My advice is to get the solid surface with the under mount like you want or you will kick yourself later. Ask me how I know...........

LOL Yeah, if there's no other option I will do it. But if there is a cheaper way to make it work .... :)

No, Formica and undermount don't go together. Why? Because Formica looks like plywood on the inside, and it'd show once the sink was installed.

Keep looking. Unless your sink is quite large, I think you can do better.

If you really want your sink to be easy to clean, look into a molded solid surface countertop -- it's all one piece, and it's the easiest possible item to clean. I have it all my bathrooms -- original to the house, which was built in 1973, and they're all in perfect condition. I hate that they're so shallow that they splash the user, but that's a different story.

The only solid piece counter he has available is "marbled granite" which is the $1600 upgrade.

Another note: In my kitchen it was going to be $5000 or so to upgrade from formica to solid surface. He said he could do an undermount stainless steel sink with the formica for about $400. So will that not work either? He said he has done it before but I have never seen it.

Here's an undermount sink -- note that you can see the edge of the granite around the sink:

http://www.formica.com/en/us/homeowner-knowledge/kitchen/kitchen-things-to-know/laminate-countertops-love-undermount-sinks

Here's what the formica website says about it.

I don't know what brand of sink he is planning to use. He says he has done it before but of course I don't know how well it's held up. ugh.

they've been making undermountable laminate counters for awhile now that don't show the particleboard...id look into that as a 3rd option (check w/your laminate co's). That said, solid surface counters are awesome.

not a fan of undermount tho - they get a grunge lip too, its just harder to see/clean compared to drop-in.

I don't know how wide your vanity is but have you looked into Kohler Impressions vanity tops? I've seen them in person and they really are beautiful. They come in different sizes too and when you consider it's all in one, it's still cheaper than a separate sink and countertop..

Kohler Impressions

Another solution would be to do a vessel sink instead of an undermount.

How many bathrooms do you have and how large are they? $1600 is a pretty steep upgrade to go to solid surface for just the bathrooms.

The integrated solid surface and stainless steel sinks with laminate can eliminate the gap painpoint and keep you on budget. I'v seen these holding up in commercial applications for at least 7 years now.

http://karran.com/images/pdf/Gallery.pdf

The new p lam details are impressive but it makes me cringe to think of using them as a substitute for granite. Look at the other p lam options for a more elegant design.

We went with a pre-fab granite/undermount sink topper that we got at a local building supply store. We did 5 vanities (3 48", 3 36") for under $1000. I have always had laminate topped vanities with drop in sinks, so hard to clean. I will never go back--love the undermount sinks.

We have three bathrooms. Master has about 9' of counter with one sink, hall bath has two 5' counters, one with a sink. Then another 2' wide counter with a sink. Powder room has a 3' counter with sink.

This is through a mod home builder so I'm not sure if I have other options. I wonder if I should just go with the basic counter with drop in and replace later as we can. Of course then, it will probably never get replaced....sigh.

What if you purchase your own vessel sinks and do the formica?

I need to check with the builder and see if we can get them with no sink. Then there might be issues with plumbing and such. I don't know. Also not sure if husband wants to mess with it. I think he would be capable though.

true

If your sizes are 'standard' you should be able to do a lot better with the prefab that chellefnp shows above. We used one in our last house bath remodel and I really liked it. It would be worth asking the builder if your could supply your own sink/counter for the baths.