Installing a sink in the countertop with your own hands: instructions

The sink is an irreplaceable element of the kitchen interior. Most products have to be washed before use: vegetables and fruits, meat, fish and others. And after the meal, you need to wash all the dishes. Installing a sink in a worktop is gaining more and more popularity, like all built-in appliances. Kitchen design looks neater and more expressive when furniture and household appliances are one whole.

However, when purchasing a sink, it is important to consider not only its aesthetic qualities, but also functionality and reliability. In order for these characteristics to work properly, installation knowledge is required. Installation by a master is not very cheap, especially in Moscow, so some people decide to do it with their own hands. How to properly mount the sink is described in this article on its own.

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Preparation for installation activities

Before carrying out installation work, you should prepare everything you need: tools, consumables and the sink itself. A countertop should already be installed in your kitchen. Moreover, it must match the material of the sink. Because countertops different in size and composition have different bearing capacity, that is, the ultimate load that it can withstand. Thus, stainless steel is suitable for thin countertops. If you have it made of stone, then the shell material (at least) is an artificial stone. Or you can pick up special holders that are installed in the bedside table under the platform.

What tools do you need? You should prepare: measuring instruments, an electric drill (or a jigsaw), several screwdrivers, an adjustable wrench, a construction knife, a sealant gun. The consumables required are determined by the intended mounting method. You can make a universal list of things that come in handy in any case: screws, sealants and construction adhesives. Also, do not forget about the plumbing piping, for the implementation of which you will need a siphon, a water supply hose and a mixer.

Markup rules

An important stage during which the location of the sink in accordance with its dimensions will be determined. Undoubtedly, we also start from the parameters of the selected sink, but there should be no contradictions with the standard rules of arrangement and mounting.

Firstly, the cutting edge (the place of contact between the sink and the countertop) should be at least 50 mm from the edge. This rule must be observed regardless of further installation methods.

The sink can be planted with glue or hardware. Only in both cases is it necessary to reduce the stress on the edges. An exception is a fragment with a rear end. Here the distance to the cut can even be 25 mm. This is due to less pressure on the structure in this part. Do not forget when marking up the communications (then they will be connected to the central point of the sink). They must pass freely to the sink to ensure water supply and drainage to the sewer.

Installing a sink with glue

This method of attaching the sink to the countertop is not the most reliable, but it is simple and quick. If done well, the fit is tight and the mount can be quite durable. Finish the edges of the countertop in the cut areas before applying the adhesive. For this, materials with finely abrasive particles are used (sandpaper, grinding fine-grain wheel). Then we lay out the polyethylene seal, which often comes with the product in the kit.

We warn you that the glue method is only suitable for installing stainless steel sinks, not stone sinks. They can move, breaking the fixation. The glue solution is used to spread both the areas that will come into contact with the tabletop in the future, as well as its edges. It will be possible to use the kitchen only after the composition has completely crystallized.

Flush-mount and surface-mounted sinks - installation differences

This guide provides installation instructions for these two types of sinks. Let's analyze the installation of a flush sink in stages.

1. The kit usually contains cardboard templates, if they are not there, use the sink itself. Mark the template on the finished worktop or on a separate module that allows the installation of built-in elements. We fix it with tape in several parts. Do not forget that the sink does not come into contact with the sides and spacers.
2. Determine the location of the sink on the work surface. Approach this responsibly, because ease of use depends on it. The normal distance from the edge of the table is 5 to 10 cm. Draw the outline of the template. Further, stepping back 1.5 cm, draw another contour. We will cut a hole along it.
3. We drill holes with an electric drill according to the exploration. The drill diameter is usually standard (10-12 mm), we select the drill according to the blade. Then we go through the perimeter with a jigsaw.
4. Before attaching the sink to the countertop, we clean the place from sawdust and dust, process it with sandpaper.
5. We've got a hole, now we insert the sink into it, check if they cut it exactly and if the sides fit well. We also look at the mixer and flexible hoses, because repairing them with a sink installed is problematic.
6. On the inside of the hole, we treat the edges of the countertop with a silicone-based sealant to protect it from moisture.
7. Apply double-sided tape on the edge of the sawn space (on the front side of the tabletop). If it is not included in the kit, apply the sealant again.
8. Now the sink insert is directly carried out. Try to press firmly against the edges so that all gaps are filled with sealant. With the help of fasteners, we tighten it from below. We do this sequentially: we pull the corners diagonally not all the way. In the same way, we drag the fixing screws in the middle. We clean off excess tape and sealant.

A video on how to properly embed a sink into a worktop will help you to have a more accurate idea.

Now let's look at how to fix the sink consignment note.

1. The easiest method is to attach to it. We install an overhead sink on a special bedside table. It should completely cover the sides of the cabinet, and its width does not exceed the width of the underframe. The ends of the latter are treated with silicone sealant. We put and press down the sink. It will be securely fixed after the sealed material has dried, which will be an excellent protection against moisture.
2. Mounting brackets. In a standard situation, use the special mounts that come with the kit (you can buy it separately). We screw in the self-tapping screws from the inside of the cabinet, then we attach the brackets to them. Now tighten the screws a little. We install our object and shift the angle of attachment along the screw, trying to fix the screw in the corner to completely press the sink to the underframe. At the end, we tighten the screws to the end.
3. Fixing with wooden blocks. If there are defects in the countertop, there are no fasteners at all, then the standard installation method will not work. In this case, we take wooden blocks and furniture corners and create an assembly site. You can put the bars in the box. Then we attach the corners around the perimeter. We put the structure on the bedside table. We fasten the rest of the corners from the inner walls of the underframe. The height of the blocks can be adjusted so that the top of the sink is flush with the curbstones.

We tighten the fasteners exclusively by hand so as not to deform or overtighten the sink.

To install directly to the wall without a pedestal, we use special brackets on the sink. We make two markings of different heights (the first is 80 cm, the second is slightly lower). This will be the line for attaching the brackets. We drill holes in the wall, fix the brackets.

Connecting the sink to communications

First of all, cold and hot water hoses are connected from both sides: to the mixer, to the water supply channel. The junction of the first must necessarily contain a rubber insulation. Then we introduce a siphon outlet. It is better to choose the curved type, because the bottle quickly gets dirty. A sewer pipe is connected to the siphon.

If the installation was carried out not of a ceramic or metal sink, but of artificial stone, then the communication material should be the most durable and rigid. For example, a branch pipe is a reinforced corner structure. Finally, we check all the joints and, if necessary, provide them with sealing cuffs.

Conclusion

So that the repair does not come at a high price, carefully plan the purchase of the necessary tools and materials, study photos and videos on the Internet so that you do not have to call specialists for correcting the situation. Observing all the rules, you can achieve excellent results without outside help.

Video: self-installation of the sink in the countertop