drill into fireclay farmhouse sink

3 years ago

We installed an undermount Franke Manor House fireclay sink into a custom cabinet, and after doing so found out that the faucet handle will hit the backsplash when we push it backwards for hot water. We’ve adjusted everything so we have the sink as forward in the cabinet as possible, but we still need about an inch more. Franke has instructions to drill a hole in the back lip of the sink, but I’m wondering if anyone has ever tried to drill a u- or c-shaped cutout into the back lip of a fireclay sink so we can shift the faucet toward the front a bit. We haven’t been able to find anyone who has ever heard of this. Thx

Featured Answer

M Miller

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Replace the faucet. Several faucet manufactures make a single handle faucet where the faucet stops at 90° for the hottest setting. I.e. the handle straight up is the farthest it will go. Grohe is one, they call it a ”forward-rotating handle”, but there are other brands that have this feature as well.

It is helpful if you could go to a kitchen/bath showroom to see faucets on display, and to ask the people who work there which faucets have this feature.

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Comments (12)

PRO
JAN MOYER
3 years ago
Post a picture of all...........including the faucet you selected
PRO
User
3 years ago
Not hoing to happen. The whole thing will shatter.
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PRO
beesneeds
3 years ago
I bet that it could be fixed by a pro that has done it before. But I also bet it wouldn't go so well for a DYI, especially if the person has never done it before. Not only the cut out of the inch, but also the fill of an inch you will likely need to do.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
You need to post pics and we need to hear frome Joseph.I cannot imagine drilling a hole in a fireclay sink.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
3 years ago
I've never drilled fireclay, but I might if you signed a waiver. I'd use a 1 3/8" dry diamond bit in a grinder while having someone else spritz it with water while I drilled. You'll need to make sure that the faucet escutcheon will cover the elongated hole beforehand.

Before I took that risk, I would consider simply mouting the faucet handle at about 5 o'clock instead of 3 o'clock, or whatever it took to avoid the backsplash. You'll get used to the look and it is actually more user-friendly that way.

Consider replacing the faucet to one that only pulls forward please.

Your flange isn't that big onthat sink apparently anyway. You can't pull the faucet so far forward that the faucet escutcheon overhangs the sink edge either.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
I have no clue as to how this can be answered without pics of the whole situation and faucet .
chispa
3 years ago
Many faucets can have the handle facing the front, so you move the handle from left to right to switch between hot and cold. Pull out for on/off. I did this in my previous house as I wanted to minimize drips on my counters. It worked well and everyone got used to it immediately.
Andrea Cohen thanked chispa
RoyHobbs
3 years ago
@chispa - really great looking faucet in your pic! Can you please share the name of it? And just curious - since you have good taste in faucets, what faucet do you have in your current kitchen?
chispa
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
@RoyHobbs, faucet in the photo was Franke, Pro-chef or similar name, but it had been discontinued last time I looked.

New kitchen has Kohler, Purist Semi-professional. I probably should have rotated the handle forward, but would now require some retraining of others in house! ;-)

The sink is 18" front to back, so I had the KD pull the cabinets out 3 inches. In hindsight I should have pulled them out another 2-3 inches as I had the floor space available.
PRO
JAN MOYER
3 years ago
Moen has an almost identical "Align" It's a great faucet
Andrea Cohen thanked JAN MOYER
shajohn
3 years ago
We had that problem with a prep sink in our kitchen. We wound up moving the handle from the right side of the faucet to the left side. When you pull the handle all the way forward, you get the hot water instead of the cold, but it has not been a problem for us.
Andrea Cohen thanked shajohn