Kitchen Sink - Undermount Or Above Mount?

[panda88 0]

As per topic title, me and wife now shopping for kitchen sink. We saw more people going for undermount judging from tblogs. Wonder what is the bad thing about above mount type? Hoe Kee uncle recommend above mount one

[therat 18]

IMO, the main different is the replacement of sink.

undermount - Need to remove the kitchen cabinet solid top first, Replacement the sink. place the solid top back.

Top mount, just remove the sink, and find the actual size sink put in.

[panda88 0]

How about maintenance, any diff?

[therat 18]

I don't see any different on the maintenance.

It's depend how the user use and take care.

Sink is a sink.

If the sink quality not good. U polish until liang jin jin. Also not use.

U want to buy Hoe Kee sink ahh.

stainless steel?

My Hoe Kee stainless steel sink rusty liao (on the drain outlet).. don't know is the sink problem or my contractor installation skill problem.

[taichipanda 3]

My Hoe Kee stainless steel sink rusty liao (on the drain outlet).. don't know is the sink problem or my contractor installation skill problem.

Hi panda88,

If your undermounted "stainless steel" sink starts to rust and you wish to change to a new one, most likely may need to hack away the counter top and kitchen cabinet where the sink sit on, can be very painful on your wallet.

[Bento28 0]

Hmmm,

Get a good quality under mount sink n it will last u for years!!

How often we change our sink actually?? Once every ten years?

[yoongf 11]

Always go for undermount.

Abovemount, water on countertop cannot be naturally swept into the sink, as there is a ridge to overcome.

The ridge needs to be perfectly flat with the countertop to look nice. This requires a good quality sink (thick gauge steel) and very good workmanship. Any warpage will be very obvious.

If got heavy cooking, and pours hot water into sink regularly, the sink expansion will cause the ridge to move. This will cause the silicon to debond, resulting in leaks into the cabinet below.

All these issues do not exist with undermount sinks. and try to have a minimum 1cm overhang around the countertop opening.

But from a looks perspective, above mount looks more bold.

[lyefam 0]

Not all the stainless steel materials used for the sinks are the same. The commercial specs SUS304 may be the same for all but the quality of the sinks varied greatly. Get a better quality sink.

[lawry 3]

Mine's undermount, facing a big headache now with the leaks.

[casa 0]

O that's bad

Check and c where the leak comes from

U can reseal it with silicon if u know where the leak is

[lyefam 0]

Mine's undermount, facing a big headache now with the leaks.

Oh, what happened?

[Charmainecc 0]

Hi all,

My current house has been using undermount sink from Bellari (the big single bowl) for 9 years.It has been leaking since it was installed. I guessed the contractor didn't do a good job. The cabinet beneath it was damage. We feedback to contractor but he just came down twice to redo the "silicon" but did not solve the problem.

At the end, we have to buy silicon and touch up many times.

Need to be careful not to let the sink drop. Therefore, not to advice to put heavy stuff on top of it and need to watch out for leakage and dry it immediately after use. LEt the sink dries, then put on silicon. This is what we do. Leak again, then use silicon again.

so now, my new house would be using top mount sink due to the reasons below

1. the contractor just told me (after signing the quotation) need to pay extra $80 for undermount.

2. worry that if we choose to undermount, we may face the same problem again.

So, in order to save the troubles and money, we would use top mount. I find that it can be as nice as undermount. No need to insist to have undermount and pay extra.

[deviansyh 0]

i using sink support for my undermount.. that's to prevent leakage from damaging my cabinets. extra $$$ but think it's worth it.

[casa 0]

There's another alternative

Go for integrated sink no worry on leakage

[kuala88 0]

i heard from my frenz renovation...

actually the under mount sink is sat on the wood that supporting it

then use the solide surface on top

so when water sip into the wood , the wood rot

and the sink will drop ..

i think using integrated sink ....

that is the sink and the surface come together ..

but change also need to change as whole ...

my neigbour below use ceramic as the whole structure for the sink....

i think this maybe a better option.....