I'm installing some new kitchen worktop and a new sink in the kitchen.
(bit annoying really as the kitchen is pretty knackered but replacement isn't gonna happen soon, and the old sink was rusting away, the tap was knackered and the work top swelling cos of water penetration)
Obviously I'm sealing around the sink opening with silicon sealant.
Is it worth sealing the underneath of the worktop that has the dishwasher underneath with something. PU varnish?
Inset sinks usually come with a putty strip which is clamped between the sink rim and the worktop surface. Then you trim off what oozes out when you tighten up the clamp fixings. (It may continue to ooze out for some weeks and need repeated trimming.) This is probably going to work long-term better than silicone.
Steam coming out of the dishwasher door can get in to the underside of some chipboard worktops. Dishwashers sometimes come with a plastic strip to stick under the front edge of the worktop. In the absence of that, varnish might work - will probably need a couple of coats so there is a good 2nd surface layer which is not absorbed into the wood surface.
In message , Andrew Gabriel writes
I got the sink for £10 from B&Q sometime ago. It was missing clips etc. so I'm rather making it up as I go along.
But actually I meant in this case the sawn side of the opening, just to some extra protection if water gets through to there.
Dishwasher has ben in a few years, don't remember any plastic. I'll slap on some varnish orhwatever I can find, it won't do any harm.
Not silicon, too soft, won't stick well.
Use waterproof wood glue, rated D3 or D4. Brush on thickly. let soak in and dry. Repeat for belt&braces. This will work well on both the cut chipboard edge and over the dishwasher.
Forms a thick, tough, waterproof coating that will resist steam, is cheap, and will be useful elsewhere, too. It will also dry to form permanent stains on the clothes you wore when applying it and didn't bother to change because you weren't going to dribble it onto yourself.
Thomas Prufer
I have used silicon smeared onto the sawn edges in a previous place and it seemed to work find - as the chip is rough, it does seem to soak in a tiny bit.
Well jobs done now anyway. I smeared silicon sealant on with a gloved hand, and left it for a bet to set. Seemed pretty well stuck to the chipboard. The sawn surface would give a good key. Can't see that being soft matters, once it got a sock in the hole it's not going to be touched.
Annoyed though that I need to replace the dishwasher supply tap as the old one turns out to be a bit knackered. So of course that is the one thing I don't have a spare one of or thought to get one when I got the bits.
So now I have one nice bit of worktop, sink and tap and the rest of the kitchen now looks grottier than ever.
It's what my tame carpenter did when I got him in to fit new worktops in our refurbed kitchen (I know my limits - those things are *heavy*, and he had a jig to make the cuts to go round corners, and experience of doing it before!)
I was going to suggest the same, though not sure what the D3 and D4 mean.
It's the level of water resistance.
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