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tyra_northern

Please Help!!! Farmhouse sink installed wrong

5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago

Hello,

Can someone please help us, we are in the middle of replacing a standard undermounted sink to a farmhouse sink. The contractor says there is not much that can be done, it looks nothing like I am use too or paying for. The main problem is the 2inch quartz overhang from the sink being installed flushed with the cabinets. Can someone please chime in on how to fix this without replacing my brand new Quartz? I have included before and after pictures.














Comments (17)

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Your contractor is a hack if I'm seeing the sink resting on the old draw carcasses... Who choose the products and the contractors? It would have been easier to use a retrofit style sink like the Kohler Whitehaven. Barring that, the cabinets should have been modified so the top of your sink was flush with teh top of the cabinets.


    Easy fix? None that I know of. Fire the contractor and hope the fabricator has more of the estone.

  • 5 years ago

    Are all the pictures of the same countertop material? it looks different in some of them.


    I'm trying to understand the order. Did you have the stone first, and then replaced the sink? If so, I'm not sure the contracter can really be blamed. Obviously the sink needs to be set back to where the stone ends. The back strip of counter + new sink = shorter than the rest of the counter. It certainly would have been nice if the contractor pointed that out to you before installing the sink, but it is also something you could have figured out yourself if you measured.



  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Ugh this looks problematic! First - the sink is installed wrong - it should have been even with the top of the cabinets ( although I have seen ones that are higher )


    Even that would have been fins if the sink wasn't so far back. That is causing part of the countertop issue.

    It could just be the angle of the pictures, but is the sink off center in the cabinet?

    What are the dimensions? Maybe you can find a sink the same width but bigger front to back to make it look better.

    I am surprised the countertop people even installed this like that!

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Why wasn't it installed as an undermount?




  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Who installed the sink? The sink install is the core of your issue. The sink should either be higher than the tops or UNDER the tops. I prefer under. The sink cutout looks like a rough, unpolished cut...is that right?


    In your photos, some show the sink lower than the countertop surface. But in the final where it looks more finished, the sink looks like someone shimmed them up so they're ABOVE the top surface.


    I don't think there's much of a fix here. Live with it or have the sink reset and new tops made.


    OR...get a wider sink like a 33" or 36" whitehaven by Kohler. Retrofit your sink base by lowering that rail. Have the sink FLUSH with the tops of the cabinets. Have the fabricator take out the tops are rework the area around the sink...including a polished farmsink cutout and radius the corners a tad.

  • 5 years ago

    Did your contractor or cabinet maker have the model and specs on the sink before the cabinets were built?

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Those cabinets are existing, older cabinets. The sink base should have been retrofitting for your sink...like I said above....that horizontal rail should have been lowered so the sink was flush with the TOP of the CABINET.

  • 5 years ago

    Not only is it cut wrong, installed wrong and just bad, but it looks like they cut dry with no dust extraction in your house, everything is covered in a layer of dust. Did you hire reputable contractor?

  • 5 years ago

    A sink which sits higher than the counter is a problem. You can’t wipe the counter moisture or crumbs right into the sink, so the grout or caulking along the sink will get dirty very quickly. The front of your sink cabinet will have to be adapted to fit, or you may need a custom front for the cabinet.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Can you post dimensions of the sink that is currently there? We can probably help you find one that is wider and deeper so maybe the countertop can be trimmed to the new sink size and not all will be lost!

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    OP has never been back, I hope it gets sorted...

  • 5 years ago

    Ty N - Any update?

  • 5 years ago

    I have two different farmhouse sinks which my husband installed. He’s a bit of a perfectionist and found it to be a bit of a challenge however the end results looked great. My guess is that whomever did this install had never did one before. My recommendation is to hire a master carpenter with this experience to fix the mistake your contractor made. I do think with the proper craftsman, it is salvageable if you can find a sink to fit the countertop dimensions. Best of luck. Let us know how you make out. I would love to see the finished piece.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    The good news is that it's "brand new quartz" which means it probably hasn't been discontinued which means the rear section can be replaced with color/particulate match. This sink with the swoop on the left gave me essentially the same problem:



    Extend the cutout all the way to the splash:



    With a new matching rear rail, the problem of the sink cutout being too deep is solved. The side cuts aren't a problem as they will be enlarged anyway with the installation of a 36" apron front sink. If the distance from the cabinet front to the rear of the existing cutout exceeds 20" or so, an Elkay Ferguson model won't work and the rear rail will have to be replaced. It's more than 20" I'm betting.



    This is a regular Elkay short apron front, not the Ferguson model. The distance from the cabinet front to the rear of the cutout is about 18" or so.



    Sure, you're getting two seams you didn't want, but they can be highly inconspicuous and that beats replacing the top.

  • PRO
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    "That should have never even been attempted. Replacement of the counters should have been a job requirement from the start."

    Pfffftttttt.

    I've built a very successful business on the value proposition of replacing sinks without ever replacing tops; not even removing them. Dust free. Just got complimented on how clean we are again yesterday.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Thank you Joseph - I was trying to figure out how to explain that without having before and after pictures like you have!!

    This will fix things ( with a new contractor setting the sink of course )