Installing Your Undermount Bar Sink
As you prepare to unveil your new home bar, one of the finishing touches to the project is the bar sink. With so many bar sinks on the market these days, it probably took a lot of time to make the decision as to which sink you were going to purchase. But now that is decided and you have made the purchase. It is time to actually install the sink. Can you do it yourself? Well, you need to give some serious thought to that before jumping into this project. A sink can be damaged if handled the wrong way during installation. Worse yet is the possibility of an improper installation causing a flood. If you have any doubts about your ability to handle the installation yourself, hire a plumber to do it for you.
When it comes to undermount bar sinks, things are a bit trickier than with top mount sinks. If you have an undermount sink, you probably have a solid usrface counter top like granite or silestone. The sink mounts from below and is held to the underside of the counter with epoxy and screws. That probably sounds scary to someone who has never installed a sink before. Visions of the sink being filled with water and falling off probably wander into your head!
Well, the project is not something to be scared of, and if you use the right materials it is a manageable task for any handy person. The biggest issue is making the finished project look good. That means the hole in the counter has to be exactly the right size so the sink mounts seamlessly. the look of an undermount sink on a solid surface is clean and classy. A poor job of installing the sink can make it look anything but classy.
Your sink will come with a template that shows the exact size the hole should be. Since the sink mounts from below, the edge of that hole needs polished to a smooth finish and rounded so it flows down to the sink smoothly.
Special epoxy is used around the rim of the sink, and the sink is clamped onto the underside of the counter top to hold it in place until the epoxy dries. Small screws and brackets are used to help reinforce the epoxy. Once dry the sink is very stable and will hold in place for years with normal use.