6. Sink Mounting Positions

Outline:
Top mount
Under mount
Recessed under mount
Flush mount
Butler sink

Sink Reveal
Negative reveal
Flush reveal
Positive reveal

Welded in
Steel or Corian

Sink position and mounting

Top mounting

Topmount Sink Position – edge of sink on top of benchtop material


The most functional sink position is top mounting. Often top mounted sinks are single or double bowls which have a drainer board. When dishes are placed on the drainer the water runs off into the sink bowl. It is the cheapest method of mounting a sink as the cutout in the bench material is rough and hidden and therefore does not need polishing. The edges of the cutout are hidden and not exposed to knocks and chips.

Wiping the bench around a top mount sink can be problematic if the edge of the sink is square and thick. Dirt and grim can be hard to wipe around this kind of edge. Better topmount sinks have a “laser” edge which means the steel is flattened and thin at the edge making wiping easy from the bench over the edge into the bowl.

Summary:

  1. Top mount bowls are the most functional.
  2. They generally have a drainer board.
  3. They generally are large visually because of the drainer board
  4. Topmounting is the cheapest installation method.
  5. Topmounting protects the edges of stone cutout from chipping since the raw cutout is under the sink material and not exposed.
  6. Laser or easy-wipe edges help to minimise the trapping of dirt at the edges of the sink.
  7. Cheap sinks and sinks pressed from 0.9mm steel can be top mounted without problems because the clips pull the sink edge down onto the benchtop.

Under mounting

Undermount Sink Position


In this installation, the top of the sink flange is mounted on the underside of the bench material. Usually undermount sinks are without a drainer board. Sinks with drainer board can be under mounted, but in my opinion this is an unnecessary cost without much benefit. The major benefit of undermounting is losing the drainer board so that the aesthetic is seeing little sink and seeing lots of benchtop.
Summary

  1. Undermounted sinks generally do not have a drainer board.
  2. They can be single or double bowl.
  3. Installation costs more because the edges of the cutout must be polished.
  4. Extra care must be taken not to strike the edges of the stone as chipping occurs on the edges over time.
  5. A mobile drainer tray can be used to drain water from stacked dishes into the bowl.
  6. A tea towel can be placed on the benchtop under dishes to trap water which is not able to drain into the bowl.
  7. A good quality sink is important for under mounting. The issue is straightness or flatness of the edges. No wavy edges please. A sink made from 1.0mm steel should be the entry level.

Rebated under mounting

Rebated or Recessed Undermounted Sink


If the benchtop thickness is more than 20mm then a rebate can be cut from the underside of the stone so that the sink sits down only partly, rather than mounted under the full thickness of the benchtop.

Flush mounting

Flush Mounted Sink Position


This is the most difficult technique and the dearest. A flat edge under mount style sink with a very flat good quality edge is required. Very precise stone cutting is done which routers down the thickness of the sink edge, so that the edge of the sink sits flush with the benchtop material. The resulting aesthetic is very attractive.

Butler sinks

Ceramic Butler Sink


Butler sinks are undermounted and in addition the front edge of the stone is removed so that the sink front edge is visible. The sink has a front face of polished material which is highly visible.

Note that the front edge and face of the butler sink can be either

  1. flush with the front edge of the benchtop or
  2. flush with the front of the cabinet door fronts. In this case the front edge of the sink will be 10-20mm negative to the benchtop edge.
Black Ceramic Butler Sink
Stainless Steel Butler Sink

Welded in sinks are flush mounted
A special case of flush mounting is achieved when stainless steel sinks are welded into a stainless steel benchtop. Very hygienic, no nooks and crannies, no silicon seals, just perfect invisible joins between sink and bench.

Welded in stainless steel sink in stainless steel bench

Solid surface benchtops such as Corian and acrylic materials can also have “welded” in sinks. These sinks are specially constructed for “welding” into solid surface benchtops. The sink is constructed fully or partially of the same acrylic material and glued and polished into place, resulting in a perfectly seamless appearance. Very attractive.

Corian sink duo seamlessly welded into Corian bench
Corian sink duo welded seamlessly into Corian bench
Pure Corian sink welded seamlesly into Corian bench

Sink Reveal
Sink reveal is pertinent to undermounted sink positions. The reveal refers to the amount of sink top lip will be visible after mounting.

Positive Reveal
Positive reveal is when the cutout for the sink is larger than the size of the sink bowl. Therefore some of the lip is visible – not completely covered by benchtop material. If you have sink accessories like inset colander or chopping board, beware, they might not fit after undermounting – depending on the width of the accessories. They could be problematic either too wide or too narrow. If there are sink accessories and the sink is to be undermounted then the accessories must be presented to the benchtop fabricator to make sure they fit after the sink is fitted.

Positive Reveal – the flange of the sink is visible

Flush Reveal
Flush reveal is when thecutout for the sink is exactly the same size as the sink bowl. The edge of the sink bowl lines up exactly with the edge of the benchtop.
Benchtop fabricators don’t like this kind of reveal as it is difficult to achieve and there is no room for error. Sink accessories should have no problems with flush reveal.

