slightly OT: Sink placement

[Joe C]

I'm installing a kitchen sink into a new countertop and am concerned about placement before starting to cut the hole. Holes are, after all, remarkably difficult to move.

The sink dimensions, front to back including the flange, is 22" and the countertop is a standard 24".

My gut reaction is to split the difference and center it front to back, but if that winds up being too far from the front edge of the counter (ergonomic-wise), I could be stuck for a long time to come.

Does anyone know if there's a standard to this? Or is it gut feel?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

[Bannerstone]

How deep are your toe kicks? If they're rather shallow (countertop is a standard 24".

[Joe C]

Dave,

Toekicks are 3 1/8" (but I haven't put the facing on them yet, so make that

3" even), and the counter overhang is a standard (?) 5/8". Short story is that my hips hit the front edge of the counter without any noticeable leaning forward.

Maybe I'll still cheat 1/4" toward the front.

Thanks,

Joe

[Joe Gorman]

If this was a new in the box sink it should have had a cutout diagram printed on the bod. As you didn't mention this I'll take it you don't have that. I'd take a piece oc cardboard 24" by sink width plus 2" or more and do a cutout in it forst. The lip should be fairly consistant on the sink so I'd measure it and cut a little undersixed, I have figgured out how to make most holes bigger:-) Once the cardboard temlate fit neatly I'd transfer that to the countertop, mark and cut. Make sure the jigsaw you're using will fit that close to the wall, that long back cut is a PITA with a hand saw:-( Joe

[Joe C]

Joe,

No template unfortunately. Their idea of a template is to turn the sink upside down on the counter, trace the outline, remove the sink, draw another line 1/4" inside the first, then cut to that.

Kind of bass-ackwards by my thinking.

Good point about the jigsaw butting up against the backsplash, I'm going to go check that right now.

Joe

[John McGaw]

This might seem obvious but I've seen the mistake made: when you do your layout for the sink cutout, remember that the sink MUST BE INSIDE the base counter. In fact, that might be an excellent way to determine how far forward the sink can possibly be -- a hole drilled from below using a long thin bit exactly flush with the inside front of the cabinet will fall on the most forward possible layout line. When I did my kitchen I had to push my sink back just a hair so that I could accomodate full-sized edging tiles across the entire span.

[Joe C]

John,

Yes, it might seem obvious, but when I made my first set of measurements (1st of 5, I might add), the cut line would've been on the outside (and VERY visible) of the base cabinet. Okay, I got past that, took a deep breath and proceded.

A counter (especially a 9' long counter) is an expensive thing to screw up.

Joe

[DonkeyHody]

Joe, If you're not too far along, consider raising the sink. I'm only

5'8", but I find standard sink height a little too low to be comfortable. And I also find that I spend longer periods at my shop sink than I ever do in the kitchen. I'd raise the sink a couple of inches above standard height.

DonkeyHody "I'd rather expect the best from people and be wrong than expect the worst and be right."