Thinking about renovating your kitchen? If so, then our Sink Spotlight series will help you. Up today: undermount sinks.
Sink Style: Undermount
1. Distinctive Features: The edge lip of the sink is mounted below a solid surface countertop, so the sink effectively hangs underneath the counter, as opposed to sitting on top of it; creates a continuous flow from countertop into sink.
2. Countertop Compatibility: Best suited for solid surface countertop materials like granite, soapstone, marble, or concrete. NOT well suited for laminate or tile counters, which have too many weak points along seams and grout lines to support the weight of the sink.
3. Pros: Wipe food scraps straight into the sink (no exposed rim to catch crumbs and dirt); reclaim up to half a square foot of counter space; attractive, minimalist look, easy to clean.
4. Cons: Generally more expensive than drop-in sinks; only works with weight-bearing and water-resistant countertop materials; condensation build-up under the counter can cause mold; faucets must be attached to the countertop or wall.
5. Installation: Proper installation and sealing is crucial to prevent leakage and to make sure the sink is properly supported. (A full sink of dishes gets very heavy. You don't want the sink pulling apart from the underside of your countertop and crashing to the floor.) Undermount sinks are typically attached with a two-part epoxy adhesive and sealed with silicone caulking around the perimeter. Make sure to get a professional or someone who knows what they're doing. Most professionals can install an undermount kitchen sink in 30 minutes or less.
6. Price range: $250 - $800, depending on size and material.
Kitchn Reader Reviews: More reader reviews can be found here.
My sister just remodeled her kitchen and went through the same dilemma. She's a big baker so she went with a stainless, undermount, single basin sink that was large enough to fit a sheetpan. If you want to soak pans, bring a big one with you when you shop. She also chose a model with rounded corners at the bottom so it's easy to clean. - cbreynolds
I remodeled 2 years ago and went with a deep, stainless steel, undermounted, single basin sink. I love it. It's deep enough to hold a big pot, and big enough to wash sheet pans without getting water all over. It's so easy to just brush crumbs into the sink, or to wipe any spilled water back into the sink. Oh and I think it's insulated, which makes it quieter. - mimi2856
When we renovated our kitchen we got a cheap undermount sink from ebay, for $100. We got, yet another sink when we got new countertops. Same double bowl stainless, but the one was insulated way more and is a lot quieter. I wanted the smaller bowl to do dishes in, but it's just too small. If I did it again, I would get an undermount stainless, insulated single rectangle sink. I don't know what your budget is, but Kohler is the best, in my dads opinion, who is a pro plumber. He also love Moen. - thewholesomehome
There is mold in the silicone between our undermount sink and the counter. I can't figure out how to get rid of it. I still like it better than our old overmount sink that regularly featured a puddle of water and crumbs around the edge. The new sink is white composite, our old sink was stainless steel. The white composite also gets moldy in the corners. I would think hard before going with composite again, since our old stainless did not seem to have that problem. - sagekitten85
Related Kitchn Posts:
• All About: Farmhouse Sinks
• How Much Did Your Kitchen Renovation Cost?
Other Recommended Reading
• How To Install an Undermount Kitchen Sink | DIY Network
(Images: 1. This & That; 2. Gregor Torrence | The Kitchn; 3. Jill Slater | The Kitchn; 4. The Kitchn; 5. Jim Franco)
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Bought a single bowl, large undermount stainless steel sink when we redid our counters. LOVE it. Now I want the rest of the sinks to be undermount as well!
My problem with using any of the faucets pictured (having encountered similar looking ones frequently now in the real world) - water pools all around the fixtures and just sits there. It's a pain to wipe that up every time you turn off the tap with wet hands.
In my fantasy world, where I'd have the opportunity to re-do a kitchen of my very own, I'd love the look of the undermount, but the counter would have to slope gently toward the basin all around the fixtures.
I adore our undermount sink (the #4 photo is of our kitchen). It is so much easier to clean the counter around it and keep the entire area free of nasty gunk.
caseoftornados--we do have that issue, but I only bother to wipe it up at the end of the day or of a cooking session. It is so worth it to not have the sink-edge-crumb-catching issue.
I was so reluctant to do undermount on our sink since we were trying butcherblock counters for the first time, but so far (a month in) we love it! Plus, it is 10 inches deep and one huge rectangle - so that helps too :)
We're too new with it to see if it ruins our butcherblock, but we love the look.
http://www.twobedroomsandababy.com/2012/02/backsplash-done.html
My sixty year old stainless single tub undermount is still going strong. The only issue is the caulking around the sink has left the building. In the process of fixing that. I enjoy the ability to simply, smoothly sweep stuff into the sink without having it catch on the lip of a top mount sink.
The holes are generally cut when the counters are installed. Not sure how it would be retrofitted if you aren't getting new counters. If you're looking for sinks check Habitat. We got 3 of our 4 undermounts from them, two were new, builder donations and the one used we got, almost new condition, went in the laundry room. We paid a total of $175 for the Habitat sinks. When I compared new prices we would have spent mote like $800, so look around.