Flush Reveal – sink edge and bench material edge line up

Negative Reveal
Negative reveal is when the cutout for the sink is smaller than the actual bowl size by a few mm on each side. The edge of the bowl is negative to the edge of the benchtop material. Fabricators like this kind of reveal as it gives them some room for error on the cutout dimensions. Sink accessories are likely not to fit with this reveal, or may need to be trimmed in the case of wood chopping boards. Make sure the benchtop fabricator is aware of any sink accessories to be sure they fit after sink undermounting.

Negative Reveal – sink edge is recessed under the bench material

5. Sink Bowl Type – choosing a sink for your kitchen

Single bowl or double bowl
This choice is largely dependent on lifestyle. If you do a lot of cooking and baking, love lots of entertaining, then a double bowl is likely to give you more functionality. While dirty dishes pile up in the one bowl, the other can still be used for further preparation. If you have a dishwasher, you can learn to rinse off and store dirty dishes in the dishwasher, keeping the sink available for preparation. Space is often constrained meaning there may not be space for a large double bowl sink. If you are restricted to one bowl then it is handy to go for a 500mm wide sink. This width will handle the oven tray from a 600mm wide (standard) oven at the bottom of the sink – making cleaning easy. No tray rotation needed to wash bit by bit. Otherwise a 400 x 400mm sink will cover most needs adequately.

A 500mm wide sink is handy as a standard 600 oven tray fits at the bottom making cleaning easy – no need to rotate

A double bowl is often selected to accommodate the waste disposal unit underneath. In this instance the second bowl can be skinny – kind of just handy for putting the waste down the disposer. I prefer to compost and would go for a single large bowl before a medium and skinny bowl for functionality.

A sink with a drainer board is the most functional of sinks. The drainer board allows you to put dishes on the drainer and the water drains directly into the sink. Sinks without a drainer board means washed dishes will rest on the benchtop and water will drain onto the benchtop and not into the sink. There are solutions for this such as using a mobile drainer board or placing a tea towel under the the dish rack on the bench.

If you want to see more benchtop and less sink – then go for a sink without a drainer board.

A sink with a drainer board is usually mounted on top of the benchtop. There is not a lot of advantage to undermounting a sink with a drainer board. This involves a large cutout in the bench and a lot of extra edges to polish which means greater cost. But some like the look. Choose a sink with what is called “laser edge” to give a tidy and easy to wipe edge on top of the bench. Very cheap topmount sinks have a folded edge which will trap dirt over time and is hard to wipe around.

Double bowl sink with drainer board is normally mounted on top of the benchtop
Single bowl sink with drainer board, laser edge and drainer board, top mount.

Image to come– sink topmont with folded edge – hard to wipe the bench around the edge

Image to come – Undermounted sink with drainer board.

A sink without a drainer board is generally undermounted. This means the sink sits under the benchtop material.

Single bowl 500mm, undermounted, with mobile drainer board accessory
Double bowl 200mm 400mm undermounted

Tap positions

Sinks with drainer boards are mostly designed to have the tap inserted into the sink material. The plumber will punch a hole in the sink material and install the tap base thread into the sink material. Undermounted sinks mostly do not have a flange for the tap insertion. This means the tap will need to be installed in a hole in the benchtop material – usually at the rear of the sink. The benchtop supplier will need to cut the hole in the benchtop so that the plumber can install the tap.

Red Flag: Make sure there is enough space between the sink bowl and the wall behind the sink for the tap hole and plumbers hands to reach and thread the tap.

Red Flag: When there is a window behind the sink and a window sill or architrave – this will leave less space for the tap fitting, tap rotation and tap handle rotation.

Red Flag: If there is an upstand or splashback on the wall behind the sink such as tiles or stone – this will reduce the space available for tap fitting, tap rotation and tap handle rotation.

Recommendation: I generally design sink benches 650mm deep when the sink is to be undermounted and the sink position is in front of a window.

Tap position – allow sufficient space between sink and windowsill

Sink Position

The sink works in a trio with dishwasher and bins. Think about the workflow.

Bins – scrape off.

Sink – rinse off.

Dishwasher – storage for cleaning.

This flow can work from left to right or right to left.

The ideal position of the draining board LHS or RHS for you can be worked out while thinking about the workflow.

Work flow sequence: scrape off – rinse off – dishwasher

Next Article: Sink mounting positions.

4. The Five Step Workflow for Kitchen Layout

Planning your kitchen layout – using the five step workflow

The Kitchen Triangle
A lot has been written about the working triangle for layout and design. The kitchen triangle is drawn between the three centres fridge, cooktop and sink. Many optimum layouts are taught around this principle. These are good guidelines – however I find them rather academic.

The five step workflow
I find it very simple and very easy for everyone to understand a five step workflow in the kitchen. I use this principle in designing kitchen layout. In some kitchen spaces there may be several ways to design the kitchen layout. Thinking about the kitchen workflow in these five steps makes the layout logical and obvious. Well, most of the time it does. Some spaces, especially small spaces defy textbook logic and then you have to find the most beneficial way to achieve good workflow.
And remember, aesthetics are often competing with functionality – so be prepared to make trade offs.

