.

@M Miller: "Its spout reach is quite small."

And a wider sink would likely call for a faucet with an even longer reach though maybe not as the faucet appears to have a pull-out sprayer.

Thank you all for your comments! It’s a relief to hear that we’re not crazy for thinking this setback is unacceptable.

I realize that our sink basins might be on the smaller side. But, when initially picking out a sink, I struggled to find a “larger sink” that met my requirements: stainless steel, under mount, 50/50 double basin, FULL height divider between basins, not too deep (we are tall and hate having to reach really far down in a deep sink), and rounded edges for easier cleaning. Plus the sink needed to have good reviews and be sound dampening. I realize everyone has their own sink preferences, and most seem to advocate for sleek, zero radius, single basins. But, with the way we wash our dishes, we need two basins. And, as someone who hates cleaning, rounded edges are a must! We are all about function over form and don’t care if it looks “dated”. I also realize that the spout reach on our faucet is on the shorter side (8”). I think we might need to replace it with this which has a 10” spout reach:
https://www.build.com/moen-5923/s1202286?uid=4220923#overview

FYI The overall slab layout for that portion of the kitchen: Slab 1 goes from the wall oven on the far left to the middle of the cooktop. Slab 2 goes from the middle of the cooktop, through the sink, all the way to a wall on the far right. The seam for the 2 slabs is in the middle of our cooktop.

Here are the solutions our builder and countertop installers have suggested, both of which are free of charge.

Option 1: They could cut the seam at the cooktop and take back to their shop to cut out a bigger sink. When doing that, they would have to take both slabs back with them and square up the seam again to make sure it goes back together correctly, so we would lose around 1/8"-3/16" off of each piece. The right side shouldn't be a big deal since the edge would covered by backsplash tile, but this would leave a little gap on the left side by the wall oven. Our builder suggested fixing this by putting backsplash tile over the cabinet to match the right side, or just caulk this in. The countertops would be out for 2-3 days while they re-cut the sink. There's a risk involved in all of this for damage and our builder isn’t sure who would assume that risk in this. The installers will cover the cost of re-cutting the slabs and my builder will pay for a new, larger sink.

Option 2: The countertop installers will cut for a larger sink with the slabs in place. But, because the slabs won’t be taken back to their shop to polish the freshly cut edges, we’d have to install a drop in sink to cover them. Under mount is no longer an option. Again, the cost of re-cutting would be covered by the installers. And the cost of the new sink would be covered by the builder. Our builder also said that installing a farmhouse/apron sink is possible with some slight modifications to the base cabinet, but it will still need to be drop in.

Thoughts on option 1: First of all, we think the installers should assume the risk since they screwed up the cut in the first place. We HATE the idea of putting tile on our wall oven cabinet and will caulking that big of a gap really look ok? We don’t think it will. This option also forces the faucet to stay in its current location. We were wanting it moved forward a bit, both for reaching purposes and for ease of cleaning around it (it’s going to be tight by the time a backsplash is in). But the biggest obstacle we see is that no under mount sink has basins big enough (front to back) to cover a distance large enough to fix our problem. The sink basin would need to be 18.5” front to back to get a 3-3.5” setback. I don’t think that exists. But, if it does exist, does it meet any of our other sink feature requirements? (wdccruise, thanks for finding that sink on Signature Hardware! But low divide sinks are a dealbreaker for us.)

Thoughts on option 2: After living my whole life with drop in sinks and finally getting to design my DREAM kitchen, I was soooo excited to have an under mount sink! The thought of having to go back to a drop in sounds terrible. I also think a drop in stainless steel sink will clash with our gold faucet. I was ok with a stainless steel under mount since it wasn’t directly touching anything gold. But gold on stainless steel will be on full display with this option. I think it will look weird. (Note: we chose our cabinet pulls and pendant lights to match the gold of our faucet, so switching the finish of the faucet is not desirable.) BUT… This option is definitely less risky. And doing a drop in would allow us to move the faucet forward as well. I found this drop in that should be big enough and sort of meets our other sink requirements (it’s not 50/50 split and it doesn’t have rounded corners). I’m open to installing a white drop in sink (fireclay, granite composite, etc.), but I haven’t been able to find one with large enough basins that also has a large enough back plate to allow moving the faucet forward. For those same reasons, I haven’t been able to find a drop in farmhouse sink either.
https://www.ruvati.com/products/rvh8050-33-x-22-inch-drop-in-6040-16-gauge-zero-radius-topmount-stainless-steel/

What do you all think? Are these options reasonable? Which option would you choose? Both options require big compromises on our part. Or should we just reject these options and push for full slab replacement?