We just redid our kitchen with granite counters and got a stainless steel undermount sink, after previously having a much smaller, ceramic sink that scratched and stained so easily. I'm thrilled with our new sink and it is enormous. I can bathe my toddler in it, and I could never do that with the old sink. I'm not a fan of the bathtub look of farmhouse sinks, and I think the undermount type looks really sleek.
One additional thing: If you can get a double sink the second bowl can be used as a dish drainer, keeping the counter clear. I love undermount sinks but have had to do some extra homework to find good ones for smaller sink cabinets. I posted the results of my 'research' on http://www.cavdesignblog.com/search/label/Undermount%20Sinks
As for the butcher block installation, it's not recommended. I think the wood is too porous on the endgrain where the cut would be -- tough to seal well. Not impossible, but definitely a mold and moisture risk. Maybe a marine varnish on that exposed edge could do the trick?
@Username26 use a router with a sharp bit. If you want a really clean hole, first build a jig using the template supplied with the sink. If you're not sure how to do this, ask or pay somebody who can.
@caseoftornados it's more an issue of surface tension than it is gravity, and a slope will make your hardware not fit or lean. It's just one of those tradeoffs of surface-mount fixtures. I get around it by using the edge of a microfiber cloth and just touching it to the corner; it will usually pull all the water from around your fixtures.
Anyone that can build or install a butcher block should be able to do it. Warehouse distributors may not but most kitchen supply places have or can recommend someone.
Make some calls to local shops for references.
We have an undermount sink in our small rental kitchen and probably my surprise favorite feature of our kitchen is the 4-5 inch piece of counter in front of the sink. Our sink is right next to our range top, and that 4-5 inches of flat counter in front of the sink is large enough to hold plates when I'm serving food from the stove, or a bowl of batter that I want to keep nearby when making pancakes. If we had a drop in sink (or an apron front sink), I would be constantly reaching all the way across the sink to transfer things between the counter and the stove.
How do you clean where the sink meets the counter? I can see a bit of crud building up and I clean it with a bristled brush- but I am not happy with the results. Does anyone have recommendations?
In my previous apartment, the undermount porcelain kitchen sink was installed under the original tile counters. It has been solid since 1930. I wonder if it was installed differently than they might do it today.
TO CLEAN the seal: remove old caulking and put in new silicone caulk (match the counters - I used black). It was easy to do, the caulk is just a water seal, it is not holding your sink in place. To remove it you can use a razor blade or dental tools that you can buy at an art supply store (sculptors use them). Scrape out all the old gunky stuff, clean thoroughly with bleachy-soapy-water, allow to dry and apply new caulk.
I love mine, no problems with mold
I never heard of an insulated sink! Who needs an insulated sink? What the devil are you doing with it that it needs insulation? That just doesn't seem to make sense to me. That seems like a gimmick... can someone explain what that is?
Dish drainers which hide in the sink! Clever.
Only recently did I discover that fancy people buy those plastic drainers with a tray and then hide it in a cupboard, and that's how people with belfast sinks dry their stuff.
My dish drainer tragically sits atop the washing machine, and on faster spin cycles a few mugs have copped it.
@Kanberra: Insulated sinks are not a gimmick. Depending on the material a sink is made of it will be more or less noisy.Those trendy old-is-new-again farmhouse sinks are the quietest, because of the thick ceramic they're made of. Stainless steel sinks, which is what the reviewer said they have, are the noisiest sinks. Noisy when you put a plate in, noisy when you just run water in them. Insulating a stainless sink can greatly reduce the amount of noise it creates. If you've only ever had stainless, you might be used to it and not even notice. However, spend an extended time period around some quiet sinks, and when you get back around a stainless one you *will* notice it.
I grew up with farmhouse sinks, and even after living 15 years with only stainless in my various homes and apartments it's still an assault on the ears every time a faucet is turned on. I can hear the water in kitchen when I'm in my bedroom at the other end of the house- we don't have a huge house (only about 1200sqft) but it's ridiculous how I can hear the water splashing about.
Thanks for the explanation DENISEGK but in all honesty, I've never been bothered by 'sink' noise. I still say it is a waste of money. I've had both ceramic (from an 1880 house I lived in) and stainless and to me, as long as it has good water pressure and drains well it is a good sink! I'll spend my money on something else.
If you use stone counter tops, also think about where the seam in the countertop will be. My contractor convinced me to put our seam in the middle of the sink - since the sink cut out hole is already a weak point. However, I didn't like noticing the thin seam in the stone every time I used the sink. Over time, with wear, the seam became more noticeable too.
As for cleaning around the edges, I have a shark handheld steam cleaner thing. The only thing I use it for is cleaning all the nasty bits in my (ooooold rental) kitchen. The grout is gone in most places, and the sink edges get nasty. First time I ever did it the smells that came out were nauseating (I can't imagine how long some of that gunk had been wedged in there). But it gets those tiny crack areas clean by pushing steam through it at high pressure. So that's an option for the undermount crease if it starts letting stuff in...