The five step workflow is a great way to prompt you about storage needs and the placement of appliances in the kitchen.

Copyright Jeff le Roux 2020

Step 1 STORAGE
After coming home from shopping for groceries, you will land on a bench somewhere with all the parcels. Then unpack and store in 2 places: FRIDGE and PANTRY.
Perishable will be stored in the fridge. The fridge is the appliance you will visit the most often. The fridge needs to be handy to access. I will write much more about fridges in the blog on fridges which will come later.
Non-perishables will be stored in a pantry of some design. Maybe I will write a pantry article sometime. Most kitchens will have a specific cupboard which is designed to store food. This could be a tall cupboard with shelves, have internal drawers or could be a pull-out unit. Food can be stored in a walk in pantry, butler’s pantry or scullery. However, even when a kitchen has a scullery, it is handy to have food storage in the kitchen itself.
As far as workflow goes, it is optimal to have the fridge and pantry close to each other. Simply put, this means walking less distance to get to food for the next step which is preparation.

Step 2 PREPARATION
Preparing food is the next step. We go to the fridge and pantry storage and get out the food we will be needing for cooking or baking. Preparation needs
Bench surface area to work on.
Water nearby for washing, cleaning and cooking.
Waste bins nearby for rubbish.
Knives, bowls, chopping boards stored nearby to preparation area.
A set of drawers dedicated to preparation is great to have but often not possible in medium or small kitchen designs.
A tray cupboard is handy for chopping boards. Trays can also be stored in a cupboard above the fridge if this unit has vertical dividers.

Step 3 COOKING
Cooking involves stove, range cooker, oven, cooktop, microwave and extraction appliances. Hob and Oven are most often together, either built in or as a freestanding stove / range cooker. Ovens and microwave are sometimes stacked in a tower.
Utensils, pots and pans, baking trays are needed nearby. Drawers are great otherwise a cupboard. Try to have at least 200mm landing space on each side of the hob.
I’ll write lots more on these appliances in later articles.

Step 4 SERVING or PLATING OUT
From cooking we need to have some space on the bench to plate out the food or to ready the food to go to the dining table. A dedicated set of drawers for cutlery and crockery is optimal. At least one drawer for cutlery is essential. From here the food goes to the dining table for eating.

Step 5 CLEANING
The last step in the kitchen process is cleaning. After returning dirty plates and dishes from eating, we need to clean up and get the clean dishes back into storage for the next occasion.
The appliances involved in the stage are:
Bins
Sink
Dishwasher
Waste disposer.
The prcesss can be summarised
Scrape off – bins
Rinse off – sink
Wash – sink or preferably dishwasher.

Clean cutlery, utensils, crockery and dishes get returned to their storage places before th next cycle.

Conclusion
Try different conceptual layouts for your kitchen space.
Then, for each layout, do a virtual walk through of the five steps of functionality and get a feeling of how each one will work for you. I guarantee, one layout will turn out to be favoured over the others.
The five step walk through is also a great way to check to be sure you have covered the storage and operational needs of each step, even if some areas double up or are shared spaces. For example a set of drawers may need to be used for cutlery and utensils and the bench on top may be used for both preparation and serving. As long as you can identify that each step has been provided for you will have a functional kitchen workflow.

3. How to choose a sink for your kitchen project

Choosing a Sink

Choosing a sink can be challenging

Choosing a sink for your kitchen can be challenging. Like other items for your kitchen project, there are many choices. These choices can impact function and aesthetics in your kitchen design. This article outlines the pathway to choosing a sink for your kitchen. Along the way I will try to demystify the many technologies related to each choice. Out of the Five Steps of Functionality the sink is important in Preparation and Cleaning. Think about how you will use the sink in these two stages as a guide to making your choices.

Summary outline (articles):

  1. Bowl Type
  2. Mounting Type
  3. Reveal Type (undermount sinks)
  4. Material Type
  5. Butler Sinks
  6. Laundry Sinks
  7. Chef Stations
  8. Sink Accessories
  9. Red Flags

2. Roadmap of What’s to Come

Your new kitchen project – a step by step guide.

Buy new or refurbish the old
Where to buy a new kitchen
The role of a kitchen designer
The process step by step
Appliances
Sinks
Five step workflow – Layout
Pantry and Scullery
Dealing with corners
Materials
Handles
Toe kicks
Ceiling scribers
Bench tops
Splash backs
Thoughts on colour
LED lighting
Flooring impact on the kitchen

1. Fresh out the blocks

Hi, my name is Jeff. I have been designing, building and installing kitchens for many years. My clients often call me “the kitchen guy” – so that’s why I decided to use the name. This is not a site for designers, although designers will no doubt get help form the material that I will be adding over time. This blog is for all of you out there that want a new kitchen and don’t know where to start. So much jargon, technology, so many choices! Please can somebody explain what all the terminology means. We sure can. I will try to lay out a roadmap in the next post so that you can see the articles that I plan to write – but this will take some time – so bear with me. If there is a particularly burning question you have you can email me through the Contacts Page and I can try to get to that topic sooner than later.