Neither is a good option, IMO - no way, no how I would tile my oven cabinet - and with the initial mess up, I am not sure I’d trust the fabricator on a “do over” with the same slab. 2nd option - do not accept a drop in sink - that’s not a good option either!! Builder needs to provide a new slab and a real “do over”…

Here's a drop in in black ...

https://www.kraususa.com/kraus-kgd-52black-33-drop-inundermount-granite-5050-double-bowl-kitchen-sink-in-black.html

And a white fireclay apron front:

https://www.sinkology.com/kitchen-sink/parker-quick-fit-drop-in-fireclay-farmhouse-kitchen-sink/

"Option 2: The countertop installers will cut for a larger sink with the slabs in place. But, because the slabs won’t be taken back to their shop to polish the freshly cut edges, we’d have to install a drop in sink to cover them. Under mount is no longer an option. Again, the cost of re-cutting would be covered by the installers. And the cost of the new sink would be covered by the builder. Our builder also said that installing a farmhouse/apron sink is possible with some slight modifications to the base cabinet, but it will still need to be drop in."

With the exception of "Again, the cost of re-cutting would be covered by the installers. And the cost of the new sink would be covered by the builder.", everything else is demonstrably false.

I run a sink replacement business. We have never removed a stone or estone top to replace a sink in 4 years.The cutout is cut with a rail saw with a vacuum and the raw cutout is profiled and polished wet by installing a bag in the cabinet to catch the water that you get from the shutoff valve in the cabinet. We do this every single day and have done it hundreds of times with 4.7 reviews out of a possible 5. There is no dust or mess.

To undermount a replacement sink, apron front or not, you simply tap the cabinet front off and installl the sink and front simultaneously.

Have them give me a call; I'll walk them through it. The first one will take them all day, but it's much less risk and expnse than removal/rplacement.

Your sink is the sink we replace more than any other. Everyone hates the small bowls and the full divide.

Here are a few before and afters replacing your sink:

Expand the first picture and you'll see the crack in the front rail that is the result of an improperly undermounted clipped sink that leaked, rusted the reinforcement steel that was improperly installed, and split the top when it oxidixed from the leak. We get this call once a week and fix at least two every month.

If you've got black/brown crud at your undermount sink, your sink is leaking. If your top is rodded (open your dishwasher door and look under the overhang for a yellow/orange 1/4" wide line), you're getting ready to blow up your countertop. Estone is never rodded; no need as it's strong enough on its own.

Excuse the thread drift please.

Here's a Kohler 3942 top mount replacement:

You can see the crack from the failed rod in the first picture right reflection.

I sense you waited a LONG time for the dream kitchen. I also sense you are not taking full advantage of a dishwasher.

How many things need to be hand washed in this day and age and on a daily basis? Bulky pots/ pans. Fragile glass ware.

Beyond that? I can't think of much.

I think a re do is in order to the new sink you choose . You are correct in that everyone has their "habits" at any sink.

Just know that the dishwasher is hotter, more sanitary, and actually uses LESS water. : )

In a brand new kitchen ? The very last thing I want to see is a pile up of draining anything sink side. A pot is easy to wash , dry, put away. The rest? Into the handy steel box it shall go. No sin in the method. Also a large part of the reason a single basin is so popular.

Have you found a significantly-wider sink that meets your specifications including full-height divider and "rounded edges for easier cleaning"? You won't (at build.com); their round-edge sinks are around 16" wide or less so you'd be doing all that work to move the front edge of bowl less than 1" closer to the front of the cabinet.

I think you'll have to go "square edges". At 18", the Ruvati RVH7515 may be your best choice. Another:

Elkay ECTRU31179TC

You paid for a properly installed undermount sink installed on a properly sized/fabricated countertop.

This was not an over the top, unrealistic expectation.

Any solution that does not result in a properly installed undermount sink on a properly sized/fabricated countertop is unacceptable. Not what you paid for, not what you want.

Why should your requirements have to change because they screwed up?

Any compromise on my part would have to come with a substantial discount and for this issue I don't know that they could compensate me less than the cost to fully replace in order for me to be satisfied. If I had to look and work with their solution for the next 20 years and be unhappy with the results for 20 years we would be looking at $10 k minimum discount to make it "okay".