Over Mounted Sink Fitting Guide For Granite Worktops

The credit crunch has affected most people and although the housing market may have taken a slight down-turn, consumers are still buying and installing granite worktops in their kitchens. I have heard that home renovations are becoming more popular; rather than designing kitchens to improve the sale of houses, consumers are hard at work making their homes, their dream homes! I have seen an increase in consumer expenditure for worktop template cuts, where the consumers are fitting the worktops themselves; and in some cases, they are just ordering lengths and then doing the cut-outs too. If you are considering buying a length of granite for your new kitchen worktop and have decided that an over mounted sink is for you; and feel that making the cut-out for the sink is a job you can manage, then the following should help with this process.

First off, you need to make a hole for the sink. Turn the sink upside down and place it on the worktop in the position where you would like your sink to be located and make a mark round the sink using a soft white pencil. Take the sink and place it out of the way and draw another line, an inner line exactly 20mm inside of the first line – this will be what the lip of the sink will eventually rest on and is fixed to. Take your drill and drill a small hole through one of the corners of the inner line and then complete the cut-out with your jigsaw. It is important to note here; it is better to under cut your sink hole, than over cut!

If you undercut your sink hole and find that it is too small for the sink to fit, then you can easily take a little more off the stone, whereas; if you over-cut the granite, then there is little that can be done. Once you are satisfied with the shape and size of your sink hole, the final step is to fit your sink. You will need to use a small amount of silicon sealer to hold the sink in place, this being put around the edge of your cut-out. Once your sink clamps are in position, lower the sink gently into place and make a firm connection with the granite – you will need to leave the silicon to dry, but prior to this it would be advisable to carefully remove the excess silicon from the edges of the sink. This will not only save mess, but will also minimise the chances of damage being done.