A project retrofitting an existing cabinet for a farm sink has come my way. Since I've never had the opportunity to install one or cut down cabinet doors, I thought I'd embrace the challenge. The cabinet itself has 7/16" sides, which I'm guessing have a strong likelihood of being particle board. I was considering dominoing tenons into the side panels and dropping a 3/4" Baltic Birch shelf (with domino slots on the very bottom) or possibly a simple cleat set up, but I wondered if others thought that would be enough support for such a heavy sink. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.
Farm Sink
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jonny round boy
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I assume a farm sink is similar to what we in the UK would call a Belfast sink, ie heavy porcelain.
You don't really want to put it on a plywood shelf - you'll end up having to cut a lot of it away to accommodate the waste, and it won't really be strong enough. Bear in mind it not only has to support the weight of the heavy sink, but also the weight of all the water it could potentially contain.
I'd screw and glue battons to the inside of the cabinet, and then use 2x2" battons across the width of the cabinet to rest the sink on. Somewhere between 2 and 4 in number, depending on the weight & size of the sink. You can place the battons to avoid the area you need to access for the waste pipe.
Jonathan
You don't really want to put it on a plywood shelf - you'll end up having to cut a lot of it away to accommodate the waste, and it won't really be strong enough. Bear in mind it not only has to support the weight of the heavy sink, but also the weight of all the water it could potentially contain.
I'd screw and glue battons to the inside of the cabinet, and then use 2x2" battons across the width of the cabinet to rest the sink on. Somewhere between 2 and 4 in number, depending on the weight & size of the sink. You can place the battons to avoid the area you need to access for the waste pipe.
Jonathan
Holzhacker
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I've put in a few of these. 3/4" plywood as a platform, five 2x4 cripples for support, 2 on each side, 1 at the rear, a standard shelf support at the front attached to the door post; I also put a layer of ice/water shield or schluter onto the plywood to avoid any condensation issues from the porcelain to the cdx. I always just cut out a nice round hole for the drain basket, never had an issue.
As Johnny mentioned these things are heavy so I wouldn't get creative with support, just strong.
Two other important finishing factors with these:
Top level of the sink rim in relation to the countertop - most people put them in so the sink rim is under the CT and the CT overlaps the sink edge; this creates a permanent drip edge and makes water floor into the sink very easy; the down side is that the extra couple lost inches noticeably kills the cabinet usability, makes the doors look overly short and stupid and can lead to plumbing retrofits you may not have been anticipating. With any farm sink install I suggest you measure the drain inlet height prior to getting too deep into the install. If this is a typical deep farm sink it could be an issue. You may need to pull the cabinet, lower the drain inlet and then finish install
I've also put these in with the sink rim slight above the CT edge; granted it doesn't allow water to just flow into the sink but I think it actually looks better. Nice tight scribed seam and a good silicone caulk seam and I've never had a call back. Makes the cabinet underneath a bit more usable and the doors look better.
It really depends on what look the client wants and whether or not they are willing to pay for plumbing modifications.
The other factor is scribing a clean edge along the front sides of the sink. I have yet to find one of these sinks where the sides are a straight line up and down. You have to take your time to scribe a nice consistent joint. I think someone posted a pic on here a while ago showing a bad joint along the sides of a farm sink.
A bad joint is never a good thing, on the front sides of a farm sink in a kitchen it looks horrible.
Hope that helps
As Johnny mentioned these things are heavy so I wouldn't get creative with support, just strong.
Two other important finishing factors with these:
Top level of the sink rim in relation to the countertop - most people put them in so the sink rim is under the CT and the CT overlaps the sink edge; this creates a permanent drip edge and makes water floor into the sink very easy; the down side is that the extra couple lost inches noticeably kills the cabinet usability, makes the doors look overly short and stupid and can lead to plumbing retrofits you may not have been anticipating. With any farm sink install I suggest you measure the drain inlet height prior to getting too deep into the install. If this is a typical deep farm sink it could be an issue. You may need to pull the cabinet, lower the drain inlet and then finish install
I've also put these in with the sink rim slight above the CT edge; granted it doesn't allow water to just flow into the sink but I think it actually looks better. Nice tight scribed seam and a good silicone caulk seam and I've never had a call back. Makes the cabinet underneath a bit more usable and the doors look better.
It really depends on what look the client wants and whether or not they are willing to pay for plumbing modifications.
The other factor is scribing a clean edge along the front sides of the sink. I have yet to find one of these sinks where the sides are a straight line up and down. You have to take your time to scribe a nice consistent joint. I think someone posted a pic on here a while ago showing a bad joint along the sides of a farm sink.
A bad joint is never a good thing, on the front sides of a farm sink in a kitchen it looks horrible.
Hope that helps
I appreciate the advice and the chance to learn. I must have squinted at the cabinet for too long, because when I called her back with an estimate she had changed her mind away from the farm sink idea. I hope I get another chance and will be better prepared next time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